Problem

Source: 2024 IGMO Christmas Edition #3 International Gamma Mathematical Olympiad

Tags: algebra, polynomial



Santa asks Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and Frosty the Snowman to play a game. The winner can get an extra Christmas present, which is a cute Christmas frog! The rules of the game are as follows: Santa writes the following expression on the blackboard: $$x^{2024} +\_ \,\, x^{2023} + \_ \,\, x^{2022} + \_ \,\, x^{2021} + ... + \_ \,\, x^2 + \_ \,\, x +\_ \,\, $$Santa will first choose a positive integer $n \le 2024$. Rudolph will then choose $n$ consecutive blanks $(\_)$. Frosty will fill in the chosen blanks with real numbers. Finally Rudolph will fill in all the remaining blanks. If the resulting polynomial has $2024$ non-zero real roots, then Rudolph wins. Otherwise, Frosty wins. Find the value(s) of $n$ such that Rudolph has a winning strategy and the value(s) of $n$ such that Frosty has a winning strategy. What are their respective winning strategies?