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Algebra Difficulty 7.6 National olympiad, round 2 Prove it IMO

A sequence x1,x2,x_{1}, x_{2}, \ldots is defined by x1=1x_{1}=1 and x2k=xkx_{2k}=-x_{k}, x2k1=(1)k+1xkx_{2k-1}=(-1)^{k+1} x_{k} for all k1k \geq 1. Prove that x1+x2++xn0x_{1}+x_{2}+\cdots+x_{n} \geq 0 for all n1n \geq 1.

Solutions — 2

Solution 1

We start with some observations. First, from the definition of xix_{i} it follows that for each positive integer kk we have
x4k3=x2k1=x4k2 and x4k1=x4k=x2k=xk. x_{4k-3}=x_{2k-1}=-x_{4k-2} \quad \text{ and } \quad x_{4k-1}=x_{4k}=-x_{2k}=x_{k} .
Hence, denoting Sn=i=1nxiS_{n}=\sum_{i=1}^{n} x_{i}, we have
S4k=i=1k((x4k3+x4k2)+(x4k1+x4k))=i=1k(0+2xk)=2Sk S_{4k}=\sum_{i=1}^{k}\left(\left(x_{4k-3}+x_{4k-2}\right)+\left(x_{4k-1}+x_{4k}\right)\right)=\sum_{i=1}^{k}\left(0+2x_{k}\right)=2S_{k}
S4k+2=S4k+(x4k+1+x4k+2)=S4k S_{4k+2}=S_{4k}+\left(x_{4k+1}+x_{4k+2}\right)=S_{4k}
Observe also that Sn=i=1nxii=1n1=n(mod2)S_{n}=\sum_{i=1}^{n} x_{i} \equiv \sum_{i=1}^{n} 1=n \pmod{2}.
Now we prove by induction on kk that Si0S_{i} \geq 0 for all i4ki \leq 4k. The base case is valid since x1=x3=x4=1x_{1}=x_{3}=x_{4}=1, x2=1x_{2}=-1. For the induction step, assume that Si0S_{i} \geq 0 for all i4ki \leq 4k. Using the relations above, we obtain
S4k+4=2Sk+10,S4k+2=S4k0,S4k+3=S4k+2+x4k+3=S4k+2+S4k+420 S_{4k+4}=2S_{k+1} \geq 0, \quad S_{4k+2}=S_{4k} \geq 0, \quad S_{4k+3}=S_{4k+2}+x_{4k+3}=\frac{S_{4k+2}+S_{4k+4}}{2} \geq 0
So, we are left to prove that S4k+10S_{4k+1} \geq 0. If kk is odd, then S4k=2Sk0S_{4k}=2S_{k} \geq 0; since kk is odd, SkS_{k} is odd as well, so we have S4k2S_{4k} \geq 2 and hence S4k+1=S4k+x4k+11S_{4k+1}=S_{4k}+x_{4k+1} \geq 1.
Conversely, if kk is even, then we have x4k+1=x2k+1=xk+1x_{4k+1}=x_{2k+1}=x_{k+1}, hence S4k+1=S4k+x4k+1=2Sk+xk+1=Sk+Sk+10S_{4k+1}=S_{4k}+x_{4k+1}=2S_{k}+x_{k+1}=S_{k}+S_{k+1} \geq 0. The step is proved.

Solution 2

We will use the notation of SnS_{n} and the relations above from the previous solution.
Assume the contrary and consider the minimal nn such that Sn+1<0S_{n+1}<0; surely n1n \geq 1, and from Sn0S_{n} \geq 0 we get Sn=0S_{n}=0, xn+1=1x_{n+1}=-1. Hence, we are especially interested in the set M={n:Sn=0}M=\{n: S_{n}=0\}; our aim is to prove that xn+1=1x_{n+1}=1 whenever nMn \in M thus coming to a contradiction.
For this purpose, we first describe the set MM inductively. We claim that (i) MM consists only of even numbers, (ii) 2M2 \in M, and (iii) for every even n4n \geq 4 we have nM[n/4]Mn \in M \Longleftrightarrow [n/4] \in M. Actually, (i) holds since Snn(mod2)S_{n} \equiv n \pmod{2}, (ii) is straightforward, while (iii) follows from the relations S4k+2=S4k=2SkS_{4k+2}=S_{4k}=2S_{k}.
Now, we are left to prove that xn+1=1x_{n+1}=1 if nMn \in M. We use the induction on nn. The base case is n=2n=2, that is, the minimal element of MM; here we have x3=1x_{3}=1, as desired.
For the induction step, consider some 4nM4 \leq n \in M and let m=[n/4]Mm=[n/4] \in M; then mm is even, and xm+1=1x_{m+1}=1 by the induction hypothesis. We prove that xn+1=xm+1=1x_{n+1}=x_{m+1}=1. If n=4mn=4m then we have xn+1=x2m+1=xm+1x_{n+1}=x_{2m+1}=x_{m+1} since mm is even; otherwise, n=4m+2n=4m+2, and xn+1=x2m+2=xm+1x_{n+1}=-x_{2m+2}=x_{m+1}, as desired. The proof is complete.

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