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k a March Highlights and 2025 AoPS Online Class Information
jlacosta   0
Mar 2, 2025
March is the month for State MATHCOUNTS competitions! Kudos to everyone who participated in their local chapter competitions and best of luck to all going to State! Join us on March 11th for a Math Jam devoted to our favorite Chapter competition problems! Are you interested in training for MATHCOUNTS? Be sure to check out our AMC 8/MATHCOUNTS Basics and Advanced courses.

Are you ready to level up with Olympiad training? Registration is open with early bird pricing available for our WOOT programs: MathWOOT (Levels 1 and 2), CodeWOOT, PhysicsWOOT, and ChemWOOT. What is WOOT? WOOT stands for Worldwide Online Olympiad Training and is a 7-month high school math Olympiad preparation and testing program that brings together many of the best students from around the world to learn Olympiad problem solving skills. Classes begin in September!

Do you have plans this summer? There are so many options to fit your schedule and goals whether attending a summer camp or taking online classes, it can be a great break from the routine of the school year. Check out our summer courses at AoPS Online, or if you want a math or language arts class that doesn’t have homework, but is an enriching summer experience, our AoPS Virtual Campus summer camps may be just the ticket! We are expanding our locations for our AoPS Academies across the country with 15 locations so far and new campuses opening in Saratoga CA, Johns Creek GA, and the Upper West Side NY. Check out this page for summer camp information.

Be sure to mark your calendars for the following events:
[list][*]March 5th (Wednesday), 4:30pm PT/7:30pm ET, HCSSiM Math Jam 2025. Amber Verser, Assistant Director of the Hampshire College Summer Studies in Mathematics, will host an information session about HCSSiM, a summer program for high school students.
[*]March 6th (Thursday), 4:00pm PT/7:00pm ET, Free Webinar on Math Competitions from elementary through high school. Join us for an enlightening session that demystifies the world of math competitions and helps you make informed decisions about your contest journey.
[*]March 11th (Tuesday), 4:30pm PT/7:30pm ET, 2025 MATHCOUNTS Chapter Discussion MATH JAM. AoPS instructors will discuss some of their favorite problems from the MATHCOUNTS Chapter Competition. All are welcome!
[*]March 13th (Thursday), 4:00pm PT/7:00pm ET, Free Webinar about Summer Camps at the Virtual Campus. Transform your summer into an unforgettable learning adventure! From elementary through high school, we offer dynamic summer camps featuring topics in mathematics, language arts, and competition preparation - all designed to fit your schedule and ignite your passion for learning.[/list]
Our full course list for upcoming classes is below:
All classes run 7:30pm-8:45pm ET/4:30pm - 5:45pm PT unless otherwise noted.

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0 replies
jlacosta
Mar 2, 2025
0 replies
k i Peer-to-Peer Programs Forum
jwelsh   157
N Dec 11, 2023 by cw357
Many of our AoPS Community members share their knowledge with their peers in a variety of ways, ranging from creating mock contests to creating real contests to writing handouts to hosting sessions as part of our partnership with schoolhouse.world.

To facilitate students in these efforts, we have created a new Peer-to-Peer Programs forum. With the creation of this forum, we are starting a new process for those of you who want to advertise your efforts. These advertisements and ensuing discussions have been cluttering up some of the forums that were meant for other purposes, so we’re gathering these topics in one place. This also allows students to find new peer-to-peer learning opportunities without having to poke around all the other forums.

To announce your program, or to invite others to work with you on it, here’s what to do:

1) Post a new topic in the Peer-to-Peer Programs forum. This will be the discussion thread for your program.

2) Post a single brief post in this thread that links the discussion thread of your program in the Peer-to-Peer Programs forum.

Please note that we’ll move or delete any future advertisement posts that are outside the Peer-to-Peer Programs forum, as well as any posts in this topic that are not brief announcements of new opportunities. In particular, this topic should not be used to discuss specific programs; those discussions should occur in topics in the Peer-to-Peer Programs forum.

Your post in this thread should have what you're sharing (class, session, tutoring, handout, math or coding game/other program) and a link to the thread in the Peer-to-Peer Programs forum, which should have more information (like where to find what you're sharing).
157 replies
jwelsh
Mar 15, 2021
cw357
Dec 11, 2023
k i C&P posting recs by mods
v_Enhance   0
Jun 12, 2020
The purpose of this post is to lay out a few suggestions about what kind of posts work well for the C&P forum. Except in a few cases these are mostly meant to be "suggestions based on historical trends" rather than firm hard rules; we may eventually replace this with an actual list of firm rules but that requires admin approval :) That said, if you post something in the "discouraged" category, you should not be totally surprised if it gets locked; they are discouraged exactly because past experience shows they tend to go badly.
-----------------------------
1. Program discussion: Allowed
If you have questions about specific camps or programs (e.g. which classes are good at X camp?), these questions fit well here. Many camps/programs have specific sub-forums too but we understand a lot of them are not active.
-----------------------------
2. Results discussion: Allowed
You can make threads about e.g. how you did on contests (including AMC), though on AMC day when there is a lot of discussion. Moderators and administrators may do a lot of thread-merging / forum-wrangling to keep things in one place.
-----------------------------
3. Reposting solutions or questions to past AMC/AIME/USAMO problems: Allowed
This forum contains a post for nearly every problem from AMC8, AMC10, AMC12, AIME, USAJMO, USAMO (and these links give you an index of all these posts). It is always permitted to post a full solution to any problem in its own thread (linked above), regardless of how old the problem is, and even if this solution is similar to one that has already been posted. We encourage this type of posting because it is helpful for the user to explain their solution in full to an audience, and for future users who want to see multiple approaches to a problem or even just the frequency distribution of common approaches. We do ask for some explanation; if you just post "the answer is (B); ez" then you are not adding anything useful.

You are also encouraged to post questions about a specific problem in the specific thread for that problem, or about previous user's solutions. It's almost always better to use the existing thread than to start a new one, to keep all the discussion in one place easily searchable for future visitors.
-----------------------------
4. Advice posts: Allowed, but read below first
You can use this forum to ask for advice about how to prepare for math competitions in general. But you should be aware that this question has been asked many many times. Before making a post, you are encouraged to look at the following:
[list]
[*] Stop looking for the right training: A generic post about advice that keeps getting stickied :)
[*] There is an enormous list of links on the Wiki of books / problems / etc for all levels.
[/list]
When you do post, we really encourage you to be as specific as possible in your question. Tell us about your background, what you've tried already, etc.

Actually, the absolute best way to get a helpful response is to take a few examples of problems that you tried to solve but couldn't, and explain what you tried on them / why you couldn't solve them. Here is a great example of a specific question.
-----------------------------
5. Publicity: use P2P forum instead
See https://artofproblemsolving.com/community/c5h2489297_peertopeer_programs_forum.
Some exceptions have been allowed in the past, but these require approval from administrators. (I am not totally sure what the criteria is. I am not an administrator.)
-----------------------------
6. Mock contests: use Mock Contests forum instead
Mock contests should be posted in the dedicated forum instead:
https://artofproblemsolving.com/community/c594864_aops_mock_contests
-----------------------------
7. AMC procedural questions: suggest to contact the AMC HQ instead
If you have a question like "how do I submit a change of venue form for the AIME" or "why is my name not on the qualifiers list even though I have a 300 index", you would be better off calling or emailing the AMC program to ask, they are the ones who can help you :)
-----------------------------
8. Discussion of random math problems: suggest to use MSM/HSM/HSO instead
If you are discussing a specific math problem that isn't from the AMC/AIME/USAMO, it's better to post these in Middle School Math, High School Math, High School Olympiads instead.
-----------------------------
9. Politics: suggest to use Round Table instead
There are important conversations to be had about things like gender diversity in math contests, etc., for sure. However, from experience we think that C&P is historically not a good place to have these conversations, as they go off the rails very quickly. We encourage you to use the Round Table instead, where it is much more clear that all posts need to be serious.
-----------------------------
10. MAA complaints: discouraged
We don't want to pretend that the MAA is perfect or that we agree with everything they do. However, we chose to discourage this sort of behavior because in practice most of the comments we see are not useful and some are frankly offensive.
[list] [*] If you just want to blow off steam, do it on your blog instead.
[*] When you have criticism, it should be reasoned, well-thought and constructive. What we mean by this is, for example, when the AOIME was announced, there was great outrage about potential cheating. Well, do you really think that this is something the organizers didn't think about too? Simply posting that "people will cheat and steal my USAMOO qualification, the MAA are idiots!" is not helpful as it is not bringing any new information to the table.
[*] Even if you do have reasoned, well-thought, constructive criticism, we think it is actually better to email it the MAA instead, rather than post it here. Experience shows that even polite, well-meaning suggestions posted in C&P are often derailed by less mature users who insist on complaining about everything.
[/list]
-----------------------------
11. Memes and joke posts: discouraged
It's fine to make jokes or lighthearted posts every so often. But it should be done with discretion. Ideally, jokes should be done within a longer post that has other content. For example, in my response to one user's question about olympiad combinatorics, I used a silly picture of Sogiita Gunha, but it was done within a context of a much longer post where it was meant to actually make a point.

On the other hand, there are many threads which consist largely of posts whose only content is an attached meme with the word "MAA" in it. When done in excess like this, the jokes reflect poorly on the community, so we explicitly discourage them.
-----------------------------
12. Questions that no one can answer: discouraged
Examples of this: "will MIT ask for AOIME scores?", "what will the AIME 2021 cutoffs be (asked in 2020)", etc. Basically, if you ask a question on this forum, it's better if the question is something that a user can plausibly answer :)
-----------------------------
13. Blind speculation: discouraged
Along these lines, if you do see a question that you don't have an answer to, we discourage "blindly guessing" as it leads to spreading of baseless rumors. For example, if you see some user posting "why are there fewer qualifiers than usual this year?", you should not reply "the MAA must have been worried about online cheating so they took fewer people!!". Was sich überhaupt sagen lässt, lässt sich klar sagen; und wovon man nicht reden kann, darüber muss man schweigen.
-----------------------------
14. Discussion of cheating: strongly discouraged
If you have evidence or reasonable suspicion of cheating, please report this to your Competition Manager or to the AMC HQ; these forums cannot help you.
Otherwise, please avoid public discussion of cheating. That is: no discussion of methods of cheating, no speculation about how cheating affects cutoffs, and so on --- it is not helpful to anyone, and it creates a sour atmosphere. A longer explanation is given in Seriously, please stop discussing how to cheat.
-----------------------------
15. Cutoff jokes: never allowed
Whenever the cutoffs for any major contest are released, it is very obvious when they are official. In the past, this has been achieved by the numbers being posted on the official AMC website (here) or through a post from the AMCDirector account.

You must never post fake cutoffs, even as a joke. You should also refrain from posting cutoffs that you've heard of via email, etc., because it is better to wait for the obvious official announcement. A longer explanation is given in A Treatise on Cutoff Trolling.
-----------------------------
16. Meanness: never allowed
Being mean is worse than being immature and unproductive. If another user does something which you think is inappropriate, use the Report button to bring the post to moderator attention, or if you really must reply, do so in a way that is tactful and constructive rather than inflammatory.
-----------------------------

Finally, we remind you all to sit back and enjoy the problems. :D

-----------------------------
(EDIT 2024-09-13: AoPS has asked to me to add the following item.)

