AlgebraDifficulty 6.5National OlympiadFind the answer
Across all polynomials P such that P(n) is an integer for all integers n, determine, with proof, all possible values of P(i), where i2=−1.
A number or a short expression. Fractions can be typed as 3/2, and spacing doesn't matter.
Solution
We claim the answer is every complex number a+bi where a and b are rationals whose simplified denominators are not multiples of any prime congruent to 1 modulo 4 . The proof consists of two main steps: proving that powers of p≡1mod4 can't appear in the denominator, and showing all possible values are attainable. We show three different methods of the former part. * Impossibility via elementary number theory} We first show that no other values are possible. Indeed, it is well known that any polynomial that maps Z into itself must be of the form P(n)=∑k=0mak(kn) for integers ak and where we treat the binomials as formal polynomials. This may be proved via finite differences. It is therefore sufficient to show that for any k,(ki) can be simplified to a fraction of the form ca+bi, where a,b,c are integers and c is not divisible by any prime that is 1 modulo 4 . We have that (ki)=k⋅(k−1)⋅…⋅1i⋅(i−1)⋅…⋅(i−(k−1)) Pick any prime p that is 1 modulo 4 . Since p is 1 modulo 4 , there exist distinct residue classes x, y modulo p so that x2≡y2≡−1modp. We will show that for every integer, r≤k divisible by p in the denominator, we can pair it with a disjoint set, {rx,ry}, of two positive integers less than k in these two residue classes so that (i−rx)(i−ry) has real and complex parts divisible by the highest power of p dividing r. Thus any factor of p that is 1 modulo 4 in the denominator, exists in the numerator as well, which suffices. Start with u=1 and repeat the following process for increasing u until there is nothing left to do. For every positive integer j≤k such that pu∣j, there exist unique jx′,jy′∈[j−pu,j) satisfying jx′≡xmodp,jy′≡ymodp and pu∣jx′2+1,jy′2+1. So pair j with the set {jx′,jy′}, and pair its old partners if any to the old partners of jx′ and jy′. The important feature of this assignment process is that we always have at step u,pmin(u,vp(r))∣rx+ry,rx2+1,ry2+1. Thus at the end of the process, (i−rx)(i−ry)=21((rx+ry)2−(rx2+1)−(ry2+1))−(rx+ry)i has real and complex parts divisible by pvp(r) as claimed. * Impossibility via Gaussian Integers} We work in the ring of Gaussian Integers Z∗={a+bi:a,b∈Z}, which is sitting inside number field Q∗={a+bi:a,b∈Q}. It's well-known that Z∗ is a unique factorization domain. For any Gaussian prime π, let νpi(z) denote the exponent of π in the factorization of z. Let p≡1(mod4) be a prime. It's well known that p splits into two Gaussian primes, p=ππˉ. Note that it suffices to show νπ(i(i−1)(i−2)…(i−k+1))≥νπ(k!)=⌊pk⌋+⌊p2k⌋+…(*) because the similar statement for πˉ will follow. The key claim is the following: Claim. For any integer t≥1 and n, at least one of numbers i−n−1,i−n−2,…,i−n−pt is divisible by πt. Proof. First, we show that there exists integer r such that πt∣i−r. To that end, by Hensel's lemma, there exists an integer s for which pt∣s2+1. Thus, πtπˉt∣(s−i)(s+i) However, gcd(s−i,s+i)∣2, so πt must divide either s−i or s+i. In particular, r=s or r=−s work. To complete the problem, pick the unique x∈{1,2,…,pt} such that n+x≡r(modp)t, so i−(n+x)≡i−r(modpt) and hence divisible by πt. Using the claim repeatedly, we find that among numbers i,i−1,i−2,…,i−k+1, - at least ⌊pk⌋ are divisible by π (this is by selecting ⌊pk⌋ disjoint contiguous block of size p ), - at least ⌊p2k⌋ are divisible by π2, - at least ⌊p3k⌋ are divisible by π3, ・ ⋮ Using these altogether suffices to prove (∗). * Impossibility via p-adics} Let P(i)=a+bi, and note that P(−i)=a−bi. Fix some p≡1mod4, and consider the p-adic integers Zp lying in Qp. Note that x2+1=0 has a solution in Zp, and hence ±i∈Zp. Now take a sequence of integers mk converging to i in Zp, so −mk converges to −i. Then since polynomials are continuous, P(mk) converges to P(i) and P(−mk) converges to P(−i), so P(mk)+P(−mk) and P(mk)−P(−mk) converge to 2x and 2yi respectively. Finally, since P(mk) and P(−mk) are integers, they have nonnegative p-adic valuation, and so by continuity, 2x and 2y have nonegative p-adic valuation. Thus, when written as simplified fractions, a and b cannot have any powers of p in their denominator, as desired. * Construction We now show that all of the claimed values are possible. The set of polynomials, P, taking Z to itself is closed under addition and multiplication, and therefore so is the set of possible values of P(i). It clearly contains Z∗ by taking linear polynomials. Thus it suffices to show that p−1 is attainable for every prime p that is not 1 modulo 4. 2−1 is achieved by taking P(x)=41x(x−1)(x−2)(x−3)+3, so we may focus our attention only on the case where p is 3 modulo 4 . It is then further sufficient to show that some (a+bi)p−1 is attainable for a,b∈Z not both divisible by p because then (a−bi)⋅(a+bi)p−1=(a2+b2)p−1 is also obtainable and cannot be an integer since -1 is not a quadratic residue modulo p, so Bézout's Theorem shows that p−1 is attainable. Now with this goal in mind, observe that (pi)=p⋅(2p−1)⋅…⋅112⋅(12+12)⋅…⋅(12+(p−1)2) has denominator divisible by p, but numerator not divisible by p since again, -1 is not a quadratic residue modulo p. Hence we can find some integer m so that m(pi)=(a+bi)p−1 where a and b that aren't both divisible by p as desired.
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