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jmc

algebra senior

Problem

Suppose the roots of the polynomial are positive prime integers (not necessarily distinct). Given that how many possible values of are there?
Solution
Let and be the prime roots. Then, we know that and . Since , the primes and must both be less than .

The primes less than are Now we list all possible pairs such that , remembering to also include the cases in which : There are pairs in total. Each pair produces a value for , and furthermore, these values are all distinct, because every positive integer has a unique prime factorization. Therefore, there are possible values for .
Final answer
18