Advertising paid program or service: never allowed

Per the AoPS Terms of Service (rule 5h), general advertisements are not allowed.

While we do allow advertisements of official contests (at the MAA and MATHCOUNTS level) and those run by college students with at least one successful year, any and all advertisements of a paid service or program is not allowed and will be deleted.
0 replies
v_Enhance
Jun 12, 2020
0 replies
k i Stop looking for the "right" training
v_Enhance   50
N Oct 16, 2017 by blawho12
Source: Contest advice
EDIT 2019-02-01: https://blog.evanchen.cc/2019/01/31/math-contest-platitudes-v3/ is the updated version of this.

EDIT 2021-06-09: see also https://web.evanchen.cc/faq-contest.html.

Original 2013 post
50 replies
v_Enhance
Feb 15, 2013
blawho12
Oct 16, 2017
Set theory false statement
RenheMiResembleRice   4
N 5 minutes ago by RenheMiResembleRice
Prove or show the following statement does not hold
B−(A−B)=(A∪B)
4 replies
RenheMiResembleRice
an hour ago
RenheMiResembleRice
5 minutes ago
geometry party
pnf   1
N 11 minutes ago by Tsikaloudakis
pnf
Yesterday at 1:51 PM
Tsikaloudakis
11 minutes ago
chat gpt
fuv870   31
N 13 minutes ago by Quantum-Phantom
The chat gpt alreadly knows how to solve the problem of IMO USAMO and AMC?
31 replies
fuv870
Yesterday at 9:51 PM
Quantum-Phantom
13 minutes ago
Exquality
giangtruong13   1
N 21 minutes ago by sqing
Let $x,y,z>0$ satisfy that: $(xz)^2+(yz)^2+1 \leq 3z$. Find the minimum value: $$P=\frac{1}{(x+1)^2}+\frac{8}{(y+3)^2}+\frac{4z^2}{(1+2z)^2}$$
1 reply
1 viewing
giangtruong13
27 minutes ago
sqing
21 minutes ago
AMC- IMO preparation
asyaela.   14
N 4 hours ago by NoSignOfTheta
I'm a ninth grader, and I recently attempted the AMC 12, getting 18 questions correct and leaving 7 empty. I started working on Olympiad math in November and currently dedicate about two hours per day to preparation. I'm feeling a bit demotivated, but if it's possible for me to reach IMO level, I'd be willing to put in more time. How realistic is it for me to get there, and how much study would it typically take?
14 replies
asyaela.
Yesterday at 7:14 PM
NoSignOfTheta
4 hours ago
[Registration Open] Mustang Math Tournament 2025
MustangMathTournament   26
N 5 hours ago by Rice_Farmer
Mustang Math is excited to announce that registration for our annual tournament, MMT 2025, is open! This year, we are bringing our tournament to 9 in-person locations, as well as online!

Locations include: Colorado, Norcal, Socal, Georgia, Illinois, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Nevada, Washington, and online. For registration and more information, check out https://mustangmath.com/competitions/mmt-2025.

MMT 2025 is a math tournament run by a group of 150+ mathematically experienced high school and college students who are dedicated to providing a high-quality and enjoyable contest for middle school students. Our tournament centers around teamwork and collaboration, incentivizing students to work with their teams not only to navigate the challenging and interesting problems of the tournament but also to develop strategies to master the unique rounds. This includes a logic puzzle round, a strategy-filled hexes round, a race-like gallop round, and our trademark ‘Mystery Mare’ round!

Awards:
[list]
[*] Medals for the top teams
[*] Shirts, pins, stickers and certificates for all participants
[*] Additional awards provided by our wonderful sponsors!
[/list]

We are also holding a free MMT prep seminar from 3/15-3/16 to help students prepare for the upcoming tournament. Join the Google Classroom! https://classroom.google.com/c/NzQ5NDUyNDY2NjM1?cjc=7sogth4
26 replies
MustangMathTournament
Mar 8, 2025
Rice_Farmer
5 hours ago
AMC 8 discussion
Jaxman8   45
N 5 hours ago by Jello0211
Discuss the AMC 8 below!
45 replies
Jaxman8
Jan 29, 2025
Jello0211
5 hours ago
2025 Math and AI 4 Girls Competition: Win Up To $1,000!!!
audio-on   9
N 5 hours ago by angie.
Join the 2025 Math and AI 4 Girls Competition for a chance to win up to $1,000!

Hey Everyone, I'm pleased to announce the dates for the 2025 MA4G Competition are set!
Applications will open on March 22nd, 2025, and they will close on April 26th, 2025 (@ 11:59pm PST).

Applicants will have one month to fill out an application with prizes for the top 50 contestants & cash prizes for the top 20 contestants (including $1,000 for the winner!). More details below!

Eligibility:
The competition is free to enter, and open to middle school female students living in the US (5th-8th grade).
Award recipients are selected based on their aptitude, activities and aspirations in STEM.

Event dates:
Applications will open on March 22nd, 2025, and they will close on April 26th, 2025 (by 11:59pm PST)
Winners will be announced on June 28, 2025 during an online award ceremony.

Application requirements:
Complete a 12 question problem set on math and computer science/AI related topics
Write 2 short essays

Prizes:
1st place: $1,000 Cash prize
2nd place: $500 Cash prize
3rd place: $300 Cash prize
4th-10th: $100 Cash prize each
11th-20th: $50 Cash prize each
Top 50 contestants: Over $50 worth of gadgets and stationary


Many thanks to our current and past sponsors and partners: Hudson River Trading, MATHCOUNTS, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Automation Anywhere, JP Morgan Chase, D.E. Shaw, and AI4ALL.

Math and AI 4 Girls is a nonprofit organization aiming to encourage young girls to develop an interest in math and AI by taking part in STEM competitions and activities at an early age. The organization will be hosting an inaugural Math and AI 4 Girls competition to identify talent and encourage long-term planning of academic and career goals in STEM.

Contact:
mathandAI4girls@yahoo.com

For more information on the competition:
https://www.mathandai4girls.org/math-and-ai-4-girls-competition

More information on how to register will be posted on the website. If you have any questions, please ask here!


9 replies
audio-on
Jan 26, 2025
angie.
5 hours ago
is this really supposed to be #13???
hgmium   8
N 6 hours ago by RandomMathGuy500
https://artofproblemsolving.com/wiki/index.php/2022_AMC_10A_Problems/Problem_13

I managed to do all the other geo problems for that year besides this one
misplaced?
8 replies
hgmium
Yesterday at 11:10 PM
RandomMathGuy500
6 hours ago
Degree Six Polynomial's Roots
ksun48   42
N 6 hours ago by eg4334
Source: 2014 AIME I Problem 14
Let $m$ be the largest real solution to the equation \[\frac{3}{x-3}+\frac{5}{x-5}+\frac{17}{x-17}+\frac{19}{x-19}= x^2-11x-4.\] There are positive integers $a,b,c$ such that $m = a + \sqrt{b+\sqrt{c}}$. Find $a+b+c$.
42 replies
ksun48
Mar 14, 2014
eg4334
6 hours ago
MathPath 2025 form.
BraveCobra22aops   2
N Today at 1:53 AM by maxamc
I created a form for people going to MathPath 2025: https://artofproblemsolving.com/community/c136h3528968_mathpath_2025.
2 replies
BraveCobra22aops
Yesterday at 10:53 PM
maxamc
Today at 1:53 AM
2025 ROSS Program
scls140511   15
N Today at 12:23 AM by akliu
Since the application has ended, are we now free to discuss the problems and stats? How do you think this year's problems are?
15 replies
scls140511
Yesterday at 2:36 AM
akliu
Today at 12:23 AM
ABMC 2025 IN-PERSON Contest (April 5th)
ilovepizza2020   4
N Yesterday at 11:59 PM by mynameisjefff
The 9th annual Acton-Boxborough Math Competition (ABMC) is quickly approaching! This year's ABMC will be held in-person at RJ Grey Junior High School, Acton, MA, on April 5th, 2025. The competition includes individual rounds and a team round, in which teams of 2-4 students participate. Anyone in grade 8 or below is welcome! You must register to compete. For more information about registration and the tentative schedule, please consult our website: https://abmathcompetitions.org/2025-contest/.

We offer prizes not only to top competitors; several of our sponsor prizes and educational awards are raffled among all in-person participants. Additionally, there are separate prizes for the top-scoring elementary schoolers.


For more information, visit https://abmathcompetitions.org/, especially the 2025 Competition page.
For the mailing list, visit https://abmathcompetitions.org/contact/.

Best,
ABMC Coordinators
4 replies
ilovepizza2020
Yesterday at 11:32 PM
mynameisjefff
Yesterday at 11:59 PM
Tennessee Math Tournament (TMT) Online 2025
TennesseeMathTournament   29
N Yesterday at 10:14 PM by NashvilleSC
Hello everyone! We are excited to announce a new competition, the Tennessee Math Tournament, created by the Tennessee Math Coalition! Anyone can participate in the virtual competition for free.

The testing window is from March 22nd to April 5th, 2025. Virtual competitors may participate in the competition at any time during that window.

The virtual competition consists of three rounds: Individual, Bullet, and Team. The Individual Round is 60 minutes long and consists of 30 questions (AMC 10 level). The Bullet Round is 20 minutes long and consists of 80 questions (Mathcounts Chapter level). The Team Round is 30 minutes long and consists of 16 questions (AMC 12 level). Virtual competitors may compete in teams of four, or choose to not participate in the team round.

To register and see more information, click here!

If you have any questions, please email connect@tnmathcoalition.org or reply to this thread!
29 replies
TennesseeMathTournament
Mar 9, 2025
NashvilleSC
Yesterday at 10:14 PM
gcd commutes with Psi
v_Enhance   43
N Feb 1, 2025 by cj13609517288
Source: USA December TST for 57th IMO 2016, Problem 3
Let $p$ be a prime number. Let $\mathbb F_p$ denote the integers modulo $p$, and let $\mathbb F_p[x]$ be the set of polynomials with coefficients in $\mathbb F_p$. Define $\Psi : \mathbb F_p[x] \to \mathbb F_p[x]$ by \[ \Psi\left( \sum_{i=0}^n a_i x^i \right) = \sum_{i=0}^n a_i x^{p^i}. \]Prove that for nonzero polynomials $F,G \in \mathbb F_p[x]$, \[ \Psi(\gcd(F,G)) = \gcd(\Psi(F), \Psi(G)). \]Here, a polynomial $Q$ divides $P$ if there exists $R \in \mathbb F_p[x]$ such that $P(x) - Q(x) R(x)$ is the polynomial with all coefficients $0$ (with all addition and multiplication in the coefficients taken modulo $p$), and the gcd of two polynomials is the highest degree polynomial with leading coefficient $1$ which divides both of them. A non-zero polynomial is a polynomial with not all coefficients $0$. As an example of multiplication, $(x+1)(x+2)(x+3) = x^3+x^2+x+1$ in $\mathbb F_5[x]$.

