Maths Olympiad Prep

Library / /17 of 104

Algebra Difficulty 5.2 AIME, harder Prove it Bulgaria

Problem:
Find the number of the sequences {an}n=1\{a_{n}\}_{n=1}^{\infty} of integers such that
an+an+1=2an+2an+3+2005 a_{n}+a_{n+1}=2 a_{n+2} a_{n+3}+2005
for every nn.

Solution

Solution:
Subtracting the equalities an+an+1=2an+2an+3+1a_{n}+a_{n+1}=2 a_{n+2} a_{n+3}+1 and an+1+an+2=2an+3an+4+1a_{n+1}+a_{n+2}=2 a_{n+3} a_{n+4}+1, we get an+2an=2an+3(an+4an+2)a_{n+2}-a_{n}=2 a_{n+3}\left(a_{n+4}-a_{n+2}\right). Then it follows by induction on kk that
an+2an=2kan+3an+2k+1(an+2k+2an+2k) a_{n+2}-a_{n}=2^{k} a_{n+3} \ldots a_{n+2 k+1}\left(a_{n+2 k+2}-a_{n+2 k}\right)
Hence 2k2^{k} divides an+2ana_{n+2}-a_{n} for every kk, i.e. an+2=ana_{n+2}=a_{n}. Therefore a2n1=a1a_{2 n-1}=a_{1} and a2n=a2a_{2 n}=a_{2} for every nn. Now it follows from the condition of the problem that (2a11)(2a21)=4009(2 a_{1}-1)(2 a_{2}-1)=-4009. Since 4009=192114009=19\cdot 211 and 19 and 211 are primes, we get 2a11=±1,±19,±211,±40092 a_{1}-1= \pm 1, \pm 19, \pm 211, \pm 4009. Therefore there are 8 sequences with the required property.

Want a route through all this instead of an archive? The track puts 2,000 problems in a working order, from AMC 10 level to the IMO shortlist.

Source: MathNet, licensed CC-BY-4.0. Statement reproduced verbatim; metadata (topic, difficulty) added by this project.