Prove that the equation $x^n - a_1x^{n-1} - a_2x^{n-2} - ... -a_{n-1}x - a_n = 0$, where $a_1 \ge 0, a_2 \ge 0, . . . , a_n \ge 0$, cannot have two positive roots.

Find all polynomials $f(x)$ with integer coefficients such that $f(n)$ and $f(2^{n})$ are co-prime for all natural numbers $n$.

a) Find the minimal value of the polynomial $$P(x,y) = 4 + x^2y^4 + x^4y^2 - 3x^2y^2$$ b) Prove that it cannot be represented as a sum of the squares of some polynomials of $x,y$.

Prove that for any integer $a$ the polynomial $3x^{2n}+ax^n+2$ cannot be divided by $2x^{2m}+ax^m+3$ without a remainder.

Given a positive integer $k > 1$, find all positive integers $n$ such that the polynomial $$P(z) = z^n + \sum_{j=0}^{2^k-2} z^j = 1 +z +z^2 + \cdots +z^{2^k-2} + z^n$$ has a complex root $w$ such that $|w| = 1$.

Suppose $f(x)$ is a polynomial with integer coefficients satisfying the condition $0 \le f(c) \le 1997$ for each $c \in \{0, 1, ..., 1998\}$. Is is true that $f(0) = f(1) = ... = f(1998)$? (variation of [url=https://artofproblemsolving.com/community/c6h49788p315649]1997 IMO Shortlist p12[/url])

Prove that any polynomial of the form $1+a_nx^n + a_{n+1}x^{n+1} + \cdots + a_kx^k$ ($k\ge n$) has at least $n-2$ non-real roots (counting multiplicity), where the $a_i$ ($n\le i\le k$) are real and $a_k\ne 0$. [i]David Yang.[/i]

Prove the following statement: If a polynomial $f(x)$ with real coefficients takes only nonnegative values, then there exists a positive integer $n$ and polynomials $g_1(x), g_2(x),\cdots, g_n(x)$ such that \[f(x) = g_1(x)^2 + g_2(x)^2 +\cdots+ g_n(x)^2\]

A polynomial $p(x)$ with real coefficients is said to be [i]almeriense[/i] if it is of the form: $$ p(x) = x^3+ax^2+bx+a $$ And its three roots are positive real numbers in arithmetic progression. Find all [i]almeriense[/i] polynomials such that $p\left(\frac{7}{4}\right) = 0$

Let $ a\geq 2$ be a real number; with the roots $ x_{1}$ and $ x_{2}$ of the equation $ x^2\minus{}ax\plus{}1\equal{}0$ we build the sequence with $ S_{n}\equal{}x_{1}^n \plus{} x_{2}^n$. [b]a)[/b]Prove that the sequence $ \frac{S_{n}}{S_{n\plus{}1}}$, where $ n$ takes value from $ 1$ up to infinity, is strictly non increasing. [b]b)[/b]Find all value of $ a$ for the which this inequality hold for all natural values of $ n$ $ \frac{S_{1}}{S_{2}}\plus{}\cdots \plus{}\frac{S_{n}}{S_{n\plus{}1}}>n\minus{}1$

$P(x)$ is a polynomial with real coefficients such that $P(a_1) = 0, P(a_{i+1}) = a_i$ ($i = 1, 2,\ldots$) where $\{a_i\}_{i=1,2,\ldots}$ is an infinite sequence of distinct natural numbers. Determine the possible values of degree of $P(x)$.

Let $f(x)=x^2-ax+b$, where $a$ and $b$ are positive integers. (a) Suppose that $a=2$ and $b=2$. Determine the set of real roots of $f(x)-x$, and the set of real roots of $f(f(x))-x$. (b) Determine the number of positive integers $(a,b)$ with $1\le a,b\le 2011$ for which every root of $f(f(x))-x$ is an integer.

A polynomial $P(x)$ with integer coefficients takes odd values at $x = 0$ and $x = 1$. Prove that $P(x)$ has no integer roots.

