Found problems: 3597
2013 IMO Shortlist, A6
Let $m \neq 0 $ be an integer. Find all polynomials $P(x) $ with real coefficients such that
\[ (x^3 - mx^2 +1 ) P(x+1) + (x^3+mx^2+1) P(x-1) =2(x^3 - mx +1 ) P(x) \]
for all real number $x$.
2010 District Olympiad, 2
Consider the matrix $ A,B\in \mathcal l{M}_3(\mathbb{C})$ with $ A=-^tA$ and $ B=^tB$. Prove that if the polinomial function defined by
\[ f(x)=\det(A+xB)\]
has a multiple root, then $ \det(A+B)=\det B$.
1985 Polish MO Finals, 5
$p(x,y)$ is a polynomial such that $p(cos t, sin t) = 0$ for all real $t$.
Show that there is a polynomial $q(x,y)$ such that $p(x,y) = (x^2 + y^2 - 1) q(x,y)$.
2021 SAFEST Olympiad, 5
Find all polynomials $P$ with real coefficients having no repeated roots, such that for any complex number $z$, the equation $zP(z) = 1$ holds if and only if $P(z-1)P(z + 1) = 0$.
Remark: Remember that the roots of a polynomial are not necessarily real numbers.
Kvant 2019, M2575
Let $t\in (1,2)$. Show that there exists a polynomial $P(x)=a_nx^n+a_{n-1}x^{n-1}+...+a_1x+a_0$ with the coefficients in $\{1,-1\}$ such that $\left|P(t)-2019\right| \leqslant 1.$
[i]Proposed by N. Safaei (Iran)[/i]
2018 India PRMO, 30
Let $P(x)$ = $a_0+a_1x+a_2x^2+\cdots +a_nx^n$ be a polynomial in which $a_i$ is non-negative integer for each $i \in$ {$0,1,2,3,....,n$} . If $P(1) = 4$ and $P(5) = 136$, what is the value of $P(3)$?
2012 Iran MO (2nd Round), 2
Consider the second degree polynomial $x^2+ax+b$ with real coefficients. We know that the necessary and sufficient condition for this polynomial to have roots in real numbers is that its discriminant, $a^2-4b$ be greater than or equal to zero. Note that the discriminant is also a polynomial with variables $a$ and $b$. Prove that the same story is not true for polynomials of degree $4$: Prove that there does not exist a $4$ variable polynomial $P(a,b,c,d)$ such that:
The fourth degree polynomial $x^4+ax^3+bx^2+cx+d$ can be written as the product of four $1$st degree polynomials if and only if $P(a,b,c,d)\ge 0$. (All the coefficients are real numbers.)
[i]Proposed by Sahand Seifnashri[/i]
2008 Vietnam Team Selection Test, 3
Consider the set $ M = \{1,2, \ldots ,2008\}$. Paint every number in the set $ M$ with one of the three colors blue, yellow, red such that each color is utilized to paint at least one number. Define two sets:
$ S_1=\{(x,y,z)\in M^3\ \mid\ x,y,z\text{ have the same color and }2008 | (x + y + z)\}$;
$ S_2=\{(x,y,z)\in M^3\ \mid\ x,y,z\text{ have three pairwisely different colors and }2008 | (x + y + z)\}$.
Prove that $ 2|S_1| > |S_2|$ (where $ |X|$ denotes the number of elements in a set $ X$).
1978 Putnam, A3
Find the value of $ k\ (0<k<5)$ such that $ \int_0^{\infty} \frac{x^k}{2\plus{}4x\plus{}3x^2\plus{}5x^3\plus{}3x^4\plus{}4x^5\plus{}2x^6}\ dx$ is minimal.
2016 Turkey Team Selection Test, 9
$p$ is a prime. Let $K_p$ be the set of all polynomials with coefficients from the set $\{0,1,\dots ,p-1\}$ and degree less than $p$. Assume that for all pairs of polynomials $P,Q\in K_p$ such that $P(Q(n))\equiv n\pmod p$ for all integers $n$, the degrees of $P$ and $Q$ are equal. Determine all primes $p$ with this condition.
2009 Iran Team Selection Test, 8
Find all polynomials $ P(x,y)$ such that for all reals $ x$ and $y$,
\[P(x^{2},y^{2}) =P\left(\frac {(x + y)^{2}}{2},\frac {(x - y)^{2}}{2}\right).\]
2015 HMNT, 19-27
19) Each cell of a $2$ × $5$ grid of unit squares is to be colored white or black. Compute the number of
such colorings for which no $2$ × $2$ square is a single color.
