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Ukrainian National Mathematical Olympiad

Algebra Difficulty 5.2 AIME, harder Prove it Ukraine

For positive integers mm and nn, compare the numbers A=m525+n525A = m^{525} + n^{525} and B=(m+n)(m2+n2)(m4+n4)(m8+n8)…(m128+n128)B = (m+n)(m^2+n^2)(m^4+n^4)(m^8+n^8)\dots(m^{128}+n^{128}).

Solution

If m=nm = n, then A=2m525A = 2m^{525}, B=2m⋅2m2⋅2m4⋯⋅2m128=28m255>A=2m525B = 2m \cdot 2m^2 \cdot 2m^4 \dots \cdot 2m^{128} = 2^8 m^{255} > A = 2m^{525}
⇔m=n=1\Leftrightarrow m = n = 1, while for m=n>1m = n > 1 we get A>BA > B.

Now, without the loss of generality, m>nm > n. Then we can do the transformations:
B≤(m−n)B=(m−n)(m+n)(m2+n2)(m4+n4)…(m128+n128)==(m2−n2)(m2+n2)(m4+n4)…(m128+n128)=(m4−n4)(m4+n4)…(m128+n128)==m256−n256<m525+n525=A⇒B<A. \begin{aligned} B \le (m-n)B &= (m-n)(m+n)(m^2+n^2)(m^4+n^4)\dots(m^{128}+n^{128}) = \\ &= (m^2-n^2)(m^2+n^2)(m^4+n^4)\dots(m^{128}+n^{128}) = (m^4-n^4)(m^4+n^4)\dots(m^{128}+n^{128}) = \\ &= m^{256}-n^{256} < m^{525} + n^{525} = A \Rightarrow B < A. \end{aligned}

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