Maths Olympiad Prep

Library / /113 of 115

Algebra Difficulty 7.9 National olympiad, round 2 Find the answer

Find all polynomials PP with real coefficients such that P(x)yz+P(y)zx+P(z)xy=P(xy)+P(yz)+P(zx)\frac{P(x)}{yz}+\frac{P(y)}{zx}+\frac{P(z)}{xy}=P(x-y)+P(y-z)+P(z-x) holds for all nonzero real numbers x,y,zx,y,z satisfying 2xyz=x+y+z2xyz=x+y+z .

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

Solution

If P(x)=cP(x)=c for a constant c,c, then c(x+y+z)xyz=3c\dfrac{c(x+y+z)}{xyz}=3c . We have 2c=3c.2c=3c. Therefore c=0.c=0.
Now consider the case of non-constant polynomials.
First we have xP(x)+yP(y)+zP(z)=xyz(P(xy)+P(yz)+P(zx))xP(x)+yP(y)+zP(z)=xyz(P(x-y)+P(y-z)+P(z-x)) for all nonzero real numbers x,y,zx,y,z satisfying 2xyz=x+y+z2xyz=x+y+z . Both sides of the equality are polynomials (of x,y,zx,y,z ). They have the same values on the 2-dimensional surface 2xyz=x+y+z2xyz=x+y+z , except for some 1-dimensional curves in it. By continuity, the equality holds for all points on the surface, including those with z=0.z=0. Let z=0,z=0, we have y=xy=-x and x(P(x)P(x))=0.x(P(x)-P(-x))=0. Therefore PP is an even function.
(Here is a sketch of an elementary proof. Let z=x+y2xy1.z=\dfrac{x+y}{2xy-1}. We have xP(x)+yP(y)+x+y2xy1P(x+y2xy1)=xyx+y2xy1(P(xy)+P(yx+y2xy1)+P(x+y2xy1x)).xP(x)+yP(y)+\dfrac{x+y}{2xy-1}P(\dfrac{x+y}{2xy-1})=xy\dfrac{x+y}{2xy-1}(P(x-y)+P(y-\dfrac{x+y}{2xy-1})+P(\dfrac{x+y}{2xy-1}-x)). This is an equality of rational expressions. By multiplying (2xy1)N(2xy-1)^N on both sides for a sufficiently large NN , they become polynomials, say A(x,y)=B(x,y)A(x,y)=B(x,y) for all real x,yx, y with x0,y0,x+y0x\ne 0, y\ne 0, x+y\ne 0 and 2xy10.2xy-1\ne 0. For a fixed x,x, we have two polynomials (of yy ) having same values for infinitely many yy . They must be identical. Let y=0,y=0, we have xN+1(P(x)P(x))=0.x^{N+1}(P(x)-P(-x))=0. )
Notice that if P(x)P(x) is a solution, then is cP(x)cP(x) for any constant c.c. For simplicity, we assume the leading coefficient of PP is 11 : P(x)=xn+an2xn2++a2x2+a0,P(x)=x^n+a_{n-2}x^{n-2}+\cdots +a_2x^2+a_0, where nn is a positive even number.
Let y=1xy=\dfrac{1}{x} , z=x+1x.z=x+\dfrac{1}{x}. we have xP(x)+1xP(1x)+(x+1x)P(x+1x)=(x+1x)(P(x1x)+P(x)+P(1x)).xP(x)+\dfrac{1}{x}P\left (\dfrac{1}{x}\right )+\left ( x+\dfrac{1}{x}\right ) P\left ( x+\dfrac{1}{x}\right ) =\left (x+\dfrac{1}{x}\right )\left ( P\left (x-\dfrac{1}{x}\right )+P(-x)+P\left (\dfrac{1}{x}\right )\right ).
Simplify using P(x)=P(x),P(x)=P(-x), (x+1x)(P(x+1x)P(x1x))=1xP(x)+xP(1x).\left (x+\dfrac{1}{x}\right ) \left (P\left (x+\dfrac{1}{x}\right )-P\left (x-\dfrac{1}{x}\right )\right )=\dfrac{1}{x}P(x)+xP\left (\dfrac{1}{x}\right ).
Expand and combine like terms, both sides are of the form cn1xn1+cn3xn3++c1x+c1x1++cn+1xn+1.c_{n-1}x^{n-1}+c_{n-3}x^{n-3}+\cdots+c_1x+c_{-1}x^{-1}+\cdots+c_{-n+1}x^{-n+1}.
They have the same values for infinitely many x.x. They must be identical. We just compare their leading terms. On the left hand side it is 2nxn12nx^{n-1} . There are two cases for the right hand sides: If n>2n>2 , it is xn1x^{n-1} ; If n=2n=2 , it is (1+a0)x.(1+a_0)x. It does not work for n>2.n>2. When n=2,n=2, we have 4=1+a0.4=1+a_0. therefore a0=3.a_0=3.
The solution: P(x)=c(x2+3)P(x)=c(x^2+3) for any constant c.c.
-JZ

Want a route through all this instead of an archive? The track puts 2,000 problems in a working order, from AMC 10 level to the IMO shortlist.

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