AlgebraDifficulty 7.8National Olympiad, round 2Prove itHong Kong
Let r be the positive root of the equation x2−2004x−1=0. Define the sequence {an} as follows: a0=1,an+1=[ran],n≥0, where [y] denotes the greatest integer not exceeding y. Find the remainder when a2004 is divided by 2004.
Solution
The answer is 1003.
Note that r=22004+20042+4 is an irrational number greater than 1. Since an∈Z+, we have ran∈/Q. Thus, we obtain an+1<ran<an+1+1 for any n≥0. Equivalently, we have an−r1<ran+1<an. As r>1, this yields an−1<ran+1<an, and hence [ran+1]=an−1. Next, observe that r=2004+r1. It follows that an+1=[ran]=[2004an+ran]=2004an+an−1−1 since 2004an∈Z and [ran]=an−1−1 from above. Thus, we obtain an+1≡an−1−1(mod2004) for any n∈Z+. Then we can easily obtain a2004≡a2002−1≡a2000−2≡⋯≡a0−1002≡1003(mod2004).
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