Seriously! That short?

Find the number of second-degree polynomials f ( x ) f(x) with integer coefficients and integer zeros for which f ( 0 ) = 2010 f(0)=2010 .


The answer is 163.

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2 solutions

Ivan Koswara
Sep 1, 2015

Since it has integral coefficients and roots, f ( x ) = a ( x b ) ( x c ) f(x) = a(x-b)(x-c) for some integers a , b , c a,b,c . Thus f ( 0 ) = a ( b ) ( c ) = a b c = 2010 f(0) = a(-b)(-c) = abc = 2010 . We have two cases:


Case 1: b = c b = c

This case reduces to a b 2 = 2010 ab^2 = 2010 . However, b 2 0 b^2 \ge 0 , so a a is non-negative, and 2010 2010 is square-free, so all prime divisors of 2010 2010 divide a a (and not b b ). This means a = 2010 a = 2010 . We have two choices for b b , either 1 1 or 1 -1 , giving f ( x ) = 2010 ( x 1 ) 2 f(x) = 2010(x-1)^2 and f ( x ) = 2010 ( x + 1 ) 2 f(x) = 2010(x+1)^2 .


Case 2: b c b \neq c

Note that f ( x ) = a ( x b ) ( x c ) f(x) = a(x-b)(x-c) and f ( x ) = a ( x c ) ( x b ) 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 b,c are distinguishable.

First, the four prime divisors of 2010 2010 (namely 2 , 3 , 5 , 67 2,3,5,67 ) can go to any of the three numbers a , b , c a,b,c freely. That is, for each p { 2 , 3 , 5 , 67 } p \in \{2,3,5,67\} , exactly one of a , b , c a,b,c is divisible by p p ; in addition, none of them is divisible by p 2 p^2 . However, we're free to select which of the three of a , b , c a,b,c is the one that's divisible by p p . This gives 3 4 = 81 3^4 = 81 ways to choose the magnitudes.

Next, we can choose their signs as well. Whatever signs we select for a , b a,b , there is exactly one sign for c c that keeps the product positive. Thus there are 2 2 = 4 2^2 = 4 ways to choose the signs, and thus 81 4 = 324 81 \cdot 4 = 324 triples in total.

However, this counts the two triples with b = c b = c , so we're left with 322 322 remaining. Furthermore, as described above, we need to halve this count since b , c b,c are indistinguishable, for a total of 161 161 triples.


In total, there are 2 + 161 = 163 2+161 = \boxed{163} triples.

Moderator note:

Good characterization that helps us understand how to do the counting in a sane way.

Billy Sugiarto
Sep 2, 2015

P ( x ) = a x 2 + b x + 2010 P(x) = ax^{2} + bx + 2010 . It implies that a 2010 a|2010 . Divide the problems by the possible values of a a we got 163 different polinomial P ( x ) P(x) .

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