Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2017/iii/paper-339/3/b/ii/solution

For , the coefficient symmetry yields
Thus equals its reversed-conjugate polynomial. If is a root of a polynomial, with , this identity gives , proving
The reciprocal-conjugate root pairing also preserves the multiplicity of a root: reversal and complex conjugation take each factor associated with to the corresponding factor associated with , with the same exponent.
Since , no zero root of a polynomial occurs, so the reciprocal operation is always defined on the roots of a polynomial. Roots off the unit circle are paired on opposite sides of it; roots of a polynomial on the unit circle are fixed by this operation. Pairing alone does not force even multiplicity at those fixed roots of a polynomial; that extra fact uses nonnegativity.

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