Proposed by Mark Sellke
43 replies
v_Enhance
Dec 21, 2015
cj13609517288
Feb 1, 2025
Source: USA December TST for 57th IMO 2016, Problem 3
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v_Enhance
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#1 • 19 Y
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Let $p$ be a prime number. Let $\mathbb F_p$ denote the integers modulo $p$, and let $\mathbb F_p[x]$ be the set of polynomials with coefficients in $\mathbb F_p$. Define $\Psi : \mathbb F_p[x] \to \mathbb F_p[x]$ by \[ \Psi\left( \sum_{i=0}^n a_i x^i \right) = \sum_{i=0}^n a_i x^{p^i}. \]Prove that for nonzero polynomials $F,G \in \mathbb F_p[x]$, \[ \Psi(\gcd(F,G)) = \gcd(\Psi(F), \Psi(G)). \]Here, a polynomial $Q$ divides $P$ if there exists $R \in \mathbb F_p[x]$ such that $P(x) - Q(x) R(x)$ is the polynomial with all coefficients $0$ (with all addition and multiplication in the coefficients taken modulo $p$), and the gcd of two polynomials is the highest degree polynomial with leading coefficient $1$ which divides both of them. A non-zero polynomial is a polynomial with not all coefficients $0$. As an example of multiplication, $(x+1)(x+2)(x+3) = x^3+x^2+x+1$ in $\mathbb F_5[x]$.

Proposed by Mark Sellke
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ABCDE
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#2 • 33 Y
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Here's a pretty unique solution I found after the test

Solution
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DrMath
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#3 • 43 Y
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Hello, me and ABCDE seem to be in discontent over the more beautiful solution. I post my solution:

Solution
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djmathman
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#4 • 9 Y
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^^ So basically this reduction mechanism is

Dang, that's pretty nice.

(Sorry ABCDE :( )
This post has been edited 2 times. Last edited by djmathman, Dec 21, 2015, 4:54 PM
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62861
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#5 • 21 Y
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Solution I found during the test
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pi37
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#6 • 5 Y
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CantonMathGuy's solution above is how I and how I believe most people solved it.

Another solution along similar lines someone showed me
EDIT: This is wrong, as brian22 points out. Refer to CantonMathGuy's solution instead.
This post has been edited 3 times. Last edited by pi37, Jul 31, 2016, 1:57 PM
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brian22
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#7 • 9 Y
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@above

Another proof of P | Q implies psi(P) | psi(Q) (courtesy of zacchro and me)
This post has been edited 1 time. Last edited by brian22, Dec 22, 2015, 5:55 AM
Reason: Want to be able to claim my prize money -- along with zacchro -- for being able to find the solution that most clearly shows the inspiration for the problem. When Mark Sellke gets around to giving out such prizes.
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MathPanda1
1135 posts
#10 • 3 Y
Y by BaronPit, Adventure10, Mango247
CantonMathGuy wrote:
\[\Psi(Q)=\Psi\left(P\sum_{i=0}^{k}r_ix^i\right)=\sum_{i=0}^{k}\Psi(Pr_ix^i)=\sum_{i=0}^{k}r_i\Psi(P)^{p^i}\equiv0\pmod{\Psi(P)}\]

Sorry if this sounds stupid, but isn't $\Psi : \mathbb F_p[x] \to \mathbb F_p[x]$? So why is $\Psi\left(P\sum_{i=0}^{k}r_ix^i\right)=\sum_{i=0}^{k}\Psi(Pr_ix^i))=\sum_{i=0}^{k}r_i\Psi(P)^{p^i}$ true, since you might have to first reduce the coefficients in the expression in $\Psi$ by $\pmod p$ before you can change and evaluate the expression? Thanks.
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MathPanda1
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#11 • 3 Y
Y by BaronPit, Adventure10, Mango247
To be more clear, I mean:
If $P=\sum_{i=0}^{k}p_ix^i$, then $\Psi(Pr_ix^i)$ will have coefficients $p_jr_i$, which could be greater than $p$, so we would need to subtract some number of $p$'s, giving $p_jr_i-mp$, giving $\sum_{i=0}^{k} (p_jr_i-mp)x^{something} = \sum_{i=0}^{k} r_i\Psi(P)^{p^i} - something$, which may not be $0 \pmod \Psi(P)$.
$\sum_{i=0}^{k}r_i\Psi(P)^{p^i}$ could have coefficients greater than $p$, so you would have to first reduce the coefficients by $\pmod p$ before you can say that it is $0 \pmod \Psi(P)$, right? But reducing the coefficients by $\pmod p$ could make it no longer divisible by $\Psi(P)$ as you sort of changed the expression and coefficients.
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ABCDE
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#12 • 2 Y
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In $\mathbb{F}_{p}[x]$ we say that $F(x)\mid G(x)$ if there exists a polynomial $Q(x)$ such that $F(x)\equiv G(x)Q(x)\pmod{p}$. Reduction doesn't affect anything, because in $\mathbb{F}_p[x]$ the polynomials $P(x)$ and $P(x)+pQ(x)$ are the same.
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MathPanda1
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#13 • 3 Y
Y by BaronPit, Adventure10, Mango247
So just confirming, $x^3+x^2+x+1$ is divisible by $x+3$ in $\mathbb{F}_{5}[x]$ since $x^3+x^2+x+1 \equiv (x+1)(x+2)(x+3) \pmod 5$?
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v_Enhance
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#14 • 3 Y
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MathPanda1 wrote:
So just confirming, $x^3+x^2+x+1$ is divisible by $x+3$ in $\mathbb{F}_{5}[x]$ since $x^3+x^2+x+1 \equiv (x+1)(x+2)(x+3) \pmod 5$?

That is correct. :)
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rkm0959
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#15 • 3 Y
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Fun problem :) I hope the solution below is okay.
Claim 1. $\Psi (F+G) = \Psi (F) + \Psi (G)$ and $\Psi(cF) = c\Psi(F)$ for integer $c$.
This follows from definition of $\Psi$ - easy.

Claim 2. $\Psi (Fx^k) = \Psi(F)^{p^k}$ for all $k \in \mathbb{N}$.
We go by induction. Let $F = \sum_{i=0}^n a_ix^i$. First we prove the statement for $ik1$.
$$\Psi( Fx) = \Psi ( \sum_{i=1}^{n+1} a_{i-1}x^i) = \sum_{i=1}^{n+1} a_{i-1}x^{p^i} = (\sum_{i=1}^{n+1} a_{i-1}x^{p^{i-1}})^p = (\sum_{i=0}^n a_ix^{p^i})^p = \Psi(F)^p$$as required. Now if the result holds for $k$, then $$\Psi(Fx^{k+1}) = \Psi(Fx^k)^p = \Psi(F)^{p^{k+1}}$$so the result holds for $k+1$ as well, finishing the induction.

Claim 3. $Q|P \implies \Psi(Q)|\Psi(P)$.
Denote $P=QR$, and let $R = \sum_{i=0}^n a_ix^i$.
Now $$\Psi(P) = \Psi(QR) = \Psi(Q\sum_{i=0}^n a_ix^i) = \sum_{i=0}^n a_i \Psi(Qx^i) = \sum_{i=0}^n a_i \Psi(Q)^{p^i} \equiv 0 \pmod{\Psi(Q)}$$which gives us that $Q|P \implies \Psi(Q)|\Psi(P)$ as required.

Now for the main proof.
We show that $\Psi(\text{gcd}(F,G))|\text{gcd}(\Psi(F),\Psi(G))$ and $\text{gcd}(\Psi(F),\Psi(G))|\Psi(\text{gcd}(F,G))$.

First, we show that $\Psi(\text{gcd}(F,G))|\text{gcd}(\Psi(F),\Psi(G))$.
Since $\Psi(\text{gcd}(F,G))| \Psi(F)$ and $\Psi(\text{gcd}(F,G)) | \Psi(G)$, the result follows.

Second, we show that $\text{gcd}(\Psi(F),\Psi(G))|\Psi(\text{gcd}(F,G))$.
Take $A, B \in \mathbb F_p[x]$ such that $AF+BG = \text{gcd}(F,G)$.
Now $\text{gcd}(\Psi(F),\Psi(G))|\Psi(F) | \Psi(AF)$ and $\text{gcd}(\Psi(F),\Psi(G))|\Psi(G)|\Psi(BG)$.
This gives us $\text{gcd}(\Psi(F),\Psi(G))|\Psi(AF+BG) = \Psi(\text{gcd}(F,G))$ as required.

These two relations are enough to claim that $\Psi(\gcd(F,G)) = \gcd(\Psi(F), \Psi(G))$, so we are done. $\blacksquare$
This post has been edited 2 times. Last edited by rkm0959, Aug 10, 2017, 1:49 PM
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62861
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#16 • 2 Y
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@above: Wow our proofs are really similar - you even use the same variable names :P
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v_Enhance
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#17 • 3 Y
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pi37 wrote:
This implies that $\Psi$ is not only a poset homomorphism, but a poset isomorphism, which directly gives us the gcd statement.
I think you also need to show that the image of $\Psi$ is closed under g.c.d. for this to work. Fortunately, not hard either. :)
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AMN300
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#18 • 2 Y
Y by Adventure10, Mango247
Doesn't seem too bad for a 3/6? My solution isn't super nice like some of the others on this thread but it is the easiest to find imho

Solution

As a side note, was this problem motivated by the Frobenius Endomorphism?
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62861
3564 posts
#19 • 2 Y
Y by Adventure10, Mango247
@above: Many people (including me) felt that this was the easiest problem on December TST.
This post has been edited 1 time. Last edited by 62861, Jul 31, 2016, 1:28 AM
Reason: elaborate
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v_Enhance
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#20 • 7 Y
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CantonMathGuy wrote:
@above: Many people (including me) felt that this was the easiest problem on December TST.

Noted. I'll make sure P3 is harder next time. :P

Jokes aside: I was generally of the impression that all three problems on this December TST were of comparable difficulty (all medium-easy). I personally voted this one as a bit harder than P1 or P2, but not by much.
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randomusername
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#21 • 3 Y
Y by anantmudgal09, Adventure10, Mango247
An ounce of linear algebra
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randomusername
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#23 • 1 Y
Y by Adventure10
By the way, it seems that the easier part of my solution is the same as brian22's idea. Also, it appears to be a deeper interpretation of CantonMathGuy's solution. But at least it's linear algebra! :)
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tenplusten
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#24 • 1 Y
Y by Adventure10
Does anyone know any article (and can you send me please?) about linear algebra?
It seems this is going to be important topic in olympiad.
Thanks!!!
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TomMarvoloRiddle
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#25 • 3 Y
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tenplusten wrote:
Does anyone know any article (and can you send me please?) about linear algebra?
It seems this is going to be important topic in olympiad.
Thanks!!!

I think you can do good in Olympiad without knowing linear algebra.
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tenplusten
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#26 • 2 Y
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TomMarvoloRiddle wrote:
tenplusten wrote:
Does anyone know any article (and can you send me please?) about linear algebra?
It seems this is going to be important topic in olympiad.
Thanks!!!

I think you can do good in Olympiad without knowing linear algebra.

Maybe...
But I want to learn it ...
Anyone can help me?
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v_Enhance
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#27 • 6 Y
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tenplusten wrote:
Does anyone know any article (and can you send me please?) about linear algebra?
It seems this is going to be important topic in olympiad.
Thanks!!!

