Matin Yousefi Analysis August 29, 2021

Derivative
Problem 1. Do there exist polynomials p(x) and q(x) with real coefficients such that p3 (x)−q 2 (x)
is linear but not constant?

Problem 2. Let n ∈ N and define P (x, y) = xn + xy + y n . Let m and n be integers greater

than 2, and let A and B be non-constant polynomials with complex coefficients, at least one of
which has a degree greater than 1. Prove that if the degree of the polynomial Am − B n is less than
min(m, n), then Am = B n .

Problem 3. If the polynomials f (x) and g(x) are written on a blackboard then we can also
write down the polynomials f (x) ± g(x), f (x)g(x), f (g(x)) and cf (x), where c is an arbitrary real
constant. The polynomials x3 − 3x2 + 5 and x2 − 4x are written on the blackboard. Can we write
a nonzero polynomial of form xn − 1 after a finite number of steps?

Problem 4. If 0 < a1 < · · · < an , show that the following equation has exactly n roots.
a1 a2 a3 an
+ + + ··· + = 2015
a1 − x a2 − x a3 − x an − x

Problem 5. Determine whether there exist non-constant polynomials P (x) and Q(x) with real
coefficients satisfying
P (x)10 + P (x)9 = Q(x)21 + Q(x)20 .

Problem 6. Let m and n be two nonzero natural numbers. Determine the minimum num-
ber of distinct complex roots of the polynomial m + k) , when f covers the set of nth - degree
Q
k=1 (f
polynomials with complex coefficients.

Problem 7. Let n be a positive integer and P (x) a polynomial with degree less than n. Prove
that the equation
x2n + xn + P (x) = Q(x)
has no simple root. (A root is called simple when it is a root of polynomial but not its derivative.)

Problem 8. Let k, m, n be positive integers. Find the minimum possible degree of a plolynomial
P (x) with real coefficients such that

(x − 1)n | P (x)m − xk

Problem 9. Let P be a polynomial of degree n with only real zeros and real coefficients. Prove
that for every real x we have (n − 1)(P ′ (x))2 ≥ nP (x)P ′′ (x). When does equality occur?

Problem 10. Let P, Q ∈ R[x] be relatively prime nonconstant polynomials. Show that there
can be at most three real numbers λ such that P + λQ is the square of a polynomial.

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Problem 11. Find all polynomials P (x) with real coefficients that satisfy
√ √
P (x 2) = P (x + 1 − x2 )

for all real x with.

Problem 12. Prove that all complex roots of derivative of a polynomial lie in the convex hull of
complex roots of the polynomial itself.

Problem 13. (Dospinescu) Find the largest natural number n such that there exists a polynmoial
f (z) with the follwoing two property.
ˆ |z| ≤ 1 implies |f (z)| ≤ 1.

ˆ (1 + f (z))n = 1 + f (z)n implies |z| ≤ 1.

Problem 14. Let p = 1601. Prove that if

1 1 1 m
+ 2 + ··· + = ,
02 +1 1 +1 2
(p − 1) + 1 n
m
where we only sum over terms with denominators not divisible by p (and the fraction is in
n
reduced terms) then p | 2m + n.

Problem 15. Let p be an odd prime number. Determine all pairs of polynomials f and g in
Z[X] such that
f (g(x)) = 1 + x + · · · + xp−1 .

Problem 16. Let p(z) be a polynomial of degree n > 0 with complex coefficients. Prove that
there are at least n + 1 complex numbers z for which p(z) ∈ {0, 1}.

Intermediate Value Theorem

Problem 17. Let P (x) and Q(x) be polynomials with real coefficients such that P (Q(x)) =
Q(P (x)) and P (P (x)) = Q(Q(x)) has a real root. Prove that P (x) = Q(x) has a real root.

Problem 18. Find all polynomials with real coefficients such that

P (x + P (x)) = P (x) + P (P (x))

Problem 19. Prove that any monic polynomial (a polynomial with leading coefficient 1) of
degree n with real coefficients is the average of two monic polynomials of degree n with n real
roots.

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a b c
Problem 20. Real numbers a, b, c are given such that a > 0 and 5
+ 4
+ 3
= 0 prove that
the equation ax2 + bx + c = 0 has a real root in (0, 1).

