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Algebra Difficulty 6.3 National Olympiad Prove it Saudi Arabia

Given two non-constant polynomials P(x),Q(x)P(x), Q(x) with real coefficients. For a real number aa, we define
Pa={z∈C:P(z)=a};Qa={z∈C:Q(z)=a}. P_{a} = \{ z \in \mathbb{C} : P(z) = a \} ; \quad Q_{a} = \{ z \in \mathbb{C} : Q(z) = a \} .
Denote by KK the set of real numbers aa such that Pa=QaP_{a} = Q_{a}. Suppose that the set KK contains at least two elements, prove that P(x)=Q(x)P(x) = Q(x).

Solution

First we see that if the polynomial P(x)−aP(x)-a has a root α\alpha with multiplicity kk, then P′(x)P'(x) also has the root α\alpha with multiplicity k−1k-1.

Assume that a,ba, b are two distinct elements of KK and r1,r2,…,rir_{1}, r_{2}, \ldots, r_{i} are the roots of P(x)−aP(x)-a with multiplicity k1,k2,…,kik_{1}, k_{2}, \ldots, k_{i}, respectively.
Then r1,r2,…,rir_{1}, r_{2}, \ldots, r_{i} are also the roots of Q(x)−aQ(x)-a.
Let t1,t2,…,tjt_{1}, t_{2}, \ldots, t_{j} be the roots of P(x)−bP(x)-b with multiplicity s1,s2,…,sjs_{1}, s_{2}, \ldots, s_{j}, respectively.
Then t1,t2,…,tjt_{1}, t_{2}, \ldots, t_{j} are also the roots of Q(x)−bQ(x)-b.

Assume that deg⁡P(x)≥deg⁡Q(x)\deg P(x) \geq \deg Q(x), and R(x)=P(x)−Q(x)R(x) = P(x) - Q(x) is not identically zero. Thus, deg⁡P(x)=k1+⋯+ki=s1+⋯+sj≥deg⁡R(x)≥i+j\deg P(x) = k_{1} + \cdots + k_{i} = s_{1} + \cdots + s_{j} \geq \deg R(x) \geq i + j, then we can get
deg⁡P′(x)≥(k1−1)+⋯+(ki−1)+(s1−1)+⋯+(sj−1)=(k1+⋯+ki)+(s1+⋯+sj)−(i+j)≥deg⁡P(x), \begin{aligned} \deg P'(x) & \geq (k_{1} - 1) + \cdots + (k_{i} - 1) + (s_{1} - 1) + \cdots + (s_{j} - 1) \\ & = (k_{1} + \cdots + k_{i}) + (s_{1} + \cdots + s_{j}) - (i + j) \geq \deg P(x), \end{aligned}
a contradiction. □\square

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