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Algebra Difficulty 7.6 National Olympiad, round 2 Prove it Romania

Let (an)n1(a_n)_{n \ge 1} be a sequence of non-negative real numbers satisfying
an+12+anan+2an+an+2, a_{n+1}^2 + a_n a_{n+2} \le a_n + a_{n+2},
for all n1n \ge 1. Prove that the sequence (an)n1(a_n)_{n \ge 1} is bounded.

Solution

To prove boundedness, it is sufficient to show that an1a_n \le 1 for all n3n \ge 3. Rewrite the condition in the statement in the equivalent form
an+121(1an)(an+21)=(an1)(1an+2)for all n1. a_{n+1}^2 - 1 \le (1-a_n)(a_{n+2}-1) = (a_n-1)(1-a_{n+2}) \quad \text{for all } n \ge 1.
We first show that min(an,an+1)1\min(a_n, a_{n+1}) \le 1 for all n2n \ge 2. Suppose, if possible, that an>1a_n > 1 and an+1>1a_{n+1} > 1 for some n2n \ge 2. Then
an1<an21(1an1)(an+11)an+11<an+121(an1)(1an+2)an1, \begin{aligned} a_n - 1 &< a_n^2 - 1 \le (1 - a_{n-1})(a_{n+1} - 1) \le a_{n+1} - 1 < a_{n+1}^2 - 1 \le \\ &\le (a_n - 1)(1 - a_{n+2}) \le a_n - 1, \end{aligned}
which is a contradiction.
To reach a final contradiction, suppose an>1a_n > 1 for some n3n \ge 3. By the preceding, an11a_{n-1} \le 1 and an+11a_{n+1} \le 1, so 0<an21(1an1)(an+11)00 < a_n^2 - 1 \le (1 - a_{n-1})(a_{n+1} - 1) \le 0, which is the desired contradiction.

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Source: MathNet, licensed CC-BY-4.0. Statement reproduced verbatim; metadata (topic, difficulty) added by this project.