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Algebra Difficulty 5.5 AIME, harder Find the answer

Let p(x)p(x) and q(x)q(x) be two cubic polynomials such that p(0)=24,q(0)=30p(0)=-24, q(0)=30, and p(q(x))=q(p(x))p(q(x))=q(p(x)) for all real numbers xx. Find the ordered pair (p(3),q(6))(p(3), q(6)).

A number or a short expression. Fractions can be typed as 3/2, and spacing doesn't matter.

Solution

Note that the polynomials f(x)=ax3f(x)=a x^{3} and g(x)=ax3g(x)=-a x^{3} commute under composition. Let h(x)=x+bh(x)=x+b be a linear polynomial, and note that its inverse h1(x)=xbh^{-1}(x)=x-b is also a linear polynomial. The composite polynomials h1fhh^{-1} f h and h1ghh^{-1} g h commute, since function composition is associative, and these polynomials are also cubic. We solve for the aa and bb such that (h1fh)(0)=24\left(h^{-1} f h\right)(0)=-24 and (h1gh)(0)=30\left(h^{-1} g h\right)(0)=30. We must have: ab3b=24,ab3b=30a=1,b=3a b^{3}-b=-24,-a b^{3}-b=30 \Rightarrow a=1, b=-3. These values of aa and bb yield the polynomials p(x)=(x3)3+3p(x)=(x-3)^{3}+3 and q(x)=(x3)3+3q(x)=-(x-3)^{3}+3. The polynomials take on the values p(3)=3p(3)=3 and q(6)=24q(6)=-24. Remark: The pair of polynomials found in the solution is not unique. There is, in fact, an entire family of commuting cubic polynomials with p(0)=24p(0)=-24 and q(0)=30q(0)=30. They are of the form p(x)=tx(x3)(x6)24,q(x)=tx(x3)(x6)+30p(x)=t x(x-3)(x-6)-24, q(x)=-t x(x-3)(x-6)+30 where tt is any real number. However, the values of p(3)p(3) and q(6)q(6) are the same for all polynomials in this family. In fact, if we give the initial conditions p(0)=k1p(0)=k_{1} and q(0)=k2q(0)=k_{2}, then we get a general solution of p(x)=t(x332(k1+k2)x2+12(k1+k2)2x)+k2k1k2+k1x+k1q(x)=t(x332(k1+k2)x2+12(k1+k2)2x)k2k1k2+k1x+k2p(x)=t\left(x^{3}-\frac{3}{2}\left(k_{1}+k_{2}\right) x^{2}+\frac{1}{2}\left(k_{1}+k_{2}\right)^{2} x\right)+\frac{k_{2}-k_{1}}{k_{2}+k_{1}} x+k_{1} \quad q(x)=-t\left(x^{3}-\frac{3}{2}\left(k_{1}+k_{2}\right) x^{2}+\frac{1}{2}\left(k_{1}+k_{2}\right)^{2} x\right)-\frac{k_{2}-k_{1}}{k_{2}+k_{1}} x+k_{2}.

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