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Exercise 1676Algebra › Equations and radicalsL1Added 3 Nov 2026

A quartic with no real roots

#quartic#real roots#sum of squares

Statement

Show that the equation
x4+2x3+3x2+2x+1=0x^4+2x^3+3x^2+2x+1=0
has no real solutions.

Hint

Write the polynomial as a sum of squares.

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Solution

SOS decomposition.
x4+2x3+3x2+2x+1=(x2+x)2+2x2+2x+1?x^4+2x^3+3x^2+2x+1=(x^2+x)^2+2x^2+2x+1?
Let me check: (x2+x)2=x4+2x3+x2(x^2+x)^2=x^4+2x^3+x^2. Then we need to add 2x2+2x+12x^2+2x+1. So
P(x)=(x2+x)2+(x+1)2+x2?P(x)=(x^2+x)^2+(x+1)^2+x^2?
Check: (x2+x)2=x4+2x3+x2(x^2+x)^2=x^4+2x^3+x^2, (x+1)2=x2+2x+1(x+1)^2=x^2+2x+1, x2=x2x^2=x^2. Sum: x4+2x3+3x2+2x+1x^4+2x^3+3x^2+2x+1. Correct.

Conclusion. P(x)=(x2+x)2+(x+1)2+x2≥0P(x)=(x^2+x)^2+(x+1)^2+x^2\ge0 for all xx, and P(x)=0P(x)=0 iff x2+x=0x^2+x=0, x+1=0x+1=0, x=0x=0, which is impossible (x=0x=0 and x=−1x=-1). So P(x)>0P(x)>0 for all xx, no real roots.