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Algebra Difficulty 5.1 AIME, harder Prove it China

The sequence {an}\{a_n\} satisfies a1=a2=1a_1 = a_2 = 1 and
an+2=1an+1+an,n=1,2, a_{n+2} = \frac{1}{a_{n+1}} + a_n, \quad n = 1, 2, \dots
Find a2004a_{2004}.

Solution

According to the assumption we have
an+2an+1an+1an=1. a_{n+2} a_{n+1} - a_{n+1} a_n = 1.
Thus, {an+1an}\{a_{n+1} a_n\} is an arithmetic progression with first term 11 and common difference 11. Hence
an+1an=n,n=1,2, a_{n+1} a_n = n, \quad n = 1, 2, \dots
So an+2=n+1an+1=n+1n=n+1nan,n=1,2,a_{n+2} = \frac{n+1}{a_{n+1}} = \frac{n+1}{n} = \frac{n+1}{n} a_n, \quad n = 1, 2, \dots. Consequently,
a2004=20032002a2002=2003200220012000a2000==200320022001200032a2=352003242002 \begin{align*} a_{2004} &= \frac{2003}{2002} a_{2002} = \frac{2003}{2002} \cdot \frac{2001}{2000} a_{2000} \\ &= \dots = \frac{2003}{2002} \cdot \frac{2001}{2000} \cdot \dots \cdot \frac{3}{2} a_2 \\ &= \frac{3 \cdot 5 \cdot \dots \cdot 2003}{2 \cdot 4 \cdot \dots \cdot 2002} \end{align*}

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