Problem 21. Polynomial f (x) = ax2 + bx + c is given such that ac < 0. Prove that for each
natural number m the polynomial

f (m) (x) = f (f (. . . f (f (x)) . . .)

| {z }
m times

has real root.

Problem 22. Polynomials P (x), Q(x) with real coefficients are given such that for each real x,
P (x) is an integer if and only if Q(x) is an integer. Prove that either P (x) + Q(x) or P (x) − Q(x)
is constant.

Problem 23. Let f (x) = xm + a1 xm−1 + · · · + am−1 x + am and g(x) = xn + b1 xn−1 + · · · + bn−1 x + bn
be two polynomials with real coefficients such that for each real number x, f (x) is the square of
an integer if and only if so is g(x). Prove that if n + m > 0, then there exists a polynomial h(x)
with real coefficients such that f (x) · g(x) = (h(x))2 .

Problem 24. Let P (x) be a nonzero polynomial of degree n > 1 with nonnegative coefficients such
that function y = P (x) is odd. Is that possible thet for some pairwise distinct points A1 , A2 , . . . An
on the graph G : y = P (x) the following conditions hold: tangent to G at A1 passes through A2 ,
tangent to G at A2 passes through A3 , . . . , tangent to G at An passes through A1 ?

Problem 25. For all natural numbers n, consider the polynomial Pn (x) = xn+2 − 2x + 1.
(a) Show that the equation Pn (x) = 0 has exactly one root cn in the open interval (0, 1).
(b) Find limn→∞ cn .

Problem 26. Let α be a real number. Determine all polynomials P with real coefficients
such that
P (2x + α) ≤ (x20 + x19 )P (x)
holds for all real numbers x.

Problem 27. Consider the polynomials

n n
X
k
X ak
f (x) = ak x and g(x) = xk ,
k=1 k=1
2k −1

where a1 , a2 , . . . , an are real numbers and n is a positive integer. Show that if 1 and 2n+1 are zeros
of g then f has a positive zero less than 2n .

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Problem 28. We call a number n interesting if for each permutation σ of 1, 2, . . . , n there exist
polynomials P1 , P2 , . . . , Pn and ϵ > 0 such that:
i) P1 (0) = P2 (0) = . . . = Pn (0)
ii) P1 (x) > P2 (x) > . . . > Pn (x) for −ϵ < x < 0
iii) Pσ(1) (x) > Pσ(2) (x) > . . . > Pσ(n) (x) for 0 < x < ϵ Find all interesting n.

Problem 29. Find out all the integer pairs (m, n) such that there exist two monic polynomials
P (x) and Q(x) ,with deg P = m and deg Q = n,satisfy that

P (Q(t)) ̸= Q(P (t))

holds for any real number t.

Problem 30. Show that there exists a degree 58 monic polynomial

P (x) = x58 + a1 x57 + · · · + a58

such that P (x) has exactly 29 positive real roots and 29 negative real roots and that log2017 |ai | is
a positive integer for all 1 ≤ i ≤ 58.

Problem 31. Polynomial P (x) with real coefficients is given such that P (0) = P (n). Prove
that at least n pair of real numbers (x, y) exsits such that P (x) = P (y) and x − y is a natural
number.

Analysis

Problem 32. The polynomial P (x) is such that the polynomials P (P (x)) and P (P (P (x))) are
strictly monotone on the whole real axis. Prove that P (x) is also strictly monotone on the whole
real axis.

Problem 33. Do there exist a sequence a1 , a2 , a3 , . . . of real numbers and a non-constant polyno-
mial P (x) such that am + an = P (mn) for every positive integral m and n?

Problem 34. For any positive integer k, denote the sum of digits of k in its decimal repre-
sentation by S(k). Find all polynomials P (x) with integer coefficients such that for any positive
integer n ≥ 2016, the integer P (n) is positive and

S(P (n)) = P (S(n)).

Problem 35. Find all real polynomials f with x, y ∈ R such that

2yf (x + y) + (x − y)(f (x) + f (y)) ≥ 0.

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Problem 36. Find all polynomials with integer coefficients such that for all positive integers
n satisfies P (n!) = |P (n)|!

