Let N be the set of positive integers. A function f:N→N satisfies f(34)=2024, and for any positive integers a,b,c, there exists a triangle with side lengths a+f(b), b+f(c), c+f(a). Find the smallest possible value of f(100)+f(101)+⋯+f(199) under these conditions. Note that three points lying on the same line do not form a triangle.
Solution
The existence of a triangle with side lengths a+f(b), b+f(c), c+f(a) is equivalent to the following conditions: ⎩⎨⎧a+f(b)<b+f(c)+c+f(a),b+f(c)<c+f(a)+a+f(b),c+f(a)<a+f(b)+b+f(c). By symmetry of a,b,c, the existence of a triangle with side lengths a+f(b), b+f(c), c+f(a) for any positive integers a,b,c is equivalent to the condition that for any positive integers a,b,c, we have a+f(b)<b+f(c)+c+f(a), or equivalently, (f(b)−b)−(f(a)−a)<f(c)+c.(∗) By considering the cases where a=c=1 and b=c=1 in (∗), we can establish that −2<f(x)−x<2f(1) holds for any positive integer x. Consequently, f(x)−x has both a minimum and a maximum value. Denote the minimum and the maximum values as m and M respectively, and let r=M−m. Then, from (∗), we have f(x)+x>r, which implies f(x)≥r−x+1. Furthermore, let k=f(34)−34=1990. Since M≥k, it follows that m=M−r≥k−r. Thus, for any positive integer x, we have f(x)−x≥k−r, or equivalently, f(x)≥k+x−r. Therefore, we have: f(100)f(150)≥r−99,≥k+150−r,f(101)f(151)≥r−100,≥k+151−r,…,…,f(149)f(199)≥r−148,≥k+199−r. Since all these inequalities hold, summing them up, we obtain f(100)+f(101)+⋯+f(199)≥50k+2550.
On the other hand, define: g(x)=⎩⎨⎧2k+150−x2k+x−149x+k(100≤x≤149)(150≤x≤199)(other cases). By considering each of three cases, it can be seen that for any positive integer x, g(x)+x≥2k+150 and 2k−149≤g(x)−x≤k. Therefore, for any positive integers a,b,c, (g(b)−b)−(g(a)−a)≤k−(2k−149)<2k+150≤g(c)+c holds, and since g(34)=k+34, g satisfies the conditions of the problem. For this function g, g(100)+g(101)+⋯+g(199)=50k+2550 holds, so the minimum to find is 50k+2550=102050.
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