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Algebra Difficulty 5.9 AIME, harder Find the answer

Suppose that xx and yy are complex numbers such that x+y=1x+y=1 and that x20+y20=20x^{20}+y^{20}=20. Find the sum of all possible values of x2+y2x^{2}+y^{2}.

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Solution

We have x2+y2+2xy=1x^{2}+y^{2}+2 x y=1. Define a=2xya=2 x y and b=x2+y2b=x^{2}+y^{2} for convenience. Then a+b=1a+b=1 and ba=x2+y22xy=(xy)2=2b1b-a=x^{2}+y^{2}-2 x y=(x-y)^{2}=2 b-1 so that x,y=2b1±12x, y=\frac{\sqrt{2 b-1} \pm 1}{2}. Then x20+y20=(2b1+12)20+(2b112)20=1220[(2b1+1)20+(2b11)20]=2220[(2b1)20+(202)(2b1)18+(204)(2b1)16+]=20x^{20}+y^{20}=\left(\frac{\sqrt{2 b-1}+1}{2}\right)^{20}+\left(\frac{\sqrt{2 b-1}-1}{2}\right)^{20}=\frac{1}{2^{20}}\left[(\sqrt{2 b-1}+1)^{20}+(\sqrt{2 b-1}-1)^{20}\right]=\frac{2}{2^{20}}\left[(\sqrt{2 b-1})^{20}+\binom{20}{2}(\sqrt{2 b-1})^{18}+\binom{20}{4}(\sqrt{2 b-1})^{16}+\ldots\right]=20. We want to find the sum of distinct roots of the above polynomial in bb; we first prove that the original polynomial is square-free. The conditions x+y=1x+y=1 and x20+y20=20x^{20}+y^{20}=20 imply that x20+(1x)2020=0x^{20}+(1-x)^{20}-20=0; let p(x)=x20+(1x)2020.pp(x)=x^{20}+(1-x)^{20}-20 . p is square-free if and only if GCD(p,p)=cG C D\left(p, p^{\prime}\right)=c for some constant cc: GCD(p,p)=GCD(x20+(1x)2020,20(x19(1x)19))=GCD(x20x(1x)19+(1x)1920,20(x19(1x)19))=GCD((1x)1920,x19(1x)19)=GCD((1x)1920,x1920)G C D\left(p, p^{\prime}\right)=G C D\left(x^{20}+(1-x)^{20}-20,20\left(x^{19}-(1-x)^{19}\right)\right)=G C D\left(x^{20}-x(1-x)^{19}+(1-x)^{19}-20,20\left(x^{19}-(1-x)^{19}\right)\right)=G C D\left((1-x)^{19}-20, x^{19}-(1-x)^{19}\right)=G C D\left((1-x)^{19}-20, x^{19}-20\right). The roots of x1920x^{19}-20 are 20k19exp(2πik19)\sqrt[19]{20^{k}} \exp \left(\frac{2 \pi i k}{19}\right) for some k=0,1,,18k=0,1, \ldots, 18; the roots of (1x)1920(1-x)^{19}-20 are 120k19exp(2πik19)1-\sqrt[19]{20^{k}} \exp \left(\frac{2 \pi i k}{19}\right) for some k=0,1,,18k=0,1, \ldots, 18. If x1920x^{19}-20 and (1x)1920(1-x)^{19}-20 share a common root, then there exist integers m,nm, n such that 20m19exp(2πim19)=120n19exp(2πin19)\sqrt[19]{20^{m}} \exp \left(\frac{2 \pi i m}{19}\right)=1-\sqrt[19]{20^{n}} \exp \left(\frac{2 \pi i n}{19}\right); since the imaginary parts of both sides must be the same, we have m=nm=n and 20m19exp(2πim19)=1220m=1219\sqrt[19]{20^{m}} \exp \left(\frac{2 \pi i m}{19}\right)=\frac{1}{2} \Longrightarrow 20^{m}=\frac{1}{2^{19}}, a contradiction. Thus we have proved that the polynomial in xx has no double roots. Since for each bb there exists a unique pair (x,y)(x, y) (up to permutations) that satisfies x2+y2=bx^{2}+y^{2}=b and (x+y)2=1(x+y)^{2}=1, the polynomial in bb has no double roots. Let the coefficient of bnb^{n} in the above equation be [bn]\left[b^{n}\right]. By Vieta's Formulas, the sum of all possible values of b=x2+y2b=x^{2}+y^{2} is equal to [b9][b10].[b10]=2220(210)-\frac{\left[b^{9}\right]}{\left[b^{10}\right]} . \quad\left[b^{10}\right]=\frac{2}{2^{20}}\left(2^{10}\right) and [b9]=2220((101)29+(202)29)\left[b^{9}\right]=\frac{2}{2^{20}}\left(-\binom{10}{1} 2^{9}+\binom{20}{2} 2^{9}\right); thus [b9][b10]=(101)29(202)29210=90-\frac{\left[b^{9}\right]}{\left[b^{10}\right]}=-\frac{\binom{10}{1} 2^{9}-\binom{20}{2} 2^{9}}{2^{10}}=-90.

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