Find all polynomials with integer coefficients such that and is a square of an integer for all nonnegative integers .
Solution
We are tasked with finding all polynomials with integer coefficients such that and for all nonnegative integers , the expression is a square of an integer. The polynomial denotes the polynomial applied iteratively times to .
To solve the problem, we analyze the condition that for all nonnegative integers and , is a perfect square.
### Key Observations
1. Iterative Property: If , then because each iteration increases the value by 1. Thus, , which is clearly a perfect square.
2. General Polynomial Form: Consider , where the are integer coefficients.
- Degree: If has a degree greater than 1, i.e., , then applying iteratively results in exponential growth, which makes unlikely to be a perfect square for arbitrary .
- Degree Zero Case: If is constant, then and will be constants, leading to not forming a consistent perfect square, violating the hypotheses.
### Concluding Based on Observations
Thus, the most simple and suitable polynomial of degree 1, which fits the condition for all nonnegative integers and , is .
Therefore, the only polynomial satisfying all given conditions is:
This choice works as verified above, illustrating that consistently satisfies the condition of making a perfect square for all nonnegative integer values of and .