# Finding coefficients that make certain functional expression vanishing

My problem is to find a procedure that gives coefficients which make certain functional expression vanishing.

For example if I have a polynomial $P(x)$ of one variable $x$ given by $P(x)=a_0+a_1 x+a_2 x^2...$ I would like Mathematica to give $a_i=0$ as the solution to $P(x)=0$. Or consider more complicated example which is closer to the real task I'm dealing with. Suppose I have equation $a_1 K(x)+a_2 E(x)=0$ where $K,E$ are elliptic integrals. It only matters here that they are linearly independent functions of $x$, so the there is the unique solution $a_1=a_2=0$. Of course In the case with polynomial one can just require to vanish Coefficient[$P(x),x^i$]. Similarly, one can expand $a_1 K(x)+a_2 E(x)$ in powers of $x$ and find $a_1,a_2$ which makes several first terms of expansion absent.

But isn't there a more elegant/standard way to handle this task? I would like to somehow explain to Mathematica that $a_i$ in these expressions are fixed coefficients while $x$ is a variable and that equations must hold for every $x$ thus giving constraints on $a_i$.

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Have you seen the quantifiers ForAll[] and Exists[]? –  belisarius Apr 2 '13 at 18:54
belisarius, no. I'm going to study them now, thanks for tip. –  Weather Report Apr 2 '13 at 19:05
Also see SolveAlways[]. –  Daniel Lichtblau Apr 2 '13 at 19:06
You could gives some values for x and reduce the problem to linear algebra ?. –  andre Apr 2 '13 at 19:40
andre, that is also possible of course. However for an arbitrary equation one does not a priori know how many points (or how many expansion coefficients) should be examined. I would like to left such questions to Mathematica. But as far as I can see this desire is to greedy. Functions like SolveAlways[] do not seem to handle well expressions more sophisticated then polynomials. Though they are still useful and I think that now I can realize what I wanted satisfactorily efficiently. –  Weather Report Apr 2 '13 at 19:59

As Belisarius and Daniel Lichtblau commented the following functions can be used for your goal.

Conditions that let the equation hold for all x:

Resolve[ ForAll[x, a x^2 + b x + c > 0] ]


(b | c) ∈ Reals && ((a == 0 && b == 0 && c > 0) || (a >= 0 && b == 0 && c > 0 && -b^2 + 4 a c > 0) || (a > 0 && -b^2 + 4 a c > 0))

Conditions that let it hold for at least one x:

Resolve[Exists[x, a x^2 + b x + c > 0]]


(b | c) ∈ Reals && (a > 0 || (a == 0 && b != 0) || (a == 0 && c > 0) || (a < 0 && -b^2 + 4 a c < 0))

SolveAlways can be used too, but it works on equations only, not inequalities.

SolveAlways[a x^2 + b x + c == 0, x]


{{a -> 0, b -> 0, c -> 0}}

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