Suppose that x and y are complex numbers such that x+y=1 and that x20+y20=20. Find the sum of all possible values of x2+y2.
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Solution
We have x2+y2+2xy=1. Define a=2xy and b=x2+y2 for convenience. Then a+b=1 and b−a=x2+y2−2xy=(x−y)2=2b−1 so that x,y=22b−1±1. Then x20+y20=(22b−1+1)20+(22b−1−1)20=2201[(2b−1+1)20+(2b−1−1)20]=2202[(2b−1)20+(220)(2b−1)18+(420)(2b−1)16+…]=20. We want to find the sum of distinct roots of the above polynomial in b; we first prove that the original polynomial is square-free. The conditions x+y=1 and x20+y20=20 imply that x20+(1−x)20−20=0; let p(x)=x20+(1−x)20−20.p is square-free if and only if GCD(p,p′)=c for some constant c: GCD(p,p′)=GCD(x20+(1−x)20−20,20(x19−(1−x)19))=GCD(x20−x(1−x)19+(1−x)19−20,20(x19−(1−x)19))=GCD((1−x)19−20,x19−(1−x)19)=GCD((1−x)19−20,x19−20). The roots of x19−20 are 1920kexp(192πik) for some k=0,1,…,18; the roots of (1−x)19−20 are 1−1920kexp(192πik) for some k=0,1,…,18. If x19−20 and (1−x)19−20 share a common root, then there exist integers m,n such that 1920mexp(192πim)=1−1920nexp(192πin); since the imaginary parts of both sides must be the same, we have m=n and 1920mexp(192πim)=21⟹20m=2191, a contradiction. Thus we have proved that the polynomial in x has no double roots. Since for each b there exists a unique pair (x,y) (up to permutations) that satisfies x2+y2=b and (x+y)2=1, the polynomial in b has no double roots. Let the coefficient of bn in the above equation be [bn]. By Vieta's Formulas, the sum of all possible values of b=x2+y2 is equal to −[b10][b9].[b10]=2202(210) and [b9]=2202(−(110)29+(220)29); thus −[b10][b9]=−210(110)29−(220)29=−90.
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