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Algebra Difficulty 6.4 National olympiad Find the answer

Let α\alpha be a real number. Determine all polynomials PP with real coefficients such that P(2x+α)(x20+x19)P(x)P(2x+\alpha)\leq (x^{20}+x^{19})P(x) holds for all real numbers xx.

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Solution

Let α\alpha be a real number. We need to determine all polynomials P(x)P(x) with real coefficients satisfying:

P(2x+α)(x20+x19)P(x) P(2x + \alpha) \leq (x^{20} + x^{19})P(x)

for all real numbers xx.

### Step-by-Step Solution

1. Analyzing the inequality:

The inequality P(2x+α)(x20+x19)P(x)P(2x + \alpha) \leq (x^{20} + x^{19})P(x) involves comparing P(2x+α)P(2x + \alpha) with the product (x20+x19)P(x)(x^{20} + x^{19})P(x).

2. **Assume non-zero polynomial P(x)P(x):**

Suppose P(x)P(x) is not the zero polynomial. Let dd be the degree of P(x)P(x). Then, the degree of P(2x+α)P(2x + \alpha) is also dd. The expression (x20+x19)P(x)(x^{20} + x^{19})P(x) is a polynomial of degree 20+d20 + d.

3. Leading coefficient behavior:

Notice for large values of xx, the term (x20+x19)(x^{20} + x^{19}) behaves approximately like x20x^{20}. Hence, (x20+x19)P(x)(x^{20}+x^{19})P(x) has significantly higher degree terms than P(2x+α)P(2x + \alpha) unless d=0d=0 (i.e., P(x)P(x) is a constant polynomial).

4. **Considering constant P(x)P(x):**

For P(x)P(x) constant, we take P(x)=cP(x) = c where c0c \neq 0. Then the inequality becomes c(x20+x19)cc \leq (x^{20} + x^{19})c. This holds for all xx provided c=0c = 0.

5. Correctness:

If there exists even a single xx for which the inequality does not hold due to positive P(x)P(x), then P(x)P(x) cannot remain non-zero across all real xx because P(x)P(x) can outweigh the factor of zero or negative (x20+x19)(x^{20} + x^{19}).

Thus, the only polynomial P(x)P(x) that satisfies the given inequality for all real numbers xx is the zero polynomial.

P(x)0 \boxed{P(x) \equiv 0}

This conclusion adheres strictly to the inequality constraint that P(x)P(x) must meet for all values of xx. Hence, P(x)0P(x) \equiv 0 is the only suitable and valid solution.

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