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Algebra Difficulty 7.4 National olympiad, round 2 Find the answer

Determine all pairs P(x),Q(x)P(x), Q(x) of complex polynomials with leading coefficient 1 such that P(x)P(x) divides Q(x)2+1Q(x)^{2}+1 and Q(x)Q(x) divides P(x)2+1P(x)^{2}+1.

A number or a short expression. Spacing and $ signs are ignored.

Solution

The answer is all pairs (1,1)(1,1) and (P,P+i),(P,Pi)(P, P+i),(P, P-i), where PP is a non-constant monic polynomial in C[x]\mathbb{C}[x] and ii is the imaginary unit. Notice that if PQ2+1P \mid Q^{2}+1 and QP2+1Q \mid P^{2}+1 then PP and QQ are coprime and the condition is equivalent with PQP2+Q2+1P Q \mid P^{2}+Q^{2}+1. Lemma. If P,QC[x]P, Q \in \mathbb{C}[x] are monic polynomials such that P2+Q2+1P^{2}+Q^{2}+1 is divisible by PQP Q, then degP=degQ\operatorname{deg} P=\operatorname{deg} Q. Proof. Assume for the sake of contradiction that there is a pair (P,Q)(P, Q) with degPdegQ\operatorname{deg} P \neq \operatorname{deg} Q. Among all these pairs, take the one with smallest sum degP+degQ\operatorname{deg} P+\operatorname{deg} Q and let (P,Q)(P, Q) be such pair. Without loss of generality, suppose that degP>degQ\operatorname{deg} P>\operatorname{deg} Q. Let SS be the polynomial such that P2+Q2+1PQ=S\frac{P^{2}+Q^{2}+1}{P Q}=S. Notice that PP a solution of the polynomial equation X2QSX+Q2+1=0X^{2}-Q S X+Q^{2}+1=0, in variable XX. By Vieta's formulas, the other solution is R=QSP=Q2+1PR=Q S-P=\frac{Q^{2}+1}{P}. By R=QSPR=Q S-P, the RR is indeed a polynomial, and because P,QP, Q are monic, R=Q2+1PR=\frac{Q^{2}+1}{P} is also monic. Therefore the pair (R,Q)(R, Q) satisfies the conditions of the Lemma. Notice that degR=2degQdegP<degP\operatorname{deg} R=2 \operatorname{deg} Q-\operatorname{deg} P<\operatorname{deg} P, which contradicts the minimality of degP+degQ\operatorname{deg} P+\operatorname{deg} Q. This contradiction establishes the Lemma. By the Lemma, we have that deg(PQ)=deg(P2+Q2+1)\operatorname{deg}(P Q)=\operatorname{deg}\left(P^{2}+Q^{2}+1\right) and therefore P2+Q2+1PQ\frac{P^{2}+Q^{2}+1}{P Q} is a constant polynomial. If PP and QQ are constant polynomials, we have P=Q=1P=Q=1. Assuming that degP=degQ1\operatorname{deg} P=\operatorname{deg} Q \geq 1, as PP and QQ are monic, the leading coefficient of P2+Q2+1P^{2}+Q^{2}+1 is 2 and the leading coefficient of PQP Q is 1 , which give us P2+Q2+1PQ=2\frac{P^{2}+Q^{2}+1}{P Q}=2. Finally we have that P2+Q2+1=2PQP^{2}+Q^{2}+1=2 P Q and therefore (PQ)2=1(P-Q)^{2}=-1, i.e Q=P+iQ=P+i or Q=PiQ=P-i. It's easy to check that these pairs are indeed solutions of the problem.

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Source: Omni-MATH, licensed Apache-2.0. Statement and solution reproduced as published; topic and difficulty added by this site.