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jmc

algebra senior

Problem

Find all values of the real number so that the four complex roots of form the vertices of a parallelogram in the complex plane. Enter all the values, separated by commas.
Solution
By Vieta's formulas, the average of the sum of the roots is which corresponds to the center of the parallelogram. So, to shift the center of the parallelogram to the origin, let Then so Hence, Expanding, we get The roots of this equation will form a parallelogram centered at the origin, which means they are of the form Thus, we can also write the equation as Note that the coefficient of will be 0, so This equation factors as so or

For the equation becomes which has two double roots.

For the given equation becomes The roots of are real, and one is positive and the other is negative. This mean that two of the roots of are real (and negatives of each other), and the other two are imaginary (and negatives of each other), so they form a parallelogram.

Thus, the only such value of is
Final answer
3