Problem 37. Determine the maximum possible number of distinct real roots of a polynomial
P (x) of degree 2012 with real coefficients satisfying the condition
P (a)3 + P (b)3 + P (c)3 ≥ 3P (a)P (b)P (c)
for all real numbers a, b, c ∈ R with a + b + c = 0

Problem 38. Let Q(x) be a quadratic trinomial. Given that the function P (x) = x2 Q(x) is
increasing in the interval (0, ∞), prove that:
P (x) + P (y) + P (z) > 0
for all real numbers x, y, z such that x + y + z > 0 and xyz > 0.

Problem 39. Find all couples of polynomials (P, Q) with real coefficients, such that for infinitely
many x ∈ R the condition
P (x) P (x + 1) 1
− =
Q(x) Q(x + 1) x(x + 2)
Holds.

Problem 40. Find all monic polynomials f (x) in Z[x] such that f (Z) is closed under multi-
plication.

Problem 41. Let P be a cubic polynomial given by P (x) = ax3 + bx2 + cx + d, where a, b, c, d
are integers and a ̸= 0. Suppose that xP (x) = yP (y) for infinitely many pairs x, y of integers with
x ̸= y. Prove that the equation P (x) = 0 has an integer root.

Problem 42. You are given N such that n ≥ 3. We call a set of N points on a plane ac-
ceptable if their abscissae are unique, and each of the points is coloured either red or blue. Let’s
say that a polynomial P (x) divides a set of acceptable points either if there are no red dots above
the graph of P (x), and below, there are no blue dots, or if there are no blue dots above the graph
of P (x) and there are no red dots below. Keep in mind, dots of both colors can be present on
the graph of P (x) itself. For what least value of k is an arbitrary set of N points divisible by a
polynomial of degree k?

Problem 43. A polynomial f (x) with integer coefficients is given. We define d(a, k) = |f k (a) − a|.
It is known that for each integer a and natural number k, d(a, k) is positive. Prove that for all
such a, k,
k
d(a, k) ≥ .
3

Problem 44. Let Z denote the set of all integers. Find all polynomials P (x) with integer

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coefficients that satisfy the following property: For any infinite sequence a1 , a2 , . . . of integers in
which each integer in Z appears exactly once, there exist indices i < j and an integer k such that

ai + ai+1 + · · · + aj = P (k)

Problem 45. P (x) is a monoic polynomial with integer coefficients so that there exists monoic
integer coefficients polynomials p1 (x), p2 (x), . . . , pn (x) so that for any natural number x there exist
an index j and a natural number y so that pj (y) = P (x) and also deg(pj ) ≥ deg(P ) for all j.Show
that there exist an index i and an integer k so that

P (x) = pi (x + k)

Problem 46. Let P, Q, R be three polynomials with real coefficients such that

P (Q(x)) + P (R(x)) = constant

for all x. Prove that P (x) = constant or Q(x) + R(x) = constant for all x.

Problem 47. Let P be an odd-degree integer-coefficient polynomial. Suppose that xP (x) = yP (y)
for infinitely many pairs x, y of integers with x ̸= y. Prove that the equation P (x) = 0 has an
integer root.

Problem 48. Let p(x) be a nonconstant polynomial with real coefficients. For every positive
integer n, let
qn (x) = (x + 1)n p(x) + xn p(x + 1).
Prove that there are only finitely many numbers n such that all roots of qn (x) are real.

Problem 49. Find all pairs of polynomials p(x) and q(x) with real coefficients for which

p(x)q(x + 1) − p(x + 1)q(x) = 1.

Problem 50. p is a polynomial with integer coefficients and for every natural n we have p(n) > n.
xk is a sequence that: x1 = 1, xi+1 = p(xi ) for every N one of xi is divisible by N. Prove that
p(x) = x + 1.

Problem 51. Find all polynomials with integer coefficients that P (Z) =p(a) : a ∈ Z has a
Geometric progression.

Problem 52. We are given a natural number d. Find all open intervals of maximum length
I ⊆ R such that for all real numbers a0 , a1 , ..., a2d−1 inside interval I, we have that the polynomial
P (x) = x2d + a2d−1 x2d−1 + ... + a1 x + a0 has no real roots.

