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Re: JSH: GET OUT OF SCI.MATH NOW

Subject: Re: JSH: GET OUT OF SCI.MATH NOW
From: "OwlHoot"
Date: 30 Sep 2006 12:51:43 -0700
Newsgroups: sci.math
Gene Ward Smith wrote:
>
> I've had fun with some issues raised in recent threads. I think asking
> what it means to claim divisibility is distributed unevenly among the
> roots of an irreducible monic polynomial is an interesting topic.

Over the years his rubbish has generated several interesting spin offs,
well at least one that comes to mind:

Show that a polynomial sum(a_i.x^i) with rational integer coefficients
a_i can be expressed as a product of linear factors b_i.x + c_i with
every b_i, c_i an algebraic integer.

Looks trivial at first sight; but if the leading coefficient is not
+/-1
(and assuming the coefficients are relatively prime) it certainly
isn't,
even for a quadratic.

I think Arturo Magidin (and a colleague?) ended up writing a paper
on the problem.


Cheers

John R Ramsden


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