Problem

Source: IMSC Day 2 Problem 3

Tags: algebra, polynomial, number theory, number theory proposed, algebra proposed, Lifting the Exponent, Divisibility



Let $a\equiv 1\pmod{4}$ be a positive integer. Show that any polynomial $Q\in\mathbb{Z}[X]$ with all positive coefficients such that $$Q(n+1)((a+1)^{Q(n)}-a^{Q(n)})$$is a perfect square for any $n\in\mathbb{N}^{\ast}$ must be a constant polynomial. Proposed by Vlad Matei, Romania