Found problems: 3597
Let $n$ be a positive integer, and let $p(x)$ be a polynomial of
degree $n$ with integer coefficients. Prove that
$$
\max_{0\le x\le1} \big|p(x)\big| > \frac1{e^n}.
$$
Proposed by Géza Kós, Eötvös University, Budapest
Suppose that $P(x, y, z)$ is a homogeneous degree 4 polynomial in three variables such that $P(a, b, c) = P(b, c, a)$ and $P(a, a, b) = 0$ for all real $a$, $b$, and $c$. If $P(1, 2, 3) = 1$, compute $P(2, 4, 8)$.
Note: $P(x, y, z)$ is a homogeneous degree $4$ polynomial if it satisfies $P(ka, kb, kc) = k^4P(a, b, c)$ for all real $k, a, b, c$.
a) Consider the polynomial $P(X)=X^5\in \mathbb{R}[X]$. Show that for every $\alpha\in\mathbb{R}^*$, the polynomial $P(X+\alpha )-P(X)$ has no real roots.
b) Let $P(X)\in\mathbb{R}[X]$ be a polynomial of degree $n\ge 2$, with real and distinct roots. Show that there exists $\alpha\in\mathbb{Q}^*$ such that the polynomial $P(X+\alpha )-P(X)$ has only real roots.
Let $ f(x)$ be a polynomial with rational coefficients and $ \alpha$ be a real number such that \[ \alpha^3 \minus{} \alpha \equal{} [f(\alpha)]^3 \minus{} f(\alpha) \equal{} 33^{1992}.\] Prove that for each $ n \geq 1,$ \[ \left [ f^{n}(\alpha) \right]^3 \minus{} f^{n}(\alpha) \equal{} 33^{1992},\] where $ f^{n}(x) \equal{} f(f(\cdots f(x))),$ and $ n$ is a positive integer.
Let $p(x)=x^n+a_{n-1}x^{n-1}+\cdots+a_1x+a_0$ be a monic polynomial of degree $n>2$, with real coefficients and all its roots real and different from zero. Prove that for all $k=0,1,2,\cdots,n-2$, at least one of the coefficients $a_k,a_{k+1}$ is different from zero.
Suppose that for polynomials \( P, Q, R \) with positive integer coefficients, the following two conditions hold:
\(\bullet\) The constant terms of \( P, Q, R \) are equal.
\(\bullet\) For all real numbers \( x \), the following relations hold:
\[
P(Q(R(x))) = Q(R(P(x))) = R(P(Q(x))) = P(R(Q(x))) = Q(P(R(x))) = R(Q(P(x))).
\]
Prove that for every real number \( x \), \( P(x) = Q(x) = R(x) \).
Proposed by Soroush Behroozifar & Ali Nazarboland
given that p,q are two polynomials such that each one has at least one root and \[p(1+x+q(x)^2)=q(1+x+p(x)^2)\] then prove that p=q
Let $p(x)$ be a cubic polynomial with integer coefficients with leading coefficient $1$ and with one of its roots equal to the product of the other two. Show that $2p(-1)$ is a multiple of $p(1)+p(-1)-2(1+p(0)).$
Find all real non-zero polynomials satisfying $P(x)^3+3P(x)^2=P(x^{3})-3P(-x)$ for all $x\in\mathbb{R}$.
Let $P(x)$ denote the polynomial
\[3\sum_{k=0}^{9}x^k + 2\sum_{k=10}^{1209}x^k + \sum_{k=1210}^{146409}x^k.\]Find the smallest positive integer $n$ for which there exist polynomials $f,g$ with integer coefficients satisfying $x^n - 1 = (x^{16} + 1)P(x) f(x) + 11\cdot g(x)$.
[i]Victor Wang.[/i]
Consider the sequence $(a_n)_{n\in \mathbb{N}}$ with $a_0=a_1=a_2=a_3=1$ and $a_na_{n-4}=a_{n-1}a_{n-3} + a^2_{n-2}$. Prove that all the terms of this sequence are integer numbers.
Find the largest real number $\lambda$ with the following property: for any positive real numbers $p,q,r,s$ there exists a complex number $z=a+bi$($a,b\in \mathbb{R})$ such that $$ |b|\ge \lambda |a| \quad \text{and} \quad (pz^3+2qz^2+2rz+s) \cdot (qz^3+2pz^2+2sz+r) =0.$$
Initially memory of computer contained a single polynomial $x^2-1$. Every minute computer chooses any polynomial $f(x)$ from its memory and writes $f(x^2-1)$ and $f(x)^2-1$ to it, or chooses any two distinct polynomials $g(x), h(x)$ from its memory and writes polynomial $\frac{g(x) + h(x)}{2}$ to it (no polynomial is ever erased from its memory). Can it happen that after some time, memory of computer contains $P(x) = \frac{1}{1024}(x^2-1)^{2048} - 1$?
