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Printjmc
algebra senior
Problem
Find the number of ordered pairs of integers with and such that the polynomial can be factored into the product of two (not necessarily distinct) linear factors with integer coefficients.
Solution
Because the given quadratic has leading coefficient , both factors must be of the form (or ). Therefore, such a factorization exists if and only if has two integer roots. Letting and denote these roots, we have, by Vieta's formulas, Since is negative but is nonnegative, it follows that both and must be negative or zero. Now, for each , there are possible pairs , which are , , , . However, since the order of and does not matter, we only get distinct polynomials for each possible value of . It follows that the number of these polynomials is since if we pair up the terms in this sum end-to-end, each pair has a sum of .
Final answer
2600