In terms of textbooks, I have heard good things about Linear Algebra Done Right. Most linear algebra textbooks are pretty bad though.

Part II of my Napkin also covers linear algebra briefly.
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MathStudent2002
934 posts
#28 • 3 Y
Y by Eliot, Adventure10, Mango247
Can someone check this?

Clearly $\Psi$ is linear. Now, note that if $A = \sum a_ix^i \in \mathbb F_p[x]$, and $B = x^k$, \[
\Psi(AB) = \Psi\left(\sum a_ix^{i+k}\right) = \sum a_ix^{p^{i+k}} = \left(\sum a_ix^{p^i}\right)^{p^k},
\]so $\Psi(AB) = \Psi(B) \circ \Psi(A)$ by linearity. Similarly this equals $\Psi(A)\circ \Psi(B)$. We have the following lemma:

Lemma: Let $P,Q$ be polynomials with $\gcd(P,Q) = R$. Then, $\gcd(P(A), Q(A)) = R(A)$.

Proof: Dividing $P,Q$ by $R$ it suffices to show this for the case $R = 1$. Then $P,Q$ do not have common roots (in $\overline{\mathbb F_p}$); we wish to show $P(A), Q(A)$ do not either. Indeed, if they did have some common root $\alpha$ then $A(\alpha)$ would be a common root of $P,Q$, contradiction. $\Box$

Now, let $H = \gcd(F,G)$, $F = HF'$, $G = HG'$. Then, $\Psi(F) = \Psi(HF') = \Psi(F')\circ \Psi(H)$, and $\Psi(G) = \Psi(G')\circ \Psi(H)$. Now, we see that $\gcd(\Psi(F), \Psi(G)) = \gcd(\Psi(F'), \Psi(G'))\circ \Psi(H)$. Thus it suffices to show that for $\gcd(F',G') = 1$, $\gcd(\Psi(F'),\Psi(G')) = x$. Clearly $x$ divides both $\Psi(F')$ and $\Psi(G')$. By Bézout there exist $A,B$ with $AF'+BG' = 1$. Taking $\Psi$ of both sides we have \[
\Psi(A)\circ \Psi(F') + \Psi(B)\circ \Psi(G') = x.
\]Now, let $H' = \gcd(\Psi(F'), \Psi(G'))$, and we have $H'\mid \Psi(F')\mid \Psi(A)\circ \Psi(F')$ and $H'\mid \Psi(B)\circ\Psi(G')$, so $H\mid x$ as well; thus $H' = x$ and we are done. $\blacksquare$
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yayups
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#30 • 2 Y
Y by Adventure10, Mango247
Let $\Phi:\mathbb{F}_p[X]\to\mathbb{F}_p[Y]$ be given by
\[\Phi\left(\sum_{i=0}^n a_iX^i\right) = \sum_{i=0}^n a_iY^{1+p+p^2+\cdots+p^{i-1}}.\]For example, $\Phi(X^2+X+1)=Y^{p+1}+Y+1$. Note that
\[\Psi(F)(X)=X\Phi(F)(X^{p-1}).\]The crux of the solution is lemma 2 below, but we need lemma 1 as a prerequisite..

Lemma 1: Suppose $P\in\mathbb{F}_p[Y]$. Then $P(Y^{p^k})=P(Y)^{p^k}$.

Proof of Lemma 1: It's clear we can show the lemma for $k=1$, and the other $k$ follow by repition of the $k=1$ case. This is the lemma that utilizes the fact that we are working mod $p$. Suppose
\[P(Y)=\sum_{i=0}^np_iY^i.\]Then,
\[P(Y)^p=\sum_{a_0+\cdots+a_n=r}\frac{p!}{a_0!a_1!\cdots a_n!}p_{a_0}\cdots p_{a_n}Y^p.\]But if at least two of $a_0,\ldots,a_n$ are nonzero, then $\frac{p!}{a_0!a_1!\cdots a_n!}\equiv 0\pmod{p}$, so the lemma is proved. $\blacksquare$

Lemma 2: Suppose $A,F\in\mathbb{F}_p[X]$. There exists a polynomial $\bar{A}\in\mathbb{F}_p[Y]$ such that
\[\Phi(A\cdot F)=\bar{A}\cdot\Phi(F).\]
Proof of Lemma 2: For brevity, let $\bar{F}=\Phi(F)$. Suppose
\[A(X)=\sum_{i=0}^na_iX^i\]and
\[F(X)=\sum_{i=0}^mf_iX^i.\]Let
\[\bar{A}(Y):=\sum_{i=0}^n a_iY^{1+p+\cdots+p^{i-1}}\bar{F}(Y)^{p^i-1}.\]Then, we have that
\begin{align*}
\bar{A}(Y)\bar{F}(Y)&=\sum_{i=0}^n a_i Y^{1+p+\cdots+p^{i-1}}\bar{F}(Y)^{p^i} \\
&= \sum_{i=0}^n a_i Y^{1+p+\cdots+p^{i-1}}\bar{F}(Y^{p^i}) \\
&= \sum_{i=0}^n a_i Y^{1+p+\cdots+p^{i-1}}\sum_{j=0}^m f_j Y^{(1+p+\cdots+p^{i-1})p^j} \\
&= \sum_{i=0}^n\sum_{j=0}^m a_if_j Y^{1+p+\cdots+p^{i+j-1}} \\
&= \Phi(A\cdot F)(Y),
\end{align*}as desired. $\blacksquare$

Suppose $\gcd(F,G)=H$. We see that $\Phi(H)\mid\Phi(F)$ by lemma 2, so $\Psi(H)\mid\Psi(F)$, and similarly $\Psi(H)\mid\Psi(G)$. Therefore, $\Psi(H)\mid\gcd(\Psi(F),\Psi(G))$. If we showed that there were $A',B'\in\mathbb{F}_P[X]$ so that
\[\Psi(H)=A'\Psi(F)+B'\Psi(G),\]then we'd be done (because this would imply $\gcd(\Psi(F),\Psi(G))\mid\Psi(H)$, and we already have $\Psi(H)\mid\gcd(\Psi(F),\Psi(G))$).

Suppose $H(X)=A(X)F(X)+B(X)G(X)$. Then, construct $\bar{A},\bar{B}\in\mathbb{F}_p[Y]$ according to lemma 2. Thus,
\[\Phi(H)=\Phi(A\cdot F)+\Phi(B\cdot G)=\bar{A}\cdot\Phi(F)+\bar{B}\cdot\Phi(G).\]Let $A'(X)=\bar{A}(X^{p-1})$ and $B'(X)=\bar{B}(X^{p-1})$. Thus,
\[\Psi(H)(X)=X\Phi(H)(X^{p-1})=A'(X)\Psi(F)(X)+B'(X)\Psi(G)(X),\]so $\gcd(\Psi(F),\Psi(G))=\Psi(H)$, as desired. $\square$
This post has been edited 1 time. Last edited by yayups, Feb 25, 2019, 12:08 AM
Reason: streamlined lemma 1 and cleaned up end of proof (as per suggestion of zaccro)
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math_pi_rate
1218 posts
#31 • 2 Y
Y by Adventure10, Mango247
Even though I love geometry, I found this problem to be the easiest USA TST P3 that I have tried till now. Weird ;). Anyway, I'll provide my solution (which I guess is nothing new for this forum, but still :D): I don't like $F$ and $G$ so I'll use $P$ and $Q$. First of all a trivial observation (proof's not included obviously)-

OBSERVATION $\Psi(P+Q)=\Psi(P)+\Psi(Q)$. In particular, $\Psi(aP)=a\Psi(P)$, where $a \in \mathbb{Z}$.

Now, for some serious claims, which will help us conquer the problem. But before that a well-known lemma which we'll require later on-

LEMMA Let $a_1,a_2, \dots ,a_n$ be $n$ integers and $p$ be a prime. Then $$(a_1+a_2+ \dots +a_n)^p \equiv a_1^p+a_2^p+ \dots +a_n^p \pmod{p}$$
Proof of Lemma The proof proceeds by induction on $n$. For $n=2$, we just need to apply binomial theorem on the LHS, and use the fact that $p \mid \binom{p}{i}$ for $i \in \{1,2, \dots ,p-1\}$. Then the inductive step is fairly simple to use. $\Box$

CLAIM 1 $\Psi(P) \mid \Psi(Px^m)$ for all $m \in \mathbb{Z}^+$.

Proof of Claim 1 Let $P(x)=a_0+a_1x+ \dots +a_nx^n$. Then $$\Psi(Px^m)=\Psi(a_0x^m+a_1x^{m+1}+ \dots +a_nx^{m+n})=a_0x^{p^m}+a_1x^{p^{m+1}}+ \dots +a_mx^{p^{m+n}}$$Now, By Fermat's Little Theorem, and using the fact that $\gcd(a_i,p)=1$ for all $i \in \{0,1, \dots ,n\}$ as $a_i \in \mathbb{F}_p$, we have that $$a_i \equiv a_i^{p^m} \pmod{p} \quad \forall i \in \{0,1, \dots ,n\}$$Using the above equality, and working in $\mathbb{F}_p$, we have $$\Psi(Px^m)=\sum_{i=0}^n \left(a_ix^{p^i} \right)^{p^m} \overset{\text{LEMMA}}{\Longrightarrow} \Psi(Px^m)=\left(\sum_{i=0}^n a_ix^{p^i} \right)^{p^m}=(\Psi(P))^{p^m} \Rightarrow \Psi(P) \mid \Psi(Px^m) \quad \Box$$
CLAIM 2 (Key Claim) $\Psi(P) \mid \Psi(PQ)$ for all $P,Q \in \mathbb F_p[x]$.

Proof of Claim 2 Let $Q(x)=b_0+b_1x+ \dots +b_kx^k$. Then using our initial observation, we have $$\Psi(PQ)=\Psi(b_0P+b_1xP+ \dots +b_kx^kP)=b_0\Psi(P)+b_1 \Psi(Px)+ \dots b_k \Psi(Px^k) \overset{\text{CLAIM 1}}{\Longrightarrow} \Psi(P) \mid \Psi(PQ) \quad \Box$$
Return to the problem at hand. Let $\gcd(P,Q)=R$. Then, by Claim 2, $\Psi(R) \mid \Psi(P)$ and $\Psi(R) \mid \Psi(Q)$, which together gives that $\Psi(R) \mid \gcd(\Psi(P),\Psi(Q))$.