[i](Proposed by Arsenii Nikolaiev)[/i]
Determine all polynomials $a(x)$, $b(x)$, $c(x)$, $d(x)$ with real coefficients satisfying the simultaneous equations
\begin{align*}
b(x) c(x) + a(x) d(x) & = 0 \\
a(x) c(x) + (1 - x^2) b(x) d(x) & = x + 1.
\end{align*}
A polynomial $P(x)$ is called [i]nice[/i] if $P(0) = 1$ and the nonzero coefficients of $P(x)$ alternate between $1$ and $-1$ when written in order. Suppose that $P(x)$ is nice, and let $m$ and $n$ be two relatively prime positive integers. Show that
\[Q(x) = P(x^n) \cdot \frac{(x^{mn} - 1)(x-1)}{(x^m-1)(x^n-1)}\]
is nice as well.
$ A$ and $ B$ play the following game with a polynomial of degree at least 4:
\[ x^{2n} \plus{} \_x^{2n \minus{} 1} \plus{} \_x^{2n \minus{} 2} \plus{} \ldots \plus{} \_x \plus{} 1 \equal{} 0
\]
$ A$ and $ B$ take turns to fill in one of the blanks with a real number until all the blanks are filled up. If the resulting polynomial has no real roots, $ A$ wins. Otherwise, $ B$ wins. If $ A$ begins, which player has a winning strategy?
The equation
\[x^5 + 5 \lambda x^4 - x^3 + (\lambda \alpha - 4)x^2 - (8 \lambda + 3)x + \lambda \alpha - 2 = 0\]
is given. Determine $\alpha$ so that the given equation has exactly (i) one root or (ii) two roots, respectively, independent from $\lambda.$
Find all positive integers $ n\in\{1,2,3,\ldots,2009\}$ such that
\[ 4n^6 \plus{} n^3 \plus{} 5\]
is divisible by $ 7$.
Consider a real poylnomial $p(x)=a_nx^n+...+a_1x+a_0$.
(a) If $\deg(p(x))>2$ prove that $\deg(p(x)) = 2 + deg(p(x+1)+p(x-1)-2p(x))$.
(b) Let $p(x)$ a polynomial for which there are real constants $r,s$ so that for all real $x$ we have \[ p(x+1)+p(x-1)-rp(x)-s=0 \]Prove $\deg(p(x))\le 2$.
(c) Show, in (b) that $s=0$ implies $a_2=0$.
Let $\{x_i\}, 1\le i\le 6$ be a given set of six integers, none of which are divisible by $7$.
$(a)$ Prove that at least one of the expressions of the form $x_1\pm x_2\pm x_3\pm x_4\pm x_5\pm x_6$ is divisible by $7$, where the $\pm$ signs are independent of each other.
$(b)$ Generalize the result to every prime number.
Initially there are $n+1$ monomials on the blackboard: $1,x,x^2, \ldots, x^n $. Every minute each of $k$ boys simultaneously write on the blackboard the sum of some two polynomials that were written before. After $m$ minutes among others there are the polynomials $S_1=1+x,S_2=1+x+x^2,S_3=1+x+x^2+x^3,\ldots ,S_n=1+x+x^2+ \ldots +x^n$ on the blackboard. Prove that $ m\geq \frac{2n}{k+1} $.
Let $P$ be a polynomial with real coefficients such that $P(x) > 0$ if $x > 0$. Prove that there exist polynomials $Q$ and $R$ with nonnegative coefficients such that $P(x) = \frac{Q(x)}{R(x)}$ if $x > 0.$
Let $ f(x) \equal{} \prod^n_{k\equal{}1} (x \minus{} a_k) \minus{} 2,$ where $ n \geq 3$ and $ a_1, a_2, \ldots,$ an are distinct integers. Suppose that $ f(x) \equal{} g(x)h(x),$ where $ g(x), h(x)$ are both nonconstant polynomials with integer coefficients. Prove that $ n \equal{} 3.$
The time-varying temperature of a certain body is given by a polynomial in the time of degree at most three. Show that the average temperature of the body between $9$ am and $3$ pm can always be found by taking the average of the temperatures at two fixed times, which are independent of the polynomial. Also, show that these two times are $10\colon \! 16$ am and $1\colon \!44$ pm to the nearest minute.
The polynomial $f(x)=x^3-3x^2-4x+4$ has three real roots $r_1$, $r_2$, and $r_3$. Let $g(x)=x^3+ax^2+bx+c$ be the polynomial which has roots $s_1$, $s_2$, and $s_3$, where $s_1=r_1+r_2z+r_3z^2$, $s_2=r_1z+r_2z^2+r_3$, $s_3=r_1z^2+r_2+r_3z$, and $z=\frac{-1+i\sqrt3}2$. Find the real part of the sum of the coefficients of $g(x)$.