Let $\omega = \cos\frac{2\pi}{7} + i \cdot \sin\frac{2\pi}{7},$ where $i = \sqrt{-1}.$ Find the value of the product\[\prod_{k=0}^6 \left(\omega^{3k} + \omega^k + 1\right).\]
For any $k\in Z$, we have,
\begin{align*} & \left( \omega^{3k} + \omega^k + 1 \right) \left( \omega^{3\left( 7 - k \right)} + \omega^{\left( 7 - k \right)} + 1 \right) \\ & = \omega^{3 \cdot 7} + \omega^{2k + 7} + \omega^{3k} + \omega^{-2k + 3 \cdot 7} + \omega^7 + \omega^k + \omega^{3\left( 7 - k \right)} + \omega^{\left( 7 - k \right)} + 1 \\ & = 1 + \omega^{2k} + \omega^{3k} + \omega^{-2k} + 1 + \omega^k + \omega^{-3k} + \omega^{-k} + 1 \\ & = 2 + \omega^{-3k} \sum_{j=0}^6 \omega^{j k} \\ & = 2 + \omega^{-3k} \frac{1 - \omega^{7 k}}{1 - \omega^k} \\ & = 2 . \end{align*}
The second and the fifth equalities follow from the property that $\omega^7 = 1$.
Therefore,
\begin{align*} \Pi_{k=0}^6 \left( \omega^{3k} + \omega^k + 1 \right) & = \left( \omega^{3 \cdot 0} + \omega^0 + 1 \right) \Pi_{k=1}^3 \left( \omega^{3k} + \omega^k + 1 \right) \left( \omega^{3\left( 7 - k \right)} + \omega^{\left( 7 - k \right)} + 1 \right) \\ & = 3 \cdot 2^3 \\ & = \boxed{\textbf{024}}. \end{align*}
~Steven Chen (Professor Chen Education Palace, www.professorchenedu.com)