Now, By Bezout's Identity, we can write $R=AP+BQ$ for polynomials $A,B \in \mathbb F_p[x]$. Then, using our observation once again, we get that $$\Psi(R)=\Psi(AP+BQ)=\Psi(AP)+\Psi(BQ) \overset{\text{CLAIM 2}}{\Longrightarrow} \Psi(R)=C\Psi(P)+D\Psi(Q) \text{ for some polynomials } C,D \in \mathbb F_p[x]$$But this means (again by Bezout's Identity) that $\gcd(\Psi(P),\Psi(Q)) \mid \Psi(R)$. Thus, we have $$\gcd(\Psi(P),\Psi(Q))=\Psi(R)=\Psi(\gcd(P,Q)) \quad \blacksquare$$
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Vrangr
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#32 • 4 Y
Y by MathBoy23, Adventure10, Mango247, Mango247
Claim 1: $\left(\sum_{i = 1}^n a_i\right)^p = \sum_{i = 1}^n a_i^p$ for $a_i \in \mathbb{F}_p[x]$.
Proof. $p \left| \binom{p}{k}\right.$ for all $1 \le k < p$ since no number in the denominator is divisible by $p$.
\begin{align*}
\left(\sum_{i = i}^n a_i\right)^p = \left(a_n + \sum_{i = 1}^{n - 1} a_i\right)^p &= a_n^p + \sum_{k = 1}^{p - 1} \binom{p}{k} a_n^k \left(\sum_{i = 1} a_i\right)^{p - k} + \left(\sum_{i = 1}^{n - 1} a_i\right)^{p}\\
&=  a_n^p + \left(\sum_{i = 1}^{n-1} a_i\right)^{p} = \cdots = \sum_{i = 1}^n a_i^p\qquad\qquad\qquad\square
\end{align*}
Let $\circ$ refer to composition of functions.
Let $\mathbb{S}$ be the image of $\mathbb{F}_p[x]$ under $\Psi$.

Claim 2: $(\mathbb{S}, +, \circ)$ is a ring.
Proof. Clearly $S$ is closed under addition.
Let $P(x) = \sum_{i=1}^m a_i x^{p^i}$ and $Q(x) = \sum_{i=1}^n b_i x^{p^i}$
\[(Q(x))^{p^j} = \left(\sum_{i=1}^n b_i x^{p^i}\right)^{p^j} = \left(\sum_{i=1}^n b_i^{p} x^{p^{i + 1}}\right)^{p^{j - 1}} = \left(\sum_{i=1}^n b_i x^{p^{i + 1}}\right)^{p^{j - 1}} = \cdots = \sum_{i=1}^n b_i x^{p^{i + j}} \]\[(P\circ Q)(x) = P(Q(x)) = \sum_{j = 1}^m a_j (Q(x))^{p^j} = \sum_{j = 1}^m \sum_{i=1}^n a_j b_i x^{p^{i + j}} \in \mathbb{S}\]Thus $\mathbb{S}$ is closed under composition.
Clearly both the identities are present in $\mathbb{S}$ and additive inverse is present in $\mathbb{S}$.
Thus, $(\mathbb{S}, +, \circ)$ is a ring. $\square$
It's well-known that $(\mathbb{F}_p[x], +, \times)$ is a ring.

We'll call the rings $\mathbb{S}$ and $\mathbb{F}_p[x]$.

Claim 3: $\mathbb{F}_p[x] \cong \mathbb{S}$ with $\Psi$ as the isomorphism.
Proof. It's trivial to prove that $\Psi$ distributes over $+$ and is bijective.
Multiplicative identity of $\mathbb{F}_p[x]$ is $1$ and that of $S$ is $P(x) = x$. So clearly $\Psi(1) = x$.
Now from the proof of claim 2 we know that for $P(x) = \sum_{i = 1}^m a_i x^{i}$ and $Q(x) = \sum_{i=1}^n b_i x^{i}$,
\[(\Psi (P) \circ \Psi (Q))(x) = \sum_{i = 1}^m \sum_{j =1}^n a_i b_j x^{p^{i + j}} = \Psi\left(\sum_{i = 1}^m \sum_{j =1}^n a_i b_j x^{i + j}\right) = \Psi\left(P(x) \times Q(x)\right).\]Thus, $\Psi$ is an isomorphism from $\mathbb{F}_p[x] \to \mathbb{S}$. $\square$

Claim 4: If $P, Q \in \mathbb{F}_p[x]$ such that $Q | P$, then $\Psi(Q) | \Psi(P)$.
Proof. Let $P = QR$. Since $x | T(x)$ for all $T \in \mathbb{S}$, replacing $T$ with $\Psi(R)$ and $x$ with $\Psi(Q)$.
\[\Psi(Q) | \Psi R (\Psi Q) =  (\Psi R) \circ (\Psi Q) = \Psi(RQ) = \Psi(P).\qquad \square\]
Claim 5: $\Psi(\gcd(P, Q)) | \gcd(\Psi(P), \Psi(Q))$ for all $P, Q \in \mathbb{F}_p[x]$.
Proof. \[\left.\begin{cases} \gcd(P, Q) | P \\\gcd(P, Q) | Q \end{cases}\hspace{-1em}\right\} \implies \left.\begin{cases} \Psi(\gcd(P, Q)) | \Psi(P) \\\Psi(\gcd(P, Q)) | \Psi(Q) \end{cases}\hspace{-1em}\right\} \implies \Psi(\gcd(P, Q)) | \gcd(\Psi(P), \Psi(Q)) \qquad\square\]
Claim 6: $\gcd(\Psi(P), \Psi(Q)) | \Psi(\gcd(P, Q))$ for all $P, Q \in \mathbb{F}_p[x]$.
Proof. Let $\gcd(P, Q) = PX +  QY$ for $X, Y \in \mathbb{F}_p[x]$ by Bezout's Identity for polynomials.
Now,
\[\Psi(\gcd(P, Q))  = \Psi(PX + QY) = \Psi(PX) + \Psi(QY)\]Since $P|PX$ and $Q|QY$, $\Psi(P)|\Psi(PX)$ and $\Psi(Q)|\Psi(QY)$.
Therefore
\[\gcd(\Psi(P), \Psi(Q))| \Psi(PX) + \Psi(QY)\]as desired. $\square$

Combining claim 5 and 6, we get the desired result,
\[\gcd(\Psi(P), \Psi(Q)) = \Psi(\gcd(P, Q))\]for all $P, Q \in \mathbb{F}_p[x]$.
This post has been edited 5 times. Last edited by Vrangr, May 30, 2019, 2:25 PM
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rocketscience
466 posts
#35 • 2 Y
Y by Adventure10, Mango247
For an $A \in \mathbb{F}_p[x]$, let $f_A(x)$ denote the polynomial $\Psi(A)$. Observe that $\Psi(kA) = k\Psi(A)$ for a constant $k$ and $\Psi(A+B) = \Psi(A) + \Psi(B).$

Lemma: $f_{AB}(x) = f_A(f_B(x))$.
Proof

Lemma: Let $d(x)$ be a monic polynomial. Then for relatively prime polynomials $A, B$ we have
\[\gcd(f_A(d), f_B(d)) = d. \]Proof

To finish, let $d = \gcd(F, G)$ and write $\gcd(\Psi(F), \Psi(G)) = \gcd( f_{F/d}(f_d), f_{G/d}(f_d))$ by the first lemma. Then apply the second lemma to get that this $\gcd$ is just $f_d=\Psi(\gcd(F, G))$. $\blacksquare$
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TheUltimate123
1739 posts
#36 • 1 Y
Y by char2539
Note that $\Psi(P+Q)=\Psi(P)+\Psi(Q)$ and $\Psi(kP)=k\Psi(P)$.


Lemma: For $P\in\mathbb F_p[x]$ and $k\in\mathbb Z$, we have $\Psi(Px^k)=\Psi(P)^{p^k}$.

Proof. Let $\textstyle P(x)=\sum_{i=0}^na_ix^i$. Write \[\Psi(Px^k)=\Psi\left(\sum_{i=0}^na_ix^{i+k}\right)=\sum_{i=0}^na_i\left(x^{p^i}\right)^{p^k}=\left(\sum_{i=0}^na_ix^{p^i}\right)^{p^k}=\Psi(P)^{p^k},\]where the third equality is by Frobenius. $\blacksquare$


Lemma: For $P,Q\in\mathbb F_p[x]$, if $P\mid Q$, then $\Psi(P)\mid\Psi(Q)$.

Proof. Let $Q=PR$ and $\textstyle R=\sum_{i=0}^na_ix^i$. Then \[\Psi(Q)=\Psi\left(P\sum_{i=0}^na_ix^i\right)=\sum_{i=0}^na_i\Psi(Px^i)=\sum_{i=0}^na_i\Psi(P)^{p^i},\]which is divisible by $\Psi(P)$. $\blacksquare$


Let $H=\gcd(F,G)$ and $I=\gcd(\Psi(F),\Psi(G))$, so it suffices to prove $\Psi(H)=I$. Note the following:
  • By the above lemma, we have $\Psi(H)\mid\Psi(F)$ and $\Psi(H)\mid\Psi(G)$, so $\Psi(H)\mid I$.
  • Let $H=AF+BG$ for $A,B\in\mathbb F_p[x]$ by B\'ezout's lemma. We have $I\mid\Psi(F)\mid\Psi(AF)$ and $I\mid\Psi(G)\mid\Psi(BG)$, so $I\mid\Psi(AF)+\Psi(BG)=\Psi(H)$.
The conclusion follows.
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niksic
81 posts
#37
Y by
Take some three polynomials $P(x)=\sum_{i=0}^{\infty}a_ix^i$, $Q(x)=\sum_{i=0}^{\infty}b_ix^i$ and $R(x)=\sum_{i=0}^{\infty}c_ix^i$, where coefficients are zero if large enough for simplicity

We have $\Psi(PQ) = \Psi(\sum_{i=0}^{\infty}\sum_{j=0}^{\infty}a_ib_jx^{i+j}) = \sum_{i=0}^{\infty}\sum_{j=0}^{\infty}a_ib_jx^{p^{i+j}}$, now notice $\Psi(P+Q)=\Psi(P)+\Psi(Q)$ and the main claim:
$$gcd(\Psi(PQ), \Psi(PR)) = gcd(\sum_{i=0}^{\infty}\sum_{j=0}^{\infty}a_ib_jx^{p^{i+j}}, \sum_{i=0}^{\infty}\sum_{j=0}^{\infty}a_ic_jx^{p^{i+j}}) =$$$$= gcd(\sum_{i=0}^{\infty}\sum_{j=0}^{\infty}a_i(b_j-c_j)x^{p^{i+j}}, \sum_{i=0}^{\infty}\sum_{j=0}^{\infty}a_ic_jx^{p^{i+j}}) = gcd(\Psi(P(Q-R)), \Psi(PR))$$
This follows from $gcd(X,Y)=gcd(X-Y,Y)$, the standard number theory lemma but for polynomials. Now, assume $F=PQ$, $G=PR$ and $gcd(Q,R)=1$ and $gcd(F,G)=P$. Keep repeating the main result above, $gcd(\Psi(PQ), \Psi(PR))=gcd(\Psi(P(Q-R)), \Psi(PR))$, and by the Euclidian algorithm we arrive at $gcd(\Psi(F),\Psi(G)) = gcd(\Psi(P), \Psi(0)) = \Psi(P) = \Psi(gcd(F,G)) \implies gcd(\Psi(F),\Psi(G)) = \Psi(gcd(F,G))$, which we wanted to prove $\blacksquare$

EDIT: Am I mistaken or does this method generalize from $\mathbb{F}_p[x]$ to $\mathbb{Z}[x]$?
This post has been edited 2 times. Last edited by niksic, Jun 13, 2020, 8:08 PM
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william122
1576 posts
#38
Y by
First, we claim that $a_1^p+a_2^p+\ldots +a_n^p$ leaves a remainder with all terms divisible by $p$ when divided by $a_1+\ldots +a_n$. We prove this with induction on $n$. For $n=2$, the claim is trivial as $a_1+a_2|a_1^p+a_2^p$. Now, suppose the claim is true for $n-1$. Now, $$a_1^p+a_2^p+\ldots+a_n^p=(a_1^p+\ldots + a_{n-2}^p+(a_{n-1}+a_n)^p)-\sum_{i=1}^{p-1}a_{n-1}^ia_n^{p-i}\binom{p}{i}$$For the first term, we are guaranteed a remainder divisible by $p$ by induction. On the other hand, for the latter term, $\binom{p}{i}$ is always divisible by $p$, so of course, subtracting it will preserve the fact that the remainder has all coefficients divisible by $p$, as desired.

