Skip to main content
OlympiadHQ

Browse · MATH

Print

jmc

algebra senior

Problem

A polynomial product of the form where the are positive integers, has the surprising property that if we multiply it out and discard all terms involving to a power larger than 32, what is left is just Determine

You can enter your answer using exponential notation.
Solution
Let Since reduces to if we eliminate all powers of that are or higher, we write Then so Let so where if is odd, and if is even. In particular,

Then Thus, let so where if is odd, and if is even. In particular,

Similarly, we obtain a polynomial such that and a polynomial such that Expanding, we get Hence, and so We have that so We leave it to the reader to find a polynomial that actually satisfies the given condition.
Final answer
2^{27} - 2^{11}