The polynomials $f$ and $g$ have same roots(no repeated roots) and $\{x : f(x) = 2015\} = \{x : g(x) = 2015\}$ = S. Here S is non-empty. Show that $f = g$.
Here $x$ is a complex number. A little help would be appreciated.
[Math] Two polynomials having the same roots are identical
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I think I got the proof that no such real polynomial with degree $ \geq 6$ exists.
Let $n \geq 6$
Suppose for contradiction that $z_1,\ldots,z_n \in \mathbb R-\{0\}^n$ are such that $(X-z_1)...(X-z_n)=X^n+\sum_{k=1}^{n-1}z_iX^{n-i}$
Then three useful identities appear $$\sum_{k=1}^{n}z_k=-z_1 \; \; \; \;(1)$$
$$\sum_{\large1\leq i<j \leq n}z_iz_j=z_2 \; \; \; \;(2)$$
$$\prod_{k=1}^n z_k=(-1)^n z_n \; \; \; \;(3)$$
Since $$(\sum_{k=1}^{n}z_k)^2=\sum_{k=1}^{n}z_k^2+2\sum_{\large1\leq i<j \leq n}z_iz_j$$it follows that$$z_1^2=2z_2+\sum_{k=1}^{n}z_k^2$$
Hence $$0< \sum_{k=2}^{n}z_k^2=-2z_2 \; \; \; \;(4)$$ and $$0<\sum_{k=3}^{n}z_k^2=1-(z_2+1)^2 \; \; \; \;(5) $$
$(4)$ and $(5)$ imply $$\; \; \; \;-2<z_2<0 \; \; \; \;(6)$$
thus $(6)$ and $(4)$ imply $$0<\sum_{k=2}^{n}z_k^2 < 4 \; \; \; \; (7)$$
Also $(6)$ and $(5)$ imply $$0<\sum_{k=3}^{n}z_k^2 \leq 1 \; \; \; \; (8)$$
By AM-GM, $$\left(|z_3|^2\ldots|z_{n-1}|^2 \right)^{1/(n-3)} \leq \frac{1}{n-3}\sum_{k=3}^{n-1}z_k^2 \leq \frac{1}{n-3}\sum_{k=3}^{n}z_k^2$$
Hence $$|z_3|^2\ldots|z_{n-1}|^2 \leq \left(\frac{1}{n-3}\sum_{k=3}^{n}z_k^2\right)^{n-3} $$
Squaring, $$|z_3|\ldots|z_{n-1}| \leq \left(\frac{1}{n-3}\sum_{k=3}^{n}z_k^2\right)^{\large \frac{n-3}{2}} \leq_{ \large (8)} \dfrac{1}{{(n-3)}^{(n-3)/2}} \; \; \; \; (9)$$
By triangle inequality $(1)$, and Cauchy-Schwarz
$$2|z_1| \leq \sum_{k=2}^{n}|z_k| \leq \sqrt{n-1} \sqrt{\sum_{k=2}^{n}z_k^2} $$
Hence by $(7)$,
$$|z_1| \leq \sqrt{n-1} \; \; \; \; (10)$$
Rewriting $(6)$ as $$|z_2|\lt2 \; \; \; \; (11) $$
Recalling $(3)$ (with $z_n$ cancelled from both sides) and putting together $(9)$, $(10)$ and $(11)$, we have
$$1=|z_1||z_2||z_3|\cdots|z_{n-1}| < \dfrac{ 2\sqrt{n-1}}{{(n-3)}^{(n-3)/2}}$$
This inequality fails for $n\geq 6$.
Contradiction.
I can't prove anything for $n=5$ so maybe the conjecture doesn't hold.
There is no nice formula to get the roots of $P+Q$ from the roots of $P$ and of $Q$. For example, the roots of $x^5$ and $2x+1$ are easy to find, but the sum of these polynomials is $x^5 + 2 x + 1$, an irreducible quintic whose roots can't be expressed in radicals.
EDIT: In the case of a polynomial with three or four terms, we can express it as the sum of two polynomials with one or two terms, and then there is only trivial "additional information about the polynomials". Any "analytic method" is going to have to find roots of polynomials with three or four terms. And then once you have those roots, you can apply your "method" again to find roots of polynomials with five to eight terms...
Best Answer
Let there be $n+1$ roots of each $f$ and $g$ and let these roots be $a_{0},a_{1},...,a_{n}$
Hence,
$f(x)=A[\prod_{r=0}^{n}(x-a_{0})]$
$g(x)=B[\prod_{r=0}^{n}(x-a_{0})]$
where $A$ and $B$ are constants.
Since there exists an $x_{0}$ such that $f(x_{0})=g(x_{0})=2015$,
we deduce that:
$A[\prod_{r=0}^{n}(x_{0}-a_{0})]=2015=B[\prod_{r=0}^{n}(x_{0}-a_{0})]$
it follows that,
$A=B$, thus $f$ and $g$ are identical.