Now, note that if $P(x)=a_nx^n+a_{n-1}x^{n-1}+\ldots + a_0$, then $\Psi(P(x))=a_nx^{p^n}+\ldots +a_0x^{p^0}$ and $\Psi(xP(x))=\left(a_nx^{p^n}\right)^p+\ldots +\left(a_0x^{p^0}\right)^p$ as $a^p\equiv a\pmod p$. Now, using our claims, the remainder when $\Psi(xP(x))$ is divided by $\Psi(P(x))$ has all terms divisible by $p$, and since we are working in $\mathbb{F}_p$, this means $\Psi(P(x))|\Psi(xP(x))$. Using induction, this gives $\Psi(P(x))|\Psi(x^kP(x))$, and since $\Psi$ is additive, we get $\Psi(P(x))|\Psi(Q(x))$ whenver $P|Q$.

To finish, we just use the Euclidean Algorithm. We have that $\gcd(\Psi(P(x)),\Psi(Q(x)))=\gcd(\Psi(P(x)),\Psi(Q(x)-R(x)P(x)))$ by properties of $\gcd$, additivity of $\Psi$, and the fact that $\Psi(P(x))|\Psi(P(x)R(x))$, so applying normal Euclidean algorithm gives $$\gcd(\Psi(P(x)),\Psi(Q(x)))=\gcd(\Psi(\gcd(P(x),Q(x))),\Psi(\gcd(P(x),Q(x))))=\Psi(\gcd(P(x),Q(x)))$$as desired.
This post has been edited 1 time. Last edited by william122, Jun 18, 2020, 9:48 PM
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Idio-logy
206 posts
#39
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This is essentially the same idea as brian22's solution, but phrased differently. We define a notation $[a_0, a_1, a_2, \dots, a_n]$ recursively such that
\[[a_0,a_1,\dots,a_n] = a_0 + [a_1,\dots,a_n]^p.\]Then we can prove by induction (using a property of Frobenius endomorphism) that
\[[a_0x, a_1x,\dots, a_nx] = \Psi(a_0 + a_1x+\dots +a_nx^n).\]Notice also that $[a_0,\dots,a_n] + [b_0,\dots,b_n] = [a_0+b_0,\dots, a_n+b_n]$ and $c[a_0,\dots,a_n] = [ca_0,\dots,ca_n]$ for any $c\in \mathbb{F}_p$.

Claim. If $a(x) \mid f(x)$, then $\Psi(a(x)) \mid \Psi(f(x)).$

Proof. Let $a(x) = a_0 + a_1x+ \dots +a_nx^n$ and $f(x) = a(x)b(x)$ where $b(x) = b_0 + b_1x + \dots + b_m x^m$. Write $A = [a_0, a_1, \dots, a_n] = \Psi(a(x))$, then it suffices for us to prove that
\[\Psi(f(x)) = [b_0A, b_1A, \dots, b_mA].\]This can be easily shown by expanding out the entire thing. $\square$

Back to the original problem, we use the Euclidean algorithm. Suppose WLOG that $G(x) = F(x)\cdot Q(x) + R(x)$ where $\deg R < \deg F$, and assume the problem is true for the pair $(R,F)$. Our notation implies $\Psi$ is linear, so
\[\gcd(\Psi(F), \Psi(G)) = \gcd(\Psi(F), \Psi(R) + \Psi(F\cdot Q)) = \gcd(\Psi(F), \Psi(R)) = \Psi(\gcd(F,R)) = \Psi(\gcd(F,G))\]as desired.
This post has been edited 1 time. Last edited by Idio-logy, Nov 28, 2020, 7:25 AM
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pi271828
3359 posts
#40
Y by
Claim: $\Psi(F) | \Psi(G)$ iff $F | G$. We can split this claim into two parts, proving that $\Psi(F) | \Psi(G) \implies F | G$, and $F | G \implies \Psi(F) | \Psi(G)$. Notice that this claim is enough to complete the problem.

For the first part, notice that you can use the fact that $P(A+B) = P(A)+P(B)$ to split the polynomials into monomials.

For the second part, FTSOC, we let $F = GA + R$ where $R$ is a nonzero polynomial with $\deg R < \deg P$. This implies that $\Psi(Q) = \Psi(PA) + \Psi(R)$. $\Psi(PA) \equiv 0 \pmod \Psi(P)$, so therefore $\Psi(P)|\Psi(R)$. Since $\deg R < \deg P$, $R \equiv 0$, therefore implying the result. $\blacksquare$
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Inconsistent
1455 posts
#41
Y by
Just brute force by inventing your own EA. Let $[F, G]$ denote the statement that the desired condition holds for $F, G$.

First: $\Psi$ is linear so $[F, G] \leftrightarrow [F-kG, G]$
Next: By substitution, $[F, G] \leftrightarrow [xF, xG]$
Next: By symmetry, $[F, G] \leftrightarrow [G, F]$
Finally: I claim $[xF, G] \leftrightarrow [F, G]$ if $x \nmid G$.

This is because $\Psi(xF)(x) = \Psi(F)(x^p) = \Psi(F)^p$, so it suffices to show $\gcd(\Psi(F)^p, \Psi(G)) = \gcd(\Psi(F), \Psi(G))$. This follows immediately from the claim that $\Psi(G)$ has no double roots for arbitrary $G$. This is because given $\alpha$ a root of $\Psi(G)$, $\Psi(G)' = G(0)$ which must be nonzero by assumption, finishing.

Now, these operations together compose the backward Euclidean algorithm, which cancels the constant term and divides out factors of $x$ until the degree is minimal, finishing.
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IAmTheHazard
5000 posts
#42
Y by
Really nice.

We have the three following key properties:
  • $\Psi(f+g)=\Psi(f)+\Psi(g)$. This is obvious.
  • $c\Psi(f)=\Psi(cf)$, where $c \in \mathbb{F}_p$. This is clear because $c^p=c$ in $\mathbb{F}_p$.
  • $\Psi(f)^p=\Psi(\mathrm{id}\cdot f)$ (as a polynomial equality). This is because if $f(x)=a_nx^n+\cdots+a_0$, then both sides are equal to $a_nx^{p^{n+1}}+\cdots+a_0x^{p^1}$, since for any $a \in \mathbb{F}_p[x]$ we have $a(x^p)=a(x)^p$.

Now we will essentially apply the Euclidean algorithm to $\Psi(\gcd(F,G))$ and essentially show that the same thing works on $\gcd(\Psi(F),\Psi(G))$. Indeed, WLOG let $\deg F>\deg G$ select $c \in \mathbb{F}_p$ and $k\in \mathbb{Z}_{\geq 0}$ such that
$$\deg F-cx^kG < \deg F,$$so
$$\Psi(\gcd(F(x),G(x)))=\Psi(\gcd(F(x)-cx^kG(x),G(x)))$$Likewise, we have
$$\gcd(\Psi(F(x)),\Psi(G(x)))=\gcd(\Psi(F(x))-c\Psi(G(x))^{p^k},\Psi(G(x)))=\gcd(\Psi(F(x)-cx^kG(x)),\Psi(G(x))).$$Thus by repeatedly doing this (which is just the Euclidean algorithm on $F$ and $G$), we reduce $\Psi(\gcd(F,G))$ to $\Psi(\gcd(H,H))=\Psi(H)$ where $H=\gcd(F,G)$. The same sequence of operations reduce $\gcd(\Psi(F),\Psi(G))$ to $\gcd(\Psi(H),\Psi(H))$, which clearly equals $\Psi(H)$ as well. Thus we are done. $\blacksquare$


Remark: My initial solution to this was a bit different. Similarly to the third key property we may prove the more general statement that $\Psi(fg)=\Psi(f)(\Psi(g))$ (if $f \equiv \mathrm{id}$ we obtain the third key property). Then if $F \equiv ab$ and $G \equiv ac$ where $b \perp c$, we want to prove that $\Psi(a)=\gcd(\Psi(ab),\Psi(ac))=\gcd(\Psi(b)(\Psi(a)),\Psi(c)(\Psi(a)))$. From here the solution basically remains the same. The "necessity" of the third property or its generalization come from a need to find some property of $\Psi$ which will connect it with $\gcd$.
It's a bit unclear how the third property actually relates to $\gcd$, but in its general form it seems much clearer, since $\gcd$ is certainly related to products of polynomials. Indeed, from the general form it is essentially immediate that at the very least we have $\Psi(a) \mid \gcd(\Psi(b)(\Psi(a)),\Psi(c)(\Psi(a)))$, which indicates that this route should be pushed further.
This post has been edited 3 times. Last edited by IAmTheHazard, Feb 2, 2023, 3:38 PM
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Leo.Euler
577 posts
#43
Y by
Neat problem, the key idea is to inductively show that all pairs $(F(x), G(x))$ in $\mathbb{F}_p[x]^2$ work. For $(F, G) \in \mathbb{F}_p[x]^2$, let \[ \alpha(F, G) = \begin{cases} 1 & (F, G) \ \text{works} \\ 0 & (F, G) \ \text{does not work}. \end{cases} \]We say that $(F, G) \sim (H, K)$ if $\alpha(F, G)=1$ implies $\alpha(H, K)=1$.

Lemma: [Symmetry] We have $(F, G) \sim (G, F)$. Proof. Note that $\gcd(F, G)$ is symmetric with respect to $F, G$, so we are done. :yoda:

The above lemma completes the proof of the fact that $\sim$ is an equivalence relation.

Lemma: [Euclidean algorithm] We have $(F, G) \sim (F-G, G)$, $(F, G) \sim (F+G, G)$.
Proof. This holds due to the linearity property of $\Psi$. :yoda:

Lemma: [Factoring monomials] We have $(F, G) \sim (xF, xG)$.
Proof. By definition, it can be easily seen that \begin{align*} \Psi(xF(x)) &= F(x^p) \\ &= F(x)^p , \end{align*}from which the lemma follows (this is by the use of $\gcd$ on $p$th powers of polynomials). :yoda:

Now onto the hardest one.

Lemma: [Factoring monomials from one term] If $x \nmid G$, then $(F, G) \sim (xF, G)$.
Proof. As in the proof of the prior lemma, $\Psi(xF(x)) = \Psi(F)^p$. Note that $\Psi(G)'(x)=G(0)$ for all $x$ must be nonzero, so $\Psi(G)$ must have no double root. Thus, $\gcd(\Psi(F)^p, \Psi(G)) = \gcd(\Psi(F), \Psi(G))$, and we are done from our first observation. :yoda:

Using the above lemmas, we can inductively show that $\alpha(F, G)=1$ for all $F, G$ by following an algorithm similar to that of the Euclidean Algorithm. We are done. :starwars:
This post has been edited 2 times. Last edited by Leo.Euler, Jul 27, 2023, 8:36 PM
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HamstPan38825
8847 posts
#44
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The key is to offer the following characterization of $\Psi$ multiplicatively.

