Maths Olympiad Prep

Track / Stage 7 / 239 of 300 #1639 of 1964

Problem 1639

National Olympiad second round; IMO P1/P4
Number theory Difficulty 7.4 Find the answer

Find all polynomials with integer coefficients PP such that for all positive integers nn, the sequence 0,P(0),P(P(0)),⋯0, P(0), P(P(0)), \cdots is eventually constant modulo nn.

Proposed by Ivan Chan

A number or a short expression. Fractions can be typed as 3/2, and spacing doesn't matter.

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Official solution

1. **Case 1: P(0)=0 P(0) = 0 **
- If P(0)=0 P(0) = 0 , then P(x)=xQ(x) P(x) = xQ(x) for some polynomial Q(x) Q(x) with integer coefficients.
- The sequence 0,P(0),P(P(0)),… 0, P(0), P(P(0)), \ldots is 0,0,0,… 0, 0, 0, \ldots , which is trivially constant modulo any n n .
- Therefore, any polynomial of the form P(x)=xQ(x) P(x) = xQ(x) satisfies the condition.

2. **Case 2: P(x) P(x) is a constant polynomial**
- If P(x)=c P(x) = c for some integer c c , then the sequence 0,P(0),P(P(0)),… 0, P(0), P(P(0)), \ldots is 0,c,c,… 0, c, c, \ldots , which is eventually constant modulo any n n .
- Therefore, any constant polynomial satisfies the condition.

3. **Case 3: P(x) P(x) is not constant and P(0)≠0 P(0) \neq 0 **
- Let P(x)=∑i=0daixi P(x) = \sum_{i=0}^{d} a_i x^i where d=deg⁡(P)>0 d = \deg(P) > 0 and a0=P(0)≠0 a_0 = P(0) \neq 0 .
- Define the sequence xn x_n such that x0=0 x_0 = 0 and xn+1=P(xn) x_{n+1} = P(x_n) . Then xn=Pn(0) x_n = P^n(0) for all n n .
- Suppose p p is a positive integer such that p∣Pi(0) p \mid P^i(0) for some i>1 i > 1 . Then for all positive integers k k , we have:
Pki(0)≡P(k−1)i(0)≡⋯≡Pi(0)≡0(modp) P^{ki}(0) \equiv P^{(k-1)i}(0) \equiv \cdots \equiv P^i(0) \equiv 0 \pmod{p}
- Taking n=p n = p in the condition, we get that xi x_i is eventually constant modulo p p , hence it must be eventually zero modulo p p .
- Therefore, there exists N N such that p∣xi p \mid x_i for all i>N i > N . Hence p∣xi p \mid x_i and xi+1=P(xi)=∑j=0dajxij x_{i+1} = P(x_i) = \sum_{j=0}^{d} a_j x_i^j for large i i .
- Since p∣ajxij p \mid a_j x_i^j for all j>0 j > 0 , p p must divide a0=P(0) a_0 = P(0) .
- Thus, if a number divides Pi(0) P^i(0) for some i i , then p p must also divide P(0) P(0) . So, Pi(0)∣P(0)  ⟹  ∣Pi(0)∣=∣P(0)∣ P^i(0) \mid P(0) \implies |P^i(0)| = |P(0)| for all i i .

4. **Subcase: P(P(0))=P(0) P(P(0)) = P(0) **
- If P(P(0))=P(0) P(P(0)) = P(0) , then P(x)=(x−P(0))Q(x)+P(0) P(x) = (x - P(0))Q(x) + P(0) for some Q(x)∈Z[x] Q(x) \in \mathbb{Z}[x] .
- For x=0 x = 0 , we get Q(0)=0  ⟹  Q(x)=xR(x) Q(0) = 0 \implies Q(x) = xR(x) for some R(x)∈Z[x] R(x) \in \mathbb{Z}[x] .
- Therefore, P(x)=x(x−P(0))R(x)+P(0) P(x) = x(x - P(0))R(x) + P(0) .
- Then P(P(0))=P(0) P(P(0)) = P(0) and hence inductively Pi(0)=Pi+1(0) P^i(0) = P^{i+1}(0) for all i>0 i > 0 , satisfying the condition.

