Maths Olympiad Prep

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Combinatorics Difficulty 5.8 AIME, harder Prove it United States

Problem:

Let nn be an integer greater than 33. Let RR be the set of lattice points (x,y)(x, y) such that 0x,yn0 \leq x, y \leq n and xy3|x-y| \leq 3. Let AnA_{n} be the number of paths from (0,0)(0,0) to (n,n)(n, n) that consist only of steps of the form (x,y)(x,y+1)(x, y) \rightarrow (x, y+1) and (x,y)(x+1,y)(x, y) \rightarrow (x+1, y) and are contained entirely within RR. Find the smallest positive real number that is greater than An+1An\frac{A_{n+1}}{A_{n}} for all nn.

Solution

Solution:

Answer: 2+22+\sqrt{2}

We first find AnA_{n} in terms of nn. Let ana_{n} be the number of ways to get to the point (n,n+3)(n, n+3), and let bnb_{n} be the number of ways to get to the point (n+1,n+2)(n+1, n+2). By symmetry, ana_{n} is also the number of ways to get to (n+3,n)(n+3, n) and bnb_{n} is also the number of ways to get to the point (n+2,n+1)(n+2, n+1).

Figure 1

We can easily see that a0=1a_{0}=1 and b0=3b_{0}=3. This also means that An=an3+3bn3+3bn3+an3=2an3+6bn3A_{n}=a_{n-3}+3 b_{n-3}+3 b_{n-3}+a_{n-3}=2 a_{n-3}+6 b_{n-3}.

We also get the recurrence:
ai+1=ai+bibi+1=ai+3bi \begin{aligned} a_{i+1} & = a_{i} + b_{i} \\ b_{i+1} & = a_{i} + 3 b_{i} \end{aligned}
We have both 3ai+1=3ai+3bi3 a_{i+1} = 3 a_{i} + 3 b_{i} and ai+2=ai+1+bi+1a_{i+2} = a_{i+1} + b_{i+1}. Subtracting these gives
ai+23ai+1=ai+13ai+bi+13biai+23ai+1=ai+13ai+aiai+2=4ai+12ai \begin{aligned} a_{i+2} - 3 a_{i+1} & = a_{i+1} - 3 a_{i} + b_{i+1} - 3 b_{i} \\ a_{i+2} - 3 a_{i+1} & = a_{i+1} - 3 a_{i} + a_{i} \\ a_{i+2} & = 4 a_{i+1} - 2 a_{i} \end{aligned}
Now we can solve this recurrence using its characteristic polynomial x24x+2x^{2} - 4x + 2, which has roots of 2+22+\sqrt{2} and 222-\sqrt{2}. We can then write ai=A(2+2)i+B(22)ia_{i} = A(2+\sqrt{2})^{i} + B(2-\sqrt{2})^{i} for some constants AA and BB. Now, a0=1a_{0}=1 and a1=a0+b0=4a_{1}=a_{0}+b_{0}=4. Using this, we solve for AA and BB to get
ai=(1+22)(2+2)i+(122)(22)i a_{i} = \left(\frac{1+\sqrt{2}}{2}\right)(2+\sqrt{2})^{i} + \left(\frac{1-\sqrt{2}}{2}\right)(2-\sqrt{2})^{i}
Then,
bi=ai+1ai=(1+22)((2+2)i+1(2+2)i)+(122)((22)i+1(22)i)=(1+22)(1+2)(2+2)i+(122)(12)(22)i=(3+222)(2+2)i+(3222)(22)i \begin{aligned} b_{i} & = a_{i+1} - a_{i} \\ & = \left(\frac{1+\sqrt{2}}{2}\right)\left((2+\sqrt{2})^{i+1} - (2+\sqrt{2})^{i}\right) + \left(\frac{1-\sqrt{2}}{2}\right)\left((2-\sqrt{2})^{i+1} - (2-\sqrt{2})^{i}\right) \\ & = \left(\frac{1+\sqrt{2}}{2}\right)(1+\sqrt{2})(2+\sqrt{2})^{i} + \left(\frac{1-\sqrt{2}}{2}\right)(1-\sqrt{2})(2-\sqrt{2})^{i} \\ & = \left(\frac{3+2\sqrt{2}}{2}\right)(2+\sqrt{2})^{i} + \left(\frac{3-2\sqrt{2}}{2}\right)(2-\sqrt{2})^{i} \end{aligned}
Therefore,
An=2an3+6bn3=(10+72)(2+2)n3+(1072)(22)n3 A_{n} = 2 a_{n-3} + 6 b_{n-3} = (10+7\sqrt{2})(2+\sqrt{2})^{n-3} + (10-7\sqrt{2})(2-\sqrt{2})^{n-3}
We can then easily see that An<(2+2)An1A_{n} < (2+\sqrt{2}) A_{n-1}. Also, since 22<12-\sqrt{2} < 1, as nn approaches infinity, the ratio AnAn1\frac{A_{n}}{A_{n-1}} approaches 2+22+\sqrt{2}. Hence the least upper bound of AnAn1\frac{A_{n}}{A_{n-1}} is 2+22+\sqrt{2}.

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