Quadratic Equations · Roots in geometric progression

Let

\alpha, \beta

be the roots of the equation

x^2 - x + p = 0

and

\gamma, \delta

be the roots of the equation

x^2 - 4x + q = 0

;

p, q \in \mathbb{Z}

. If

\alpha, \beta, \gamma, \delta

are in G.P., then

\lvert p + q\rvert

equals:

We corrected a printing error in the original paper

Source printed “be the roots the equation $x^2 - 4x + q = 0$ ” (missing “of”).

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