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Algebra Difficulty 7.9 National Olympiad, round 2 Prove it Hong Kong

Let {an}\{a_n\} be a sequence of integers satisfying the following condition for all positive integral values of nn: an+an+1=2an+2an+3+2016a_n + a_{n+1} = 2a_{n+2}a_{n+3} + 2016. Find all possible values of a1a_1 and a2a_2.

Solution

(a1,a2)(a_1, a_2) can be (1,2015),(15,69),(70,14),(2016,0)(1, -2015), (15, -69), (70, -14), (2016, 0) or their permutations.

Firstly, taking the difference of the two relations an+an+1=2an+2an+3+2016a_n + a_{n+1} = 2a_{n+2}a_{n+3} + 2016 and an+1+an+2=2an+3an+4+2016a_{n+1} + a_{n+2} = 2a_{n+3}a_{n+4} + 2016, we obtain
an+2an=2an+3(an+4an+2). a_{n+2} - a_n = 2a_{n+3}(a_{n+4} - a_{n+2}).
Inductively, this easily implies
an+2an=2kan+3an+5an+2k+1(an+2k+2an+2k) a_{n+2} - a_n = 2^k a_{n+3} a_{n+5} \cdots a_{n+2k+1} (a_{n+2k+2} - a_{n+2k})
for any kZ+k \in \mathbb{Z}^+. This shows 2kan+2an2^k \mid a_{n+2} - a_n for any kZ+k \in \mathbb{Z}^+, and hence an+2=ana_{n+2} = a_n. Thus, we may assume all odd terms are equal to a1=ba_1 = b and all even terms are equal to a2=ca_2 = c. Now the only condition is
b+c=2bc+2016. b + c = 2bc + 2016.
This means
(2b1)(2c1)=2(2bcbc)+1=4031=29×139. (2b - 1)(2c - 1) = 2(2bc - b - c) + 1 = -4031 = -29 \times 139.
Thus, we obtain the solutions (b,c)=(1,2015),(15,69),(70,14),(2016,0)(b, c) = (1, -2015), (15, -69), (70, -14), (2016, 0) up to permutation.

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