Thursday, October 24, 2019

polynomials - Question about quartic equation having all 4 real roots


I would appreciate if somebody could help me with the following problem.I am not good at quartic equations,so could not attempt much.


Q:The number of integral values of p for which the equation x4+4x38x2+p=0 has all 4 real roots.


Let α,β,γ,δ are four real roots.
According to Vieta's formula
α+β+γ+δ=4
αβ+αγ+αδ+βγ+βδ+γδ=8
αβγ+αβδ+αγδ+βγδ=0
αβγδ=p


then i got stuck..what to do?


Thanks in advance.


Answer



For a simple approach consider the function y=x4+4x38x2=x2((x+2)212) - the intersections with the line y=p will give the roots of the original. Since this is just a horizontal line in the normal x,y plane, a quick sketch will show that the number of real roots is governed by the relationship of p to the local minima/maxima of the quartic.



The form of the quartic makes this easy to sketch - and the double root at x=0 means the cubic you get on differentiating has an obvious root, leaving a quadratic to factor.


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