20) Let $n$ be a three-digit integer with nonzero digits, not all of which are the same. Define $f(n)$ to be
the greatest common divisor of the six integers formed by any permutation of $n$s digits. For example,
$f(123) = 3$, because $gcd(123, 132, 213, 231, 312, 321) = 3$. Let the maximum possible value of $f(n)$ be
$k$. Find the sum of all $n$ for which $f(n) = k$.
21) Consider a $2$ × $2$ grid of squares. Each of the squares will be colored with one of $10$ colors, and
two colorings are considered equivalent if one can be rotated to form the other. How many distinct
colorings are there?
22) Find all the roots of the polynomial $x^5 - 5x^4 + 11x^3 -13x^2+9x-3$
23) Compute the smallest positive integer $n$ for which $0 < \sqrt[4]{n} - \left \lfloor{\sqrt[4]{n}}\right \rfloor < \dfrac{1}{2015}$.
24) Three ants begin on three different vertices of a tetrahedron. Every second, they choose one of the
three edges connecting to the vertex they are on with equal probability and travel to the other vertex
on that edge. They all stop when any two ants reach the same vertex at the same time. What is the
probability that all three ants are at the same vertex when they stop?
25) Let $ABC$ be a triangle that satisfies $AB = 13$, $BC = 14$, $AC = 15$. Given a point $P$ in the plane,
let $PA$, $PB$, $PC$ be the reflections of $A$, $B$, $C$ across $P$. Call $P$ [i]good[/i] if the circumcircle of $P_A P_B P_C$ intersects the circumcircle of $ABC$ at exactly 1 point. The locus of good points $P$ encloses a region $S$.
Find the area of $S$.
26. Let $f : \mathbb{R}^+ \rightarrow \mathbb{R}$ be a continuous function satisfying $f(xy) = f(x) + f(y) + 1$ for all positive reals ${x,y}$. If $f(2) = 0$, compute $f(2015)$.
27) Let $ABCD$ be a quadrilateral with $A = (3,4)$, $B=(9,-40)$, $C = (-5,-12)$, $D = (-7,24)$. Let $P$
be a point in the plane (not necessarily inside the quadrilateral). Find the minimum possible value of
$\overline{AP} + \overline{BP} + \overline{CP} + \overline{DP}$.
2011 Iran MO (3rd Round), 4
Suppose that $n$ is a natural number and $n$ is not divisible by $3$. Prove that
$(n^{2n}+n^n+n+1)^{2n}+(n^{2n}+n^n+n+1)^n+1$
has at least $2d(n)$ distinct prime factors where $d(n)$ is the number of positive divisors of $n$.
[i]proposed by Mahyar Sefidgaran[/i]
1976 USAMO, 5
If $ P(x),Q(x),R(x)$, and $ S(x)$ are all polynomials such that \[ P(x^5)\plus{}xQ(x^5)\plus{}x^2R(x^5)\equal{}(x^4\plus{}x^3\plus{}x^2\plus{}x\plus{}1)S(x),\] prove that $ x\minus{}1$ is a factor of $ P(x)$.
2017 Peru IMO TST, 14
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]
2003 Alexandru Myller, 1
Let be two (not necessarily distinct) roots of two rational polynoms (respectively) that are irreducible over the rationals. Prove that these polynoms have the same degree if the sum of those two roots is rational.
[i]Bogdan Enescu[/i]
2009 Canadian Mathematical Olympiad Qualification Repechage, 3
Prove that there does not exist a polynomial $f(x)$ with integer coefficients for which $f(2008) = 0$ and $f(2010) = 1867$.
2009 Tuymaada Olympiad, 4
Each of the subsets $ A_1$, $ A_2$, $ \dots,$ $ A_n$ of a 2009-element set $ X$ contains at least 4 elements. The intersection of every two of these subsets contains at most 2 elements. Prove that in $ X$ there is a 24-element subset $ B$ containing neither of the sets $ A_1$, $ A_2$, $ \dots,$ $ A_n$.
