Maths Olympiad Prep

Track / Stage 7 / 221 of 300 #1621 of 1964

Problem 1621

National olympiad second round; IMO P1/P4
Number theory Difficulty 7.4 Find the answer

Find all polynomials with integer coefficients PP such that for all positive integers nn, the sequence 0,P(0),P(P(0)),0, P(0), P(P(0)), \cdots is eventually constant modulo nn.

Proposed by Ivan Chan

A number or a short expression. Spacing, $ signs and \frac vs / are all fine.

Official solution

1. **Case 1: P(0)=0 P(0) = 0 **
- If P(0)=0 P(0) = 0 , then P(x)=xQ(x) P(x) = xQ(x) for some polynomial Q(x) Q(x) with integer coefficients.
- The sequence 0,P(0),P(P(0)), 0, P(0), P(P(0)), \ldots is 0,0,0, 0, 0, 0, \ldots , which is trivially constant modulo any n n .
- Therefore, any polynomial of the form P(x)=xQ(x) P(x) = xQ(x) satisfies the condition.

2. **Case 2: P(x) P(x) is a constant polynomial**
- If P(x)=c P(x) = c for some integer c c , then the sequence 0,P(0),P(P(0)), 0, P(0), P(P(0)), \ldots is 0,c,c, 0, c, c, \ldots , which is eventually constant modulo any n n .
- Therefore, any constant polynomial satisfies the condition.

3. **Case 3: P(x) P(x) is not constant and P(0)0 P(0) \neq 0 **
- Let P(x)=i=0daixi P(x) = \sum_{i=0}^{d} a_i x^i where d=deg(P)>0 d = \deg(P) > 0 and a0=P(0)0 a_0 = P(0) \neq 0 .
- Define the sequence xn x_n such that x0=0 x_0 = 0 and xn+1=P(xn) x_{n+1} = P(x_n) . Then xn=Pn(0) x_n = P^n(0) for all n n .
- Suppose p p is a positive integer such that pPi(0) p \mid P^i(0) for some i>1 i > 1 . Then for all positive integers k k , we have:
Pki(0)P(k1)i(0)Pi(0)0(modp) P^{ki}(0) \equiv P^{(k-1)i}(0) \equiv \cdots \equiv P^i(0) \equiv 0 \pmod{p}
- Taking n=p n = p in the condition, we get that xi x_i is eventually constant modulo p p , hence it must be eventually zero modulo p p .
- Therefore, there exists N N such that pxi p \mid x_i for all i>N i > N . Hence pxi p \mid x_i and xi+1=P(xi)=j=0dajxij x_{i+1} = P(x_i) = \sum_{j=0}^{d} a_j x_i^j for large i i .
- Since pajxij p \mid a_j x_i^j for all j>0 j > 0 , p p must divide a0=P(0) a_0 = P(0) .
- Thus, if a number divides Pi(0) P^i(0) for some i i , then p p must also divide P(0) P(0) . So, Pi(0)P(0)    Pi(0)=P(0) P^i(0) \mid P(0) \implies |P^i(0)| = |P(0)| for all i i .

4. **Subcase: P(P(0))=P(0) P(P(0)) = P(0) **
- If P(P(0))=P(0) P(P(0)) = P(0) , then P(x)=(xP(0))Q(x)+P(0) P(x) = (x - P(0))Q(x) + P(0) for some Q(x)Z[x] Q(x) \in \mathbb{Z}[x] .
- For x=0 x = 0 , we get Q(0)=0    Q(x)=xR(x) Q(0) = 0 \implies Q(x) = xR(x) for some R(x)Z[x] R(x) \in \mathbb{Z}[x] .
- Therefore, P(x)=x(xP(0))R(x)+P(0) P(x) = x(x - P(0))R(x) + P(0) .
- Then P(P(0))=P(0) P(P(0)) = P(0) and hence inductively Pi(0)=Pi+1(0) P^i(0) = P^{i+1}(0) for all i>0 i > 0 , satisfying the condition.

