HMMT-Nov 2017 guts, Problem 32

Let $P$ be a polynomial with integer coefficients such that $P(0)+P(90)=2018$. Find the least possible value for $|P(20)+P(70)|$.

Solution: First, note that $P(x)=x^{2}-3041$ satisfy the condition and gives $|P(70)+P(20)|=|4900+400-6082|=$ 782. To show that 782 is the minimum, we show $2800 \mid P(90)-P(70)-P(20)+P(0)$ for every $P$, since -782 is the only number in the range $[-782,782]$ that is congruent to 2018 modulo 2800 . Proof: It suffices to show that $2800 \mid 90^{n}-70^{n}-20^{n}+0^{n}$ for every $n \geq 0$ (having $0^{0}=1$ ). Let $Q(n)=90^{n}-70^{n}-20^{n}+0^{n}$, then we note that $Q(0)=Q(1)=0, Q(2)=2800$, and $Q(3)=\left(9^{3}-\right.$ $\left.7^{3}-2^{3}\right) \cdot 10^{3}=378000=135 \cdot 2800$. For $n \geq 4$, we note that 400 divides $10^{4}$, and $90^{n}+0^{n} \equiv 70^{n}+20^{n}$ $(\bmod 7)$. Therefore $2800 \mid Q(n)$ for all $n$. $\fbox{782}$.

Answer: 782