2022 Iran MO (3rd Round), 1
Assume natural number $n\ge2$. Amin and Ali take turns playing the following game:
In each step, the player whose turn has come chooses index $i$ from the set $\{0,1,\cdots,n\}$, such that none of the two players had chosen this index in the previous turns; also this player in this turn chooses nonzero rational number $a_i$ too. Ali performs the first turn. The game ends when all the indices $i\in\{0,1,\cdots,n\}$ were chosen. In the end, from the chosen numbers the following polynomial is built:
$$P(x)=a_nx^n+\cdots+a_1x+a_0$$
Ali's goal is that the preceding polynomial has a rational root and Amin's goal is that to prevent this matter.
Find all $n\ge2$ such that Ali can play in a way to be sure independent of how Amin plays achieves his goal.
2016 Turkey Team Selection Test, 4
A sequence of real numbers $a_0, a_1, \dots$ satisfies the condition\[\sum\limits_{n=0}^{m}a_n\cdot(-1)^n\cdot\dbinom{m}{n}=0\]for all large enough positive integers $m$. Prove that there exists a polynomial $P$ such that $a_n=P(n)$ for all $n\ge0$.
2024 Vietnam National Olympiad, 1
For each real number $x$, let $\lfloor x \rfloor$ denote the largest integer not exceeding $x$.
A sequence $\{a_n \}_{n=1}^{\infty}$ is defined by $a_n = \frac{1}{4^{\lfloor -\log_4 n \rfloor}}, \forall n \geq 1.$ Let $b_n = \frac{1}{n^2} \left( \sum_{k=1}^n a_k - \frac{1}{a_1+a_2} \right), \forall n \geq 1.$
a) Find a polynomial $P(x)$ with real coefficients such that $b_n = P \left( \frac{a_n}{n} \right), \forall n \geq 1$.
b) Prove that there exists a strictly increasing sequence $\{n_k \}_{k=1}^{\infty}$ of positive integers such that $$\lim_{k \to \infty} b_{n_k} = \frac{2024}{2025}.$$
2019 Hanoi Open Mathematics Competitions, 12
Given an expression $x^2 + ax + b$ where $a,b$ are integer coefficients. At any step, one can change the expression by adding either $1$ or $-1$ to only one of the two coefficients $a, b$.
a) Suppose that the initial expression has $a =-7$ and $b = 19$. Show your modification steps to obtain a new expression that has zero value at some integer value of $x$.
b) Starting from the initial expression as above, one gets the expression $x^2 - 17x + 9$ after $m$ modification steps. Prove that at a certain step $k$ with $k < m$, the obtained expression has zero value at some integer value of $x$.
2022 China National Olympiad, 6
For integers $0\le a\le n$, let $f(n,a)$ denote the number of coefficients in the expansion of $(x+1)^a(x+2)^{n-a}$ that is divisible by $3.$ For example, $(x+1)^3(x+2)^1=x^4+5x^3+9x^2+7x+2$, so $f(4,3)=1$. For each positive integer $n$, let $F(n)$ be the minimum of $f(n,0),f(n,1),\ldots ,f(n,n)$.
(1) Prove that there exist infinitely many positive integer $n$ such that $F(n)\ge \frac{n-1}{3}$.
(2) Prove that for any positive integer $n$, $F(n)\le \frac{n-1}{3}$.
2021 Thailand TSTST, 3
Let $m, n$ be positive integers. Show that the polynomial $$f(x)=x^m(x^2-100)^n-11$$ cannot be expressed as a product of two non-constant polynomials with integral coefficients.
PEN E Problems, 39
Let $c$ be a nonzero real number. Suppose that $g(x)=c_0x^r+c_1x^{r-1}+\cdots+c_{r-1}x+c_r$ is a polynomial with integer coefficients. Suppose that the roots of $g(x)$ are $b_1,\cdots,b_r$. Let $k$ be a given positive integer. Show that there is a prime $p$ such that $p>\max(k,|c|,|c_r|)$, and moreover if $t$ is a real number between $0$ and $1$, and $j$ is one of $1,\cdots,r$, then \[|(\text{ }c^r\text{ }b_j\text{}g(tb_j)\text{ })^pe^{(1-t)b}|<\dfrac{(p-1)!}{2r}.\] Furthermore, if \[f(x)=\dfrac{e^{rp-1}x^{p-1}(g(x))^p}{(p-1)!}\] then \[\left|\sum_{j=1}^r\int_0^1 e^{(1-t)b_j}f(tb_j)dt\right|\leq \dfrac{1}{2}.\]