5. **Subcase: P(P(0))=−P(0) P(P(0)) = -P(0) **
- If P(P(0))=−P(0) P(P(0)) = -P(0) , we consider two subcases:
- **1st Subcase: P(P(P(0)))=P(0)=−P(P(0)) P(P(P(0))) = P(0) = -P(P(0)) **
- By induction, P2i+1(0)=P2i−1(0)=⋯=P(0) P^{2i+1}(0) = P^{2i-1}(0) = \cdots = P(0) and P2i(0)=P2i−2(0)=⋯=P(P(0))=−P(0) P^{2i}(0) = P^{2i-2}(0) = \cdots = P(P(0)) = -P(0) .
- However, taking n n large enough, we have x2i+1−x2i=2P(0) x_{2i+1} - x_{2i} = 2P(0) divisible by n n , which is a contradiction.
- **2nd Subcase: P(P(P(0)))=P(P(0))=−P(0) P(P(P(0))) = P(P(0)) = -P(0) **
- Using P(P(0))=−P(0) P(P(0)) = -P(0) , there exists Q(x)∈Z[x] Q(x) \in \mathbb{Z}[x] such that P(x)=(x−P(0))Q(x)−P(0) P(x) = (x - P(0))Q(x) - P(0) .
- For x=P(P(0)) x = P(P(0)) , we get P(P(P(0)))=(P(P(0))−P(0))Q(P(P(0)))−P(0)=0  ⟹  Q(P(P(0)))=0  ⟹  Q(−P(0))=0 P(P(P(0))) = (P(P(0)) - P(0))Q(P(P(0))) - P(0) = 0 \implies Q(P(P(0))) = 0 \implies Q(-P(0)) = 0 .
- Therefore, Q(x)=(x+P(0))R(x) Q(x) = (x + P(0))R(x) and P(x)=(x−P(0))(x+P(0))R(x)−P(0) P(x) = (x - P(0))(x + P(0))R(x) - P(0) .
- For x=0 x = 0 , we get P(0)=−P(0)2R(0)−P(0)  ⟹  P(0)R(0)=−2  ⟹  R(0)=−2/P(0) P(0) = -P(0)^2 R(0) - P(0) \implies P(0)R(0) = -2 \implies R(0) = -2/P(0) .
- Since P P has integer coefficients, P(0) P(0) must be ±1 \pm 1 or ±2 \pm 2 .
- Therefore, P(x)=(x−c)(x+c)(xS(x)−2/c)−c P(x) = (x - c)(x + c)(xS(x) - 2/c) - c for c∈{1,−1,2,−2} c \in \{1, -1, 2, -2\} and some S(x)∈Z[x] S(x) \in \mathbb{Z}[x] .

In conclusion, the required polynomials are of the following forms:
- P(x)=c P(x) = c
- P(x)=xQ(x) P(x) = xQ(x)
- P(x)=x(x−c)R(x)+c P(x) = x(x - c)R(x) + c
- P(x)=(x−c)(x+c)(xS(x)−2/c)−c P(x) = (x - c)(x + c)(xS(x) - 2/c) - c for c∈{1,−1,2,−2} c \in \{1, -1, 2, -2\} , where Q(x),R(x),S(x) Q(x), R(x), S(x) are polynomials with integer coefficients.

The final answer is P(x)=c \boxed{ P(x) = c } , P(x)=xQ(x) P(x) = xQ(x) , P(x)=x(x−c)R(x)+c P(x) = x(x - c)R(x) + c , and P(x)=(x−c)(x+c)(xS(x)−2/c)−c P(x) = (x - c)(x + c)(xS(x) - 2/c) - c for c∈{1,−1,2,−2} c \in \{1, -1, 2, -2\} , where Q(x),R(x),S(x) Q(x), R(x), S(x) are polynomials with integer coefficients.

Source: NuminaMath-1.5, licensed Apache-2.0. Statement reproduced verbatim; metadata (topic, difficulty, ordering) added by this project.