5. **Subcase: P(P(0))=P(0) P(P(0)) = -P(0) **
- If P(P(0))=P(0) P(P(0)) = -P(0) , we consider two subcases:
- **1st Subcase: P(P(P(0)))=P(0)=P(P(0)) P(P(P(0))) = P(0) = -P(P(0)) **
- By induction, P2i+1(0)=P2i1(0)==P(0) P^{2i+1}(0) = P^{2i-1}(0) = \cdots = P(0) and P2i(0)=P2i2(0)==P(P(0))=P(0) P^{2i}(0) = P^{2i-2}(0) = \cdots = P(P(0)) = -P(0) .
- However, taking n n large enough, we have x2i+1x2i=2P(0) x_{2i+1} - x_{2i} = 2P(0) divisible by n n , which is a contradiction.
- **2nd Subcase: P(P(P(0)))=P(P(0))=P(0) P(P(P(0))) = P(P(0)) = -P(0) **
- Using P(P(0))=P(0) P(P(0)) = -P(0) , there exists Q(x)Z[x] Q(x) \in \mathbb{Z}[x] such that P(x)=(xP(0))Q(x)P(0) P(x) = (x - P(0))Q(x) - P(0) .
- For x=P(P(0)) x = P(P(0)) , we get P(P(P(0)))=(P(P(0))P(0))Q(P(P(0)))P(0)=0    Q(P(P(0)))=0    Q(P(0))=0 P(P(P(0))) = (P(P(0)) - P(0))Q(P(P(0))) - P(0) = 0 \implies Q(P(P(0))) = 0 \implies Q(-P(0)) = 0 .
- Therefore, Q(x)=(x+P(0))R(x) Q(x) = (x + P(0))R(x) and P(x)=(xP(0))(x+P(0))R(x)P(0) P(x) = (x - P(0))(x + P(0))R(x) - P(0) .
- For x=0 x = 0 , we get P(0)=P(0)2R(0)P(0)    P(0)R(0)=2    R(0)=2/P(0) P(0) = -P(0)^2 R(0) - P(0) \implies P(0)R(0) = -2 \implies R(0) = -2/P(0) .
- Since P P has integer coefficients, P(0) P(0) must be ±1 \pm 1 or ±2 \pm 2 .
- Therefore, P(x)=(xc)(x+c)(xS(x)2/c)c P(x) = (x - c)(x + c)(xS(x) - 2/c) - c for c{1,1,2,2} c \in \{1, -1, 2, -2\} and some S(x)Z[x] S(x) \in \mathbb{Z}[x] .

In conclusion, the required polynomials are of the following forms:
- P(x)=c P(x) = c
- P(x)=xQ(x) P(x) = xQ(x)
- P(x)=x(xc)R(x)+c P(x) = x(x - c)R(x) + c
- P(x)=(xc)(x+c)(xS(x)2/c)c P(x) = (x - c)(x + c)(xS(x) - 2/c) - c for c{1,1,2,2} c \in \{1, -1, 2, -2\} , where Q(x),R(x),S(x) Q(x), R(x), S(x) are polynomials with integer coefficients.

The final answer is P(x)=c \boxed{ P(x) = c } , P(x)=xQ(x) P(x) = xQ(x) , P(x)=x(xc)R(x)+c P(x) = x(x - c)R(x) + c , and P(x)=(xc)(x+c)(xS(x)2/c)c P(x) = (x - c)(x + c)(xS(x) - 2/c) - c for c{1,1,2,2} c \in \{1, -1, 2, -2\} , where Q(x),R(x),S(x) Q(x), R(x), S(x) are polynomials with integer coefficients.

Source: NuminaMath-1.5, licensed Apache-2.0. Statement and solution reproduced as published; topic, difficulty and ordering added by this site.