Claim. We have $\Psi(fg) = \Psi(f) \circ \Psi(g)$.

Proof. It suffices to prove the monomial case $$\Psi(x^n f(x)) = \Psi(f(x))^{p^n}$$because $\Psi$ is additive. To see this, set $f(x) = pg(x) + h(x)$ in $\mathbb Z$ and apply the binomial theorem. $\blacksquare$

Now we obviously have $\Psi(\gcd(f, g)) \mid \gcd(\Psi(f), \Psi(g))$ because if $f \mid g$, then $\Psi(f)\mid \Psi(g)$. (This is because in the above expression, $\Psi$ has no constant term.) To show the other direction, use Bezout's lemma: there exists polynomials $a, b$ such that $$af+bg = \gcd(f, g).$$Taking $\Psi$ of both sides, $$\Psi(f) \circ \Psi(a) + \Psi(g) \circ \Psi(b) = \Psi(\gcd(f, g)).$$On the other hand, $\gcd(\Psi(f), \Psi(g))$ divides both terms on the LHS, so it divides the RHS too.

Thus $\Psi(\gcd(f, g)) =\gcd(\Psi(f), \Psi(g))$, as needed.
This post has been edited 1 time. Last edited by HamstPan38825, Mar 15, 2024, 3:37 PM
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Shreyasharma
666 posts
#45
Y by
Napkin wrote:
(USA Team Selection Test 2016) Let $\mathbb{F}_p$ denote the integers modulo a fixed prime $p$. Define $\Psi \colon \mathbb{F}_p[x] \mapsto \mathbb{F}_p[x]$ by,
\begin{align*}
    \Psi\left(\sum_{i = 0}^n a_ix^i\right) = \sum_{i = 0}^n a_ix^{p^i}
\end{align*}Denote by $S$ the image of $\Psi$. Show that,
  • $S$ is a ring with addition given by polynomial addition, and multiplication given by \textit{function composition}.
  • Prove that $\Psi \colon \mathbb{F}_p[x] \mapsto S$ is then a ring isomorphism.
We begin by characterizing $S$; Take two arbitrary elements in $S$:
\begin{align*}
    A = \sum_{i= 0}^{n} a_ix^{p^i}\\
    B = \sum_{i = 0}^n b_ix^{p_i}
\end{align*}with some $a_i$ and $b_i$ possibly $0$.

Claim: $S$ is closed under addition.
Proof. Simply note that,
\begin{align*}
    A + B = \sum_{i = 0}^n (a_i + b_i)x^{p^i} = \sum_{i = 0}^n (a_i + b_i \bmod{p})x^{p^i} \in S
\end{align*}Also, there is an additive identity, namely the $0$ polynomial. $\square$

Claim: $S$ obeys multiplication given by function composition.
Proof. We first demonstrate $S$ obeys exponentiation by powers of $p$. Then we wish to show that,
\begin{align*}
    \left( \sum_{i = 0}^n a_ix^{p^i} \right)^p  &\in S\\
\end{align*}We are working with something of the form $(y_1 + y_2 + \dots + y_n)^p \equiv 0 \bmod{p}$. Note that lower order terms not of the form $y_i^{p}$ die modulo $p$; to see this say that some term in our expansion is of the form,
\begin{align*}
    \prod_{i = 0}^k y_i^{e_i}
\end{align*}where we without loss of generality assume that the $k$ variables are $y_1$, $y_2$, and so on. The coefficient of this term is then,
\begin{align*}
    \binom{p}{e_1} \cdot \binom{p - e_1}{e_2} \dots
\end{align*}Clearly $p$ divides this coefficient, given that $e_1 < p$, thus proving that these terms vanish. This in turn proves that $S$ behaves well under exponentiation by $p$ and in fact that,
\begin{align*}
        \left( \sum_{i = 0}^n a_ix^{p^i} \right)^{p^t}  &\in S\\
\end{align*}lies in $S$ for any $t$, by induction. Now to see that $S$ obeys function composition, simply take $A, B \in S$ and note,
\begin{align*}
    A \circ B = \sum_{i = 0}^n a_iB^{p^i} \in S
\end{align*}which is clearly in $S$ as $S$ is closed under exponentiation by powers of $p$ and addition. Moreover it clearly has identity element $x$, is associative, and distributes over addition. $\square$

Therefore $S = (S, + , \circ)$ is a ring, finishing the first bullet.

For the second bullet we wish to show that $\Psi \colon \mathbb{F}_p[x] \mapsto S$ is a ring isomorphism. Thus we wish to show $\Psi$ is a bijective map satisfying,
  • $\Psi(x + y) = \Psi(x) + \Psi(y)$
  • $\Psi(x \times y) = \Psi(x) \circ \Psi(y)$
  • $\Psi(1) = x$
The first and last bullets follow easily from the definition of $\Psi$, and so does the bijectivity of the map. It remains to verify the second bullet; namely we wish to show,
\begin{align*}
    \Psi(AB) = \Psi(A) \circ \Psi(B)
\end{align*}The right hand side clearly is just,
\begin{align*}
    \sum_{i = 0}^n a_iB^{p^i} &= \sum_{i = 0}^n \left( a_i\left(\sum_{j = 0}^n b_jx^{p^{j + 1}} \right) \right)\\
    &= \sum_{i = 0}^n \left(\sum_{j = 0}^n a_ib_jx^{p^{i + j}} \right)
\end{align*}whereas we may observe the left hand side is,
\begin{align*}
    \Psi\left(\sum_{i = 0}^n a_ix^i \cdot B \right) &= \sum_{i = 0}^n \Psi(a_ix^i \cdot B)\\
    &= \sum_{i = 0}^n a_i \Psi\left(\sum_{j = 0}^n b_jx^{i + j}\right)\\
    &= \sum_{i = 0}^n \left(\sum_{j = 0}^n a_ib_jx^{p^{i + j}} \right)
\end{align*}which are clearly equal. This finishes the problem.

Remarks: Oops I got braindead and needed help on the last part (which was supposed to be easy :wacko: ).
This post has been edited 1 time. Last edited by Shreyasharma, Apr 3, 2024, 5:43 PM
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KevinYang2.71
393 posts
#46 • 5 Y
Y by deduck, purplepenguin2, Orthogonal., LostDreams, EpicBird08
Let $\mathbb{N}$ denote the set of natural numbers, including $0$. Let $R$ be the ring consisting of the set of $\mathbb{F}_p$-polynomials
\[
\left\{a_n x^{p^n}+a_{n-1} x^{p^{n-1}}+\cdots+a_1 x^p+a_0x\mid n\in\mathbb{N};a_0,\ldots,a_n\in\mathbb{F}_p\right\},
\]with addition $+$ and multiplication $\circ$ (function composition). It is easy to check that $R$ is a ring with additive identity $0$ and multiplicative identity $x$. Let $\overline{\mathbb{F}_p}$ denote the algebraic closure of $\mathbb{F}_p$.

Lemma 1. $\mathbb{F}_p[x]$ is isomorphic to $R$ with isomorphism $\Psi$.

Proof. We first prove that $\Psi:\mathbb{F}_p[x]\rightarrow R$ is a homomorphism:
  • $\Psi(f+g)=\Psi(f)+\Psi(g)$ is trivial.
  • We have $\Psi(x^\alpha x^\beta)=x^{p^{\alpha+\beta}}=\left(x^{p^\alpha}\right)^{p^\beta}=\Psi(x^\alpha)\circ\Psi(x^\beta)$. Clearly we also have $\Psi(cx^\alpha)=c\Psi(x^\alpha)$ for any constant $c$. It follows that $\Psi(fg)=\Psi(f)\Psi(g)$.
  • $\Psi(1)=x$ is trivial.
Clearly $\ker\Psi=\{1\}$ and $\Psi$ is surjective so $\Psi$ is an isomorphism. $\square$

Let $\overline{R}\supseteq R$ be the ring consisting of the set of $\overline{\mathbb{F}_p}$-polynomials
\[
\left\{a_n x^{p^n}+a_{n-1} x^{p^{n-1}}+\cdots+a_1 x^p+a_0x\mid n\in\mathbb{N};a_0,\ldots,a_n\in\overline{\mathbb{F}_p}\right\},
\]with addition $+$ and multiplication $\circ$. Let $\tilde{\Psi}:\overline{\mathbb{F}_p}[x]\rightarrow\overline{R}$ be the extension of $\Psi$ given by
\[
\sum_{i=0}^n a_i x^i\mapsto\sum_{i=0}^n a_i x^{p^i}.
\]By the same argument as Lemma 1, $\tilde{\Psi}$ is an isomorphism.

Lemma 2. For $f\in\overline{R}$ and all $a,b\in\overline{\mathbb{F}_p}$ and $c\in\mathbb{F}_p$, we have
  1. $f(a+b)=f(a)+f(b)$,
  2. $f(ca)=cf(a)$.
Proof. The first part follows directly from freshman's dream. For the second part, note that $c^{p^\alpha}=c$ for all $a\in\mathbb{N}$ by FlT. The result immediately follows. $\square$

Lemma 3. All $f\in\overline{R}$ (viewed as a polynomial in $\overline{\mathbb{F}_p}[x]$) is separable.

Proof. The formal derivative of $f$ is equal to the coefficient of $x$ in $f$, which is in $\overline{\mathbb{F}_p}$. Thus the formal derivative of $f$ is relatively prime with $f$ so $f$ is separable. $\square$

For $f\in\overline{R}$, let
\[
Z(f):=\{r\in\overline{\mathbb{F}_p}\mid f(r)=0\}
\]denote the set of roots of $f$. By Lemma 3, all the roots of $f$ have multiplicity $1$. It follows that
\[
f(x)=\prod_{r\in Z(f)}(x-r).
\]Lemma 4. For all $f\in\overline{R}$, $Z(f)$ forms a vector space over $\mathbb{F}_p$, with addition and multiplication the same as that of $\overline{\mathbb{F}_p}$.

Proof. We first prove that $Z(f)\subseteq\overline{\mathbb{F}_p}$ is an abelian group:
  • If $r_1,r_2\in Z(f)$, then $f(r_1+r_2)=f(r_1)+f(r_2)=0$ by Lemma 2 so $r_1+r_2\in Z(f)$.
  • $Z(f)$ is commutative because the additive group of $\overline{\mathbb{F}_p}$ is abelian.
  • $f(0)=0$ because $f$ has no constant term. Thus $0\in Z(f)$.
  • If $r\in Z(f)$, then $f(-r)=-f(r)=0$ by Lemma 2 so $-r\in Z(f)$.
For all $c\in\mathbb{F}_p$ and $r\in Z(f)$, we have $f(cr)=cf(r)=0$ by Lemma 2 so $cr\in Z(f)$. Thus $Z(f)$ is a vector space over $\mathbb{F}_p$. $\square$

From now on, "$=$" will denote equality up to multiplication by a unit of $\overline{\mathbb{F}_p}[x]$.

