2004 AIME I Problems/Problem 13
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Problem
The polynomial 
has 
complex roots of the form ![z_k = r_k[\cos(2\pi a_k)+i\sin(2\pi a_k)], k=1, 2, 3,\ldots, 34,](http://alt2.artofproblemsolving.com/Forum/latexrender/pictures/c/5/d/c5d448628f8d1e0bc2b3fddb2c2dbae573d25778.gif)
with 
and 
Given that 
where 
and 
are relatively prime positive integers, find 
Solution
We see that the expression for the polynomial 
is very difficult to work with directly, but there is one obvious transformation to make: sum the geometric series:
This expression has roots at every 
th root and 
th roots of unity, other than 
. Since and are relatively prime, this means there are no duplicate roots. Thus, 
and 
are the five smallest fractions of the form 
or 
for 
.
and 
can both be seen to be larger than any of 
, so these latter five are the numbers we want to add.
and so the answer is 
.
See also
| 2004 AIME I (Problems • Resources) | ||
| Preceded by Problem 12 | Followed by Problem 14 | |
| 1 • 2 • 3 • 4 • 5 • 6 • 7 • 8 • 9 • 10 • 11 • 12 • 13 • 14 • 15 | ||