Given is the polynomial $P(x)$ and the numbers $a_1,a_2,a_3,b_1,b_2,b_3$ such that $a_1a_2a_3\not=0$. Suppose that for every $x$, we have \[P(a_1x+b_1)+P(a_2x+b_2)=P(a_3x+b_3)\] Prove that the polynomial $P(x)$ has at least one real root.

Show that there are infinitely many primes.

An infinite increasing arithmetical progression consists of positive integers and contains a perfect cube. Prove that this progression also contains a term which is a perfect cube but not a perfect square.

Scientist have succeeded to find new numbers between real numbers with strong microscopes. Now real numbers are extended in a new larger system we have an order on it (which if induces normal order on $ \mathbb R$), and also 4 operations addition, multiplication,... and these operation have all properties the same as $ \mathbb R$. [img]http://i14.tinypic.com/4tk6mnr.png[/img] a) Prove that in this larger system there is a number which is smaller than each positive integer and is larger than zero. b) Prove that none of these numbers are root of a polynomial in $ \mathbb R[x]$.

Done with her new problems, Wendy takes a break from math. Still without any fresh reading material, she feels a bit antsy. She starts to feel annoyed that Michael's loose papers clutter the family van. Several of them are ripped, and bits of paper litter the floor. Tired of trying to get Michael to clean up after himself, Wendy spends a couple of minutes putting Michael's loose papers in the trash. "That seems fair to me," confirms Hannah encouragingly. While collecting Michael's scraps, Wendy comes across a corner of a piece of paper with part of a math problem written on it. There is a monic polynomial of degree $n$, with real coefficients. The first two terms after $x^n$ are $a_{n-1}x^{n-1}$ and $a_{n-2}x^{n-2}$, but the rest of the polynomial is cut off where Michael's page is ripped. Wendy barely makes out a little of Michael's scribbling, showing that $a_{n-1}=-a_{n-2}$. Wendy deciphers the goal of the problem, which is to find the sum of the squares of the roots of the polynomial. Wendy knows neither the value of $n$, nor the value of $a_{n-1}$, but still she finds a [greatest] lower bound for the answer to the problem. Find the absolute value of that lower bound.

Find all monic polynomials $P(x)$ such that the polynomial $P(x)^2-1$ is divisible by the polynomial $P(x+1)$.

$N $ different numbers are written on blackboard and one of these numbers is equal to $0$.One may take any polynomial such that each of its coefficients is equal to one of written numbers ( there may be some equal coefficients ) and write all its roots on blackboard.After some of these operations all integers between $-2016$ and $2016$ were written on blackboard(and some other numbers maybe). Find the smallest possible value of $N $.

Let $a,b,c$ be the roots of the cubic $x^3 + 3x^2 + 5x + 7$. Given that $P$ is a cubic polynomial such that $P(a)=b+c$, $P(b) = c+a$, $P(c) = a+b$, and $P(a+b+c) = -16$, find $P(0)$. [i]Author: Alex Zhu[/i]

Prove that the interval $\lbrack 0,1 \rbrack$ can be split into black and white intervals for any quadratic polynomial $P(x)$, such that the sum of weights of the black intervals is equal to the sum of weights of the white intervals. (Define the weight of the interval $\lbrack a,b \rbrack$ as $P(b) - P(a)$.) Does the same result hold with a degree 3 or degree 5 polynomial?

For any positive integer $k$, denote the sum of digits of $k$ in its decimal representation by $S(k)$. Find all polynomials $P(x)$ with integer coefficients such that for any positive integer $n \geq 2016$, the integer $P(n)$ is positive and $$S(P(n)) = P(S(n)).$$ [i]Proposed by Warut Suksompong, Thailand[/i]

For every non-negative integer $k$ let $S(k)$ denote the sum of decimal digits of $k$. Let $P(x)$ and $Q(x)$ be polynomials with non-negative integer coecients such that $S(P(n)) = S(Q(n))$ for all non-negative integers $n$. Prove that there exists an integer $t$ such that $P(x) - 10^tQ(x)$ is a constant polynomial.

Do there exist quadratic polynomials $P(x)$ and $Q(x)$ with real coeffcients such that the polynomial $P(Q(x))$ has precisely the zeros $x = 2, x = 3, x =5$ and $x = 7$?