CombinatoricsDifficulty 5.8AIME, harderProve itUnited States
Problem:
Let n be an integer greater than 3. Let R be the set of lattice points (x,y) such that 0≤x,y≤n and ∣x−y∣≤3. Let An be the number of paths from (0,0) to (n,n) that consist only of steps of the form (x,y)→(x,y+1) and (x,y)→(x+1,y) and are contained entirely within R. Find the smallest positive real number that is greater than AnAn+1 for all n.
Solution
Solution:
Answer: 2+2
We first find An in terms of n. Let an be the number of ways to get to the point (n,n+3), and let bn be the number of ways to get to the point (n+1,n+2). By symmetry, an is also the number of ways to get to (n+3,n) and bn is also the number of ways to get to the point (n+2,n+1).
We can easily see that a0=1 and b0=3. This also means that An=an−3+3bn−3+3bn−3+an−3=2an−3+6bn−3.
We also get the recurrence: ai+1bi+1=ai+bi=ai+3bi We have both 3ai+1=3ai+3bi and ai+2=ai+1+bi+1. Subtracting these gives ai+2−3ai+1ai+2−3ai+1ai+2=ai+1−3ai+bi+1−3bi=ai+1−3ai+ai=4ai+1−2ai Now we can solve this recurrence using its characteristic polynomial x2−4x+2, which has roots of 2+2 and 2−2. We can then write ai=A(2+2)i+B(2−2)i for some constants A and B. Now, a0=1 and a1=a0+b0=4. Using this, we solve for A and B to get ai=(21+2)(2+2)i+(21−2)(2−2)i Then, bi=ai+1−ai=(21+2)((2+2)i+1−(2+2)i)+(21−2)((2−2)i+1−(2−2)i)=(21+2)(1+2)(2+2)i+(21−2)(1−2)(2−2)i=(23+22)(2+2)i+(23−22)(2−2)i Therefore, An=2an−3+6bn−3=(10+72)(2+2)n−3+(10−72)(2−2)n−3 We can then easily see that An<(2+2)An−1. Also, since 2−2<1, as n approaches infinity, the ratio An−1An approaches 2+2. Hence the least upper bound of An−1An is 2+2.
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Source: MathNet,
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