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Algebra Difficulty 5.9 AIME, harder Prove it China

Prove that equation 2x3+5x2=02x^3 + 5x - 2 = 0 has exactly one real root (denoted as rr), and there is a unique strictly increasing sequence {an}\{a_n\} such that 25=ra1+ra2+ra3+\frac{2}{5} = r^{a_1} + r^{a_2} + r^{a_3} + \dots.

Solution

Let f(x)=2x3+5x2f(x) = 2x^3 + 5x - 2. Then we have f(x)=6x2+5>0f'(x) = 6x^2 + 5 > 0, which means f(x)f(x) is strictly increasing. Furthermore, f(0)=2<0f(0) = -2 < 0, f(12)=34>0f(\frac{1}{2}) = \frac{3}{4} > 0. Therefore, f(x)f(x) has a unique real root r(0,12)r \in (0, \frac{1}{2}). From 2r3+5r2=02r^3 + 5r - 2 = 0, we have
25=r1r3=r+r4+r7+r10+ \frac{2}{5} = \frac{r}{1 - r^3} = r + r^4 + r^7 + r^{10} + \dots
Therefore, sequence an=3n2a_n = 3n - 2 (n=1,2,n = 1, 2, \dots) satisfies the required condition.

Assume there are two different positive integer sequences
a1<a2<<an<a_1 < a_2 < \dots < a_n < \dots and b1<b2<<bn<b_1 < b_2 < \dots < b_n < \dots
satisfying
ra1+ra2+ra3+=rb1+rb2+rb3+=25 r^{a_1} + r^{a_2} + r^{a_3} + \dots = r^{b_1} + r^{b_2} + r^{b_3} + \dots = \frac{2}{5}
Deleting the terms that appear at both sides of the expression, we have
rs1+rs2+rs3+=rt1+rt2+rt3+ r^{s_1} + r^{s_2} + r^{s_3} + \dots = r^{t_1} + r^{t_2} + r^{t_3} + \dots
where s1<s2<s3<s_1 < s_2 < s_3 < \dots, t1<t2<t3<t_1 < t_2 < t_3 < \dots with all the sis_i and tjt_j different from each other.
We may as well assume that s1<t1s_1 < t_1. Then
rs1<rs1+rs2+=rt1+rt2+,1<rt1s1+rt2s1+r+r2+=11r1<11121=1. \begin{align*} r^{s_1} < r^{s_1} + r^{s_2} + \dots &= r^{t_1} + r^{t_2} + \dots, \\ 1 < r^{t_1 - s_1} + r^{t_2 - s_1} + \dots &\le r + r^2 + \dots \\ &= \frac{1}{1 - r} - 1 < \frac{1}{1 - \frac{1}{2}} - 1 = 1. \end{align*}
It is a contradiction. This proves that {an}\{a_n\} is unique.

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