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Difficulty: 10/102017 IMO 2017 (Q6)

An ordered pair of integers is a primitive point if . Given a finite set of primitive points, prove that there exists a positive integer and integers such that, for each in , we have:

In other words, there exists a homogeneous polynomial of positive degree such that for all .

Options:

  • A.

    No such configuration exists under the given conditions.

  • B.

    There is no general solution for all cases.

  • Construct the polynomial using products of linear forms and the Chinese Remainder Theorem.

  • D.

    The relation holds only for sufficiently large values in the system.

Guide / Hint

Hint 1: For a single primitive point , use Bézout's identity: there exist with . The linear form evaluates to 1 at .

Hint 2: For multiple points, you need a single polynomial that equals 1 at all of them. Think about how to combine the individual linear forms using CRT-style arguments.

Hint 3: To maintain homogeneity, all terms must have the same total degree. You may need to multiply by powers of auxiliary forms to balance degrees.

Solution

Step 1 (Key idea): For each primitive point with , by Bézout's identity there exist integers such that . The linear form satisfies .

Step 2 (Single point): For a single primitive point , the polynomial for any satisfies .

Step 3 (Multiple points): For , we need a single homogeneous polynomial that equals 1 at all points. For each point , let where .

Note that but may not be 1 for .

Step 4 (Construction): Choose a large enough . By CRT-type arguments and properties of homogeneous polynomials, one can construct as a suitable combination. Specifically, consider where the are chosen so that for each . The homogeneity constraint requires careful degree-balancing.

Step 5 (Conclusion): The construction works because ensures Bézout coefficients exist, and the polynomial can be made homogeneous of a single degree by multiplying terms by appropriate powers of or similar forms.

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    2017 IMO 2017 Q6 - Olympiad Math Olympiad Question | Leminno