Problem

Source: USA TSTST 2016 Problem 1, by Victor Wang

Tags: TSTSt 2016, Tstst, polynomial



Let $A = A(x,y)$ and $B = B(x,y)$ be two-variable polynomials with real coefficients. Suppose that $A(x,y)/B(x,y)$ is a polynomial in $x$ for infinitely many values of $y$, and a polynomial in $y$ for infinitely many values of $x$. Prove that $B$ divides $A$, meaning there exists a third polynomial $C$ with real coefficients such that $A = B \cdot C$. Proposed by Victor Wang