Monday, 27 August 2018

polynomials - A question on greatest common divisor



I had this question in the Maths Olympiad today. I couldn't solve the part of the greatest common divisor. Please help me understand how to solve it. The question was this:



Let P(x)=x3+ax2+b and Q(x)=x3+bx+a, where a and b are non-zero real numbers. If the roots of P(x)=0 are the reciprocals of the roots of Q(x)=0, then prove that a and b are integers. Also find the greatest common divisor of P(2013!+1) and Q(2013!+1).



Let the roots of P(x)=0 be α,β,andγ. Then we have the following four relations. α+β+γ=a αβγ=b1αβ+1βγ+1αγ=b1αβγ=a




From these, we get a=b=1 So, P(x)=x3+x2+1 and Q(x)=x3+x+1. Now, how to proceed further?


Answer



If d divides P(x),Q(x)



d will divide P(x)Q(x)=x2x=x(x1)



But d can not divide x as (P(x),x)=1d will divide x1



Again, d will divide x2+x+1(x2x)=2x+1




Again, d will divide 2x+12(x1)=3



Observe that 3 divides P(2013!+1),Q(2013!+1)



as 2013!+1\equiv1\pmod3, (2013!+1)^n\equiv1 for any integer n\ge0


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