Lemma 5. If $F,G\in\overline{R},H\in\overline{\mathbb{F}_p}[x]$ and $F(x)=H(G(x))$, then $H\in\overline{R}$.

Proof. Assume for the sake of contradiction $H\not\in\overline{R}$. Then $H$ has a $cx^\alpha$ term where $\alpha$ is not a power of $p$. Take the minimum such $\alpha$. Let
\[
G(x)=:a_nx^{p^n}+a_{n-1}x^{p^{n-1}}+\cdots+a_0x.
\]Clearly the $x^\alpha$ term of $H(G(x))$ appears only in $c(G(x))^\alpha$, so it has coefficient $ca_0^\alpha\neq 0$. This implies that $F$ has an $x^\alpha$ term, a contradiction. $\square$

Lemma 6. For nonzero polynomials $F,G\in\overline{\mathbb{F}_p}[x]$, we have $G\mid F$ if and only if $\tilde{\Psi}(G)\mid\tilde{\Psi}(F)$.

Proof. Suppose $F=HG$ for some $H\in\overline{\mathbb{F}_p}[x]$. Then $\tilde{\Psi}(F)=\tilde{\Psi}(H)\circ\tilde{\Psi}(G)$. Since $\tilde{\Psi}(H)$ has no constant term, it follows that $\tilde{\Psi}(G)\mid\tilde{\Psi}(F)$.

Now let $P:=\tilde{\Psi}(F)$ and $Q:=\tilde{\Psi}(G)$, and suppose $Q\mid P$. Then $Z(Q)$ is a subspace of $Z(P)$. Let $\alpha:=\dim Z(P)$ and $\beta:=\dim Z(Q)$. Let $e_1,\ldots,e_\beta$ be a basis for $Z(Q)$ and extend it to a basis $e_1,\ldots,e_\alpha$ for $Z(P)$. We have
\begin{align*}
P(x)&=\prod_{r\in Z(P)}(x-r)\\
&=\prod_{c_1,\ldots,c_\alpha\in\mathbb{F}_p}\left(x-\sum_{i=1}^\alpha c_ie_i\right)\\
&=\prod_{c_{\beta+1},\ldots,c_\alpha\in\mathbb{F}_p}\prod_{c_1,\ldots,c_\beta\in\mathbb{F}_p}\left(\left(x-\sum_{i=\beta+1}^\alpha c_ie_i\right)-\sum_{j=1}^\beta c_je_j\right)\\
&=\prod_{c_{\beta+1},\ldots,c_\alpha\in\mathbb{F}_p}Q\left(x-\sum_{i=\beta+1}^\alpha c_ie_i\right)\\
&=\prod_{c_{\beta+1},\ldots,c_\alpha\in\mathbb{F}_p}\left(Q(x)-\sum_{i=\beta+1}^\alpha c_i Q(e_i)\right)\\
&=A(Q(x))
\end{align*}where
\[
A(x):=\prod_{c_{\beta+1},\ldots,c_\alpha\in\mathbb{F}_p}\left(x-\sum_{i=\beta+1}^\alpha c_i Q(e_i)\right).
\]By Lemma 5, $A\in\overline{R}$ so $P=A\circ Q$. It follows that $F=\tilde{\Psi}^{-1}(A)\cdot G$ so $G\mid F$, as desired. $\square$

Lemma 7. Let $\mathbb{F}$ be an algebraic extension of $\mathbb{F}_p$. For nonzero polynomials $F,G\in\mathbb{F}[x]$, we have $G\mid F$ if and only if $\tilde{\Psi}(G)\mid\tilde{\Psi}(F)$ (where divisibility is taken in $\mathbb{F}[x]$).

Proof. Since $\mathbb{F}$ is an algebraic extension, it is a subfield of $\overline{\mathbb{F}_p}$. Suppose $F=HG$ for some $H\in\mathbb{F}[x]$. Then $\tilde{\Psi}(F)=\tilde{\Psi}(H)\circ\tilde{\Psi}(G)$. Since $\tilde{\Psi}(H)$ has no constant term, it follows that $\tilde{\Psi}(G)\mid\tilde{\Psi}(F)$.

If $\tilde{\Psi}(G)\mid\tilde{\Psi}(F)$, by Lemma 6 we have $F=GH$ for some $H\in\overline{\mathbb{F}_p}[x]$. Let
\begin{align*}
F(x)&=:a_\alpha x^\alpha+\cdots+a_0\\
G(x)&=:b_\beta x^\beta+\cdots+b_0\\
H(x)&=:c_\gamma x^\gamma+\cdots+c_0.
\end{align*}Then $a_0=b_0c_0$ so $c_0\in\mathbb{F}$. Assume we already have $c_0,\ldots,c_i\in\mathbb{F}$. Then
\[
b_{i+1}c_0+b_ic_1+\cdots+b_1c_i+b_0c_{i+1}=a_{i+1}\in\mathbb{F}
\](where we set $b_{\beta+1},\ldots$ equal to $0$) so $c_{i+1}\in\mathbb{F}$. Thus $H\in\mathbb{F}[x]$ as desired. $\square$

Let $K$ be an algebraic extension of $\mathbb{F}_p$ (for the problem just take $K:=\mathbb{F}_p$). Fix $F,G\in K[x]$ and let $H_1:=\gcd(F,G)$ ($K[x]$ is a Euclidean domain because $K$ is a field). By Lemma 7, $\tilde{\Psi}(H_1)\mid\tilde{\Psi}(F)$ and $\tilde{\Psi}(H_1)\mid\tilde{\Psi}(G)$ so
\[
\tilde{\Psi}(H_1)\mid\gcd(\tilde{\Psi}(F),\tilde{\Psi}(G)).
\]Let $H_2:=\gcd(\tilde{\Psi}(F),\tilde{\Psi}(G))$. By Lemma 7, $\tilde{\Psi}^{-1}(H_2)\mid F$ and $\tilde{\Psi}^{-1}(H_2)\mid G$ so
\[
\tilde{\Psi}^{-1}(H_2)\mid\gcd(F,G).
\]It follows that $H_2\mid\tilde{\Psi}(H_1)$ and $\tilde{\Psi}(H_1)\mid H_2$ so $H_2=\tilde{\Psi}(H_1)$, as desired. $\square$
This post has been edited 21 times. Last edited by KevinYang2.71, Jun 19, 2024, 5:08 AM
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john0512
4170 posts
#47 • 6 Y
Y by dolphinday, megarnie, Leo.Euler, qwerty123456asdfgzxcvb, OronSH, megahertz13
All statements made in this solution are in $\mathbb F_p$.

Run two Euclidean algorithms in parallel!

Ritwin writes two polynomials in $\mathbb F_p$, $B$ and $C$, on a whiteboard. Ivy writes $\Psi(B)$ and $\Psi(C)$ on the whiteboard. In each step, they select a nonnegative integer $k$, and say Ritwin has $(R_1,R_2)$ and Ivy has $(I_1,I_2)$ written respectively. Then, Ritwin replaces $R_2$ with $R_2-x^kR_1$ (either that or replace $R_1$ with $R_1-x^kR_2$), and Ivy replaces $I_2$ with $I_2-I_1^{p^k}$, (or other way, but using the same index as Ritwin).

Claim: During every step of this process, we always have $I_1=\Psi(R_1)$ and $I_2=\Psi(R_2)$. Use induction. This is clearly true at the start. Note that
$$\Psi(R_2-x^kR_1)=\Psi(R_2)-\Psi(x^kR_1)=I_2-\Psi(x^kR_1).$$Now, we wish to show that $\Psi(x^kR_1)=\Psi(R_1)^{p^k}$, to show that Ivy's new polynomial is still the $\Psi$ of Ritwin's new polynomial. However, if we shift all the exponents of $x$ up by $k$ before applying $\Psi$, it multiplies every exponent later by $p^k$ due to the definition of $\Psi$. However, on the RHS, raising the result of $\Phi(R_1)$ to the power of $p^k$ is also equivalent to multiplying every exponent by $p^k$ as we are working in $\mathbb F_p$ (Freshman's dream!), so we have shown the claim.

Have Ritwin perform the Euclidean algorithm on $B$ and $C$ until one of his polynomials is $0$. Then, suppose he ends with $(0,G)$. By the above claim, Ivy ends with $(0,\Phi(G))$. However, note that because $$I_1\mid I_1^{p^k},$$Ivy is also performing a Euclidean algorithm, which means from Ivy's process that
$$\gcd(\Phi(B),\Phi(C))=\Phi(G)$$and we are done!

Remark: The way found this solution was like this. First, I realized that we can freely subtract constant multiples of $B$ from $C$ because $\Psi$ is an additive function so the Euclidean algorithm is automatically being handled there. However, this alone isn't enough, as eventually in the algorithm, once the degrees are different, we must start subtracting multiples of $x^k$. So first, I just experimented with trying to replace $C$ with $C-xB$. When this is done, on the other side, $\gcd(\Psi(B),\Psi(C))$ becomes $\gcd(\Psi(B),\Psi(C-xB))=\gcd(\Psi(B),\Psi(C)-\Psi(xB)).$ In order for this to be a legal Euclidean algorithm move, we must have $\Psi(B)\mid \Psi(xB)$. After a bit of playing around however, I realized that $\Psi(xB)$ is just $\Psi(B)^p$, and then I realized this generalized to higher powers of $x$ as well and solved the problem. Finally, I phrased the solution this way to hopefully be easier to understand, and also of course as a tribute to some friends from MOP :D
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kotmhn
56 posts
#48
Y by
Cool question, though i believe was a bit on the easier side for a p3.
As in i was able to get it in 2ish hours .
And if you know grp theory its even easier.
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OronSH
1718 posts
#49 • 1 Y
Y by ihategeo_1969
It suffices to show $P\mid Q\iff\Psi(P)\mid\Psi(Q)$.

First note $\Psi(cP)=c\Psi(P)$ and $\Psi(P+Q)=\Psi(P)+\Psi(Q)$.The main idea is $\Psi(P)^p=\Psi(xP)$, which follows by binomial theorem and FLT. Now if $Q=P\cdot\sum_{i=0}^na_ix^i$ we have $\Psi(Q)=\sum_{i=0}^n a_i\Psi(x^iP)=\sum_{i=0}^na_i\Psi(P)^{p^i}$ which is divisible by $\Psi(P)$. For the other direction, if $P\nmid Q$ consider the polynomial $Q'$ for which $P\mid Q'$ and $\deg(Q'-Q)<\deg P$. Then $\Psi(P)\mid\Psi(Q')-\Psi(Q)=\Psi(Q'-Q)$ but $\deg\Psi(P)>\deg\Psi(Q'-Q)$, contradiction, so we finish.
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cj13609517288
1862 posts
#50 • 1 Y
Y by OronSH
The main observation of the problem is that
\[\left(\sum a_ix^{p^i}\right)^p=\sum a_ix^{p^{i+1}}.\]Therefore, $\Psi(F)\mid\Psi(xF)$. Since $\Psi$ is a linear transformation, we can then get that if $F\mid G$, then $\Psi(F)\mid\Psi(G)$.

So the LHS divides the RHS. But note that we can just apply the Euclidean Algorithm to the RHS to always stay inside the image of $\Psi$, done.
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