Past exam of the algebra 2 course of the University of Oxford / 2015 / 3 / a / Solution

For a nonzero polynomial $f={\sum }_i{a}_i{t}^i\in \mathbb{Z}[t]$, its polynomial content is the positive greatest common divisor of its coefficients:For nonzero $g\in \mathbb{Q}[t]$, choose a positive integer $n$ with $ng\in \mathbb{Z}[t]$ and define its rational polynomial content byTo check independence of the denominator, write $g=f/n=h/m$ with $f,h\in \mathbb{Z}[t]$ and $n,m>0$. Then $mf=nh$, while multiplication of all coefficients by a positive integer givesDividing by $mn$ proves $c(f)/n=c(h)/m$, as required.

For multiplication, write $g_i=f_i/n_i$. The integer-coefficient content identity permitted in the source givesThusWe will also use the normalization $g/c(g)\in \mathbb{Z}[t]$, with content one: if $g=f/n$, then $g/c(g)=f/c(f)$. It is a primitive polynomial. For a nonzero rational constant $r$, the same definition gives $c(r)=|r|$.