Sunday, 20 August 2017

How to solve this set of symmetric polynomial expressions



So there's this set of polynomial expressions with degree n=3:




$$
\left\{
\begin{array}{c}
x_1 + x_2 + x_3 = a \\
x_1^2 + x_2^2 + x_3^2 = b \\
x_1^3 + x_2^3 + x_3^3 = c
\end{array}
\right.
$$




How to find atleast one set of x1,x2,x3 values, knowing that all variables and constants (a,b,c) are positive integers?



Thank you.






Update:



Alright, with the help in the comments I was able to transform this set into a single polynomial expression that can be solved in various ways.




Using Newton's identities:
$$
\begin{array}{}
x_1^2 + x_2^2 + x_3^2 = (x_1 + x_2 + x_3)^2 - 2(x_1x_2 + x_2x_3 + x_1x_3) \\
x_1^3 + x_2^3 + x_3^3 = (x_1 + x_2 + x_3)^3 - 3(x_1x_2 + x_2x_3 + x_1x_3)(x_1 + x_2 + x_3) + 3x_1x_2x_3
\end{array}
$$



We can substitute expressions in the set:




$$
\left\{
\begin{array}{}
x_1 + x_2 + x_3 = a \\
(x_1 + x_2 + x_3)^2 - 2(x_1x_2 + x_2x_3 + x_1x_3) = b \\
(x_1 + x_2 + x_3)^3 - 3(x_1x_2 + x_2x_3 + x_1x_3)(x_1 + x_2 + x_3) + 3x_1x_2x_3 = c
\end{array}
\right.
$$




$$
\left\{
\begin{array}{}
x_1 + x_2 + x_3 = a \\
x_1x_2 + x_2x_3 + x_1x_3 = \frac{a^2 - b}{2} \\
(x_1 + x_2 + x_3)^3 - 3(x_1x_2 + x_2x_3 + x_1x_3)(x_1 + x_2 + x_3) + 3x_1x_2x_3 = c
\end{array}
\right.
$$




$$
\left\{
\begin{array}{}
x_1 + x_2 + x_3 = a \\
x_1x_2 + x_2x_3 + x_1x_3 = \frac{a^2 - b}{2} \\
x_1x_2x_3 = \frac{c + 3a\frac{a^2-b}{2} - a^3}{3}
\end{array}
\right.
$$




To simplify, let's assume (since the right halves of the last set are all constants):



$$
\begin{array}{}
p_1 = a \\
p_2 = \frac{a^2 - b}{2} \\
p_3 = \frac{c + 3a\frac{a^2-b}{2} - a^3}{3}
\end{array}
$$




So we get:



$$
\left\{
\begin{array}{}
x_1 + x_2 + x_3 = p_1 \\
x_1x_2 + x_2x_3 + x_1x_3 = p_2 \\
x_1x_2x_3 = p_3
\end{array}
\right.

$$



Now, using Viete's theorem for general polynomial of degree 3:



$$
P(x) = a_3t^3 + a_2t^2 + a_1t + a_0
$$



With the following properties:




$$
\begin{array}{}
t_1 + t_2 + t_3 = -\frac{a_2}{a_3} \\
t_1t_2 + t_2t_3 + t_1t_3 = \frac{a_1}{a_3} \\
t_1t_2t_3 = -\frac{a_0}{a_3}
\end{array}
$$



Applying to our set:




$$
\left\{
\begin{array}{}
p_1 = -\frac{a_2}{a_3} \\
p_2 = \frac{a_1}{a_3} \\
p_3 = -\frac{a_0}{a_3}
\end{array}
\right.
$$




And assuming that $a_3 = 1$, the final polynomial will be the following:



$$
t^3 - p_1t^2 + p_2t - p_3 = 0,
$$



where the three roots of $t$ are variables $x_1, x_2$ and $x_3$.



(Using Buchberger's algorithm might be a good way to solve it a well, but I was struggling with it and decided to do it this way for now.)


Answer




Take the resultant of $x_1 + x_2 + x_3 - a$ and $x_1^2 + x_2^2 + x_3^2 - b$ with respect to $x_3$, the resultant of $x_1 + x_2 + x_3 - a$ and $x_1^3 + x_2^3 + x_3^3 - c$ with respect to $x_3$, and the resultant of those two resultants with respect to $x_2$. You get the square of a cubic polynomial in $x_1$ that must be $0$:



$$ -6\,{x_{{1}}}^{3}+6\,a{x_{{1}}}^{2}+ \left( -3\,{a}^{2}+3\,b \right) x
_{{1}}+{a}^{3}-3\,ab+2\,c
$$



Since it's a cubic with real coefficients, there is at least one real root.
The discriminant is $$\Delta = -216\,{a}^{6}+1944\,{a}^{4}b-1728\,{a}^{3}c-4536\,{a}^{2}{b}^{2}+7776
\,abc+648\,{b}^{3}-3888\,{c}^{2}
$$

If $\Delta > 0$, there are three distinct real roots; if $\Delta < 0$, there is only one real root. If $\Delta = 0$, there is at least one real root of multiplicity $> 1$. However, even when there is a real root for $x_1$ the solutions for $x_2$ and $x_3$ might not be real. By symmetry, in any solution the values of $x_2$ and $x_3$ are also possible values of $x_1$. Thus if we want real solutions for $x_1, x_2, x_3$ we need $\Delta \ge 0$.


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