Find the number of second-degree polynomials with integer coefficients and integer zeros for which .
This section requires Javascript.
You are seeing this because something didn't load right. We suggest you, (a) try
refreshing the page, (b) enabling javascript if it is disabled on your browser and,
finally, (c)
loading the
non-javascript version of this page
. We're sorry about the hassle.
Since it has integral coefficients and roots, f ( x ) = a ( x − b ) ( x − c ) for some integers a , b , c . Thus f ( 0 ) = a ( − b ) ( − c ) = a b c = 2 0 1 0 . We have two cases:
Case 1: b = c
This case reduces to a b 2 = 2 0 1 0 . However, b 2 ≥ 0 , so a is non-negative, and 2 0 1 0 is square-free, so all prime divisors of 2 0 1 0 divide a (and not b ). This means a = 2 0 1 0 . We have two choices for b , either 1 or − 1 , giving f ( x ) = 2 0 1 0 ( x − 1 ) 2 and f ( x ) = 2 0 1 0 ( x + 1 ) 2 .
Case 2: b = c
Note that f ( x ) = a ( x − b ) ( x − c ) and f ( x ) = a ( x − c ) ( x − b ) give the same polynomial, so we must halve the count at the end if we assume b , c are distinguishable.
First, the four prime divisors of 2 0 1 0 (namely 2 , 3 , 5 , 6 7 ) can go to any of the three numbers a , b , c freely. That is, for each p ∈ { 2 , 3 , 5 , 6 7 } , exactly one of a , b , c is divisible by p ; in addition, none of them is divisible by p 2 . However, we're free to select which of the three of a , b , c is the one that's divisible by p . This gives 3 4 = 8 1 ways to choose the magnitudes.
Next, we can choose their signs as well. Whatever signs we select for a , b , there is exactly one sign for c that keeps the product positive. Thus there are 2 2 = 4 ways to choose the signs, and thus 8 1 ⋅ 4 = 3 2 4 triples in total.
However, this counts the two triples with b = c , so we're left with 3 2 2 remaining. Furthermore, as described above, we need to halve this count since b , c are indistinguishable, for a total of 1 6 1 triples.
In total, there are 2 + 1 6 1 = 1 6 3 triples.