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Matin Yousefi Analysis

Problem 53. Let 1 < t < 2 be a real number. Prove that for all sufficiently large positive
integers like d, there is a monic polynomial P (x) of degree d, such that all of its coefficients are
either +1 or −1 and
|P (t) − 2019| < 1.

Problem 54. Let K be the set of all positive integers that do not contain the digit 7 in their
base-10 representation. Find all polynomials f with nonnegative integer coefficients such that
f (n) ∈ K whenever n ∈ K.

Problem 55. A monic polynomial P (x) with integer coefficients is called good if its complex
roots are distinct and a circle with radius 0.99 contains all of them. Prove that there exsits a large
enough d such that no good polynomial of degree d exists.

Problem 56. Let Q be a quadriatic polynomial having two different real zeros. Prove that
there is a non-constant monic polynomial P such that all coefficients of the polynomial Q(P (x))
except the leading one are (by absolute value) less than 0.001.

Problem 57. Let n be a positive integer and a1 , a2 , . . . , an non-zero real numbers. What is
the least number of non-zero coefficients that the polynomial P (x) = (x − a1 )(x − a2 ) · · · (x − an )
can have?

Problem 58. An equation P (x) = Q(y) is called Interesting if P and Q are polynomials with
degree at least one and integer coefficients and the equations has an infinite number of answers in
N. An interesting equation P (x) = Q(y) yields in interesting equation F (x) = G(y) if there exists
polynomial R(x) ∈ Q[x] such that F (x) ≡ R(P (x)) and G(x) ≡ R(Q(x)).
(a) Suppose that S is an infinite subset of N×N.S is an answer of interesting equation P (x) = Q(y)
if each element of S is an answer of this equation. Prove that for each S there’s an interesting
equation P0 (x) = Q0 (y) such that if there exists any interesting equation that S is an answer of
it, P0 (x) = Q0 (y) yields in that equation.
(b) Define the degree of an interesting equation P (x) = Q(y) by max{deg(P ), deg(Q)}. An in-
teresting equation is called primary if there’s no other interesting equation with lower degree that
yields in it. Prove that if P (x) = Q(y) is a primary interesting equation and P and Q are monic
then (deg(P ), deg(Q)) = 1.

Problem 59. Does there exist positive reals a0 , a1 , . . . , a19 , such that the polynomial P (x) =
x20 + a19 x19 + . . . + a1 x + a0 does not have any real roots, yet all polynomials formed from swap-
ping any two coefficients ai , aj has at least one real root?

Problem 60. Positive integer c ̸= 1 and polynomial P (x) with intger coeffecients are given.
Let a(n) be the number of positive integers k < n for which P (k) is a perfect cth power. Prove
that
a(n)
d = lim ∈ {0, 1},
n

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and find all polynomials P (x) for which d = 1.

Problem 61. Find all polynomials P (x) of odd degree d and with integer coefficients satisfying
the following property: for each positive integer n, there exists n positive integers x1 , x2 , . . . , xn
such that 12 < PP (x
(xi )
j)
< 2 and PP (x
(xi )
j)
is the d-th power of a rational number for every pair of indices
i and j with 1 ≤ i, j ≤ n.

Problem 62. Consider all polynomials P (x) with real coefficients that have the following prop-
erty: for any two real numbers x and y one has

|y 2 − P (x)| ≤ 2|x| if and only if |x2 − P (y)| ≤ 2|y|.

Determine all possible values of P (0).

Problem 63. Find all polynomials P (x) with integer coefficients such that for all real numbers s
and t, if P (s) and P (t) are both integers, then P (st) is also an integer.

Problem 64. Let f (x) be a nonconstant real polynomial. The sequence {ai }∞
i=1 of real num-
bers is strictly increasing and unbounded, as

ai+1 < ai + 2020.

The integers ⌊|f (a1 )|⌋ , ⌊|f (a2 )|⌋ , ⌊|f (a3 )|⌋ , . . . are written consecutively in such a way that their
digits form an infinite sequence of digits {sk }∞ k=1 (here sk ∈ {0, 1, . . . , 9}). If n ∈ N , prove that
among the numbers sn(k−1)+1 sn(k−1)+2 · · · snk , where k ∈ N , all n-digit numbers appear.