Suppose a,b, and c are complex numbers satisfying a2b2c2=b−c=c−a, and =a−b Compute all possible values of a+b+c.
A number or a short expression. Spacing and $ signs are ignored.
Solution
Summing the equations gives a2+b2+c2=0 and summing a times the first equation and etc. gives a3+b3+c3=0. Let a+b+c=k. Then a2+b2+c2=0 means ab+bc+ca=k2/2, and a3+b3+c3=0⟹−3abc=a3+b3+c3−3abc=(a+b+c)(a2+b2+c2−ab−bc−ca)=−k3/2, so abc=k3/6. This means a,b, and c are roots of the cubic x3−kx2+(k2/2)x−(k3/6)=0 for some k. Next, note that a4+b4+c4=cyc∑a(ka2−(k2/2)a+(k3/6))=cyc ∑k(ka2−(k2/2)a+(k3/6))−(k2/2)a2+(k3/6)a=cyc ∑(k2/2)a2−(k3/3)a+(k4/6)=−k4/3+k4/2=k4/6 After this, there are two ways to extract the values of k. - Summing squares of each equation gives a4+b4+c4=cyc∑(a−b)2=2(a2+b2+c2)−2(ab+bc+ca)=−k2 so 6k4=−k2⟹k=0,±i6 - Summing a2 times the first equation, etc. gives a4+b4+c4=cyc∑a2(b−c)=−(a−b)(b−c)(c−a)=−a2b2c2=−36k6 so 6k4=−36k6⟹k=0,±i6 We can achieve k=0 with a=b=c=0. Letting a,b, and c be the roots of x3−(i6)x2−3x+(i6) will force one of a2=b−c and all other equalities or a2−c−b and all other equalities to hold, if the latter happens, swap b and c. Finally, for these (a,b,c), take (−a,−c,−b) to get −i6. Thus, all of these are achievable.
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