Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2021/iii/paper-136/1/b/solution

Put . Any root in is a p-adic integer: if its valuation were negative, would be the unique term of least valuation.
For , reduction modulo two has roots zero and one. The root zero is simple because is odd, so it lifts uniquely. An odd integer satisfies , and hence
Thus there is no odd -adic root and the number of roots is one.
For ,
All three roots are simple because . Each lifts uniquely, giving three roots in .
For , reduction gives , whose unique root is ; it is simple because . It lifts uniquely, so there is one root in .

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