On polynomials with roots modulo almost all primes

Abstract

Call a monic integer polynomial exceptional if it has a root modulo all but a finite number of primes, but does not have an integer root. We classify all irreducible monic integer polynomials $h$ for which there is an irreducible monic quadratic $g$ such that the product $gh$ is exceptional. We construct exceptional polynomials with all factors of the form $X^p-b$, $p$ prime and $b$ square free.

11 pages