Matin Yousefi Newton’s Interpolation July 9, 2021

Problem 1. Let f be a polynomial with rational coefficients such that f (n) ∈ Z for all n ∈ Z.
Prove that for any integers m, n the number

f (m) − f (n)
lcm(1, 2, . . . , deg(f )) ·
m−n
is an integer.

Problem 2. Find all polynomials P (x) with rational coefficient that take integers to integers
satisfying
x − y | P (x) − P (y),
for all integers x, y.

Problem 3. Let n be a positive integer. What is the least degree of a monic polynomial f
with integer coefficients such that n | f (k) for any integer k?

Problem 4. Let n be a positive integer. Prove that there exists a polynomial f (x) with in-
teger coefficients such that
f (1) < f (2) < · · · < f (n)
are powers of 2.

Problem 5. Find the smallest positive integer k such that

   
x + kb x
≡ (mod b)
12 12

for all positive integers b and x.

f (x) − f (y)
Problem 6. Let f be a polynomial with real coefficients of degree n. Suppose that
x−y
is an integer for all 0 ≤ x < y ≤ n. Prove that a − b | f (a) − f (b) for all distinct integers a, b.

Problem 7. For each positive integer n, let c(n) be the largest real number such that

f (a) − f (b)
c(n) ≤
a−b

for all triples (f, a, b) such that

(a) f is a polynomial of degree n taking integers to integers, and

(b) a, b are integers with f (a) ̸= f (b).

Find c(n).

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Matin Yousefi Newton’s Interpolation

Problem 8. Given arbitrary positive integer a larger than 1, show that for any positive integer n,
there always exists a n-degree integral coefficient polynomial P (x), such that P (0), P (1), . . . , P (n)
are pairwise distinct positive integers, and all have the form of 2ak + 3, where k is also an integer.

Problem 9. Let n be a positive integer. Given an integer coefficient polynomial f (x), define
its signature modulo n to be the (ordered) sequence f (1), . . . , f (n) modulo n. Of the nn such
n-term sequences of integers modulo n, how many are the signature of some polynomial f (x) if

(a) n is a positive integer not divisible by the square of a prime.

(b) n is a positive integer not divisible by the cube of a prime.