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Algebra Difficulty 6.6 National Olympiad Prove it Italy

Problem:

We denote by x\lfloor x\rfloor the largest integer \leq than xx.
Let λ1\lambda \geq 1 be a real number, and nn a positive integer, such that λn+1,λn+2,,λ4n\left\lfloor\lambda^{n+1}\right\rfloor,\left\lfloor\lambda^{n+2}\right\rfloor, \ldots,\left\lfloor\lambda^{4 n}\right\rfloor are all perfect squares. Prove that λ\lfloor\lambda\rfloor is a perfect square.

Solution

Solution:

Let us first prove the case n=1n=1. Knowing that λ2,λ3\left\lfloor\lambda^{2}\right\rfloor,\left\lfloor\lambda^{3}\right\rfloor, and λ4\left\lfloor\lambda^{4}\right\rfloor are perfect squares, we want to show that λ\lfloor\lambda\rfloor is a perfect square. Setting a2=λ2a^{2}=\left\lfloor\lambda^{2}\right\rfloor, we have the inequalities:
a2λ2<a2+1 a^{2} \leq \lambda^{2}<a^{2}+1
from which, in particular, λ2<(a+1)2\lambda^{2}<(a+1)^{2}, hence aλ<a+1a \leq \lambda<a+1 and λ=a\lfloor\lambda\rfloor=a. Squaring the previous chain of inequalities, we obtain
a4λ4<(a2+1)2 a^{4} \leq \lambda^{4}<\left(a^{2}+1\right)^{2}
and, since a4a^{4} and (a2+1)2\left(a^{2}+1\right)^{2} are consecutive perfect squares, λ4=a4\left\lfloor\lambda^{4}\right\rfloor=a^{4}. Consequently λ4a4<1\lambda^{4}-a^{4}<1. Now, using the hypothesis λ1\lambda \geq 1,
λ3a3=(λa)(λ2+λa+a2)(λa)(λ(λ2+λa+a2)+a3)=λ4a4 \lambda^{3}-a^{3}=(\lambda-a)\left(\lambda^{2}+\lambda a+a^{2}\right) \leq(\lambda-a)\left(\lambda\left(\lambda^{2}+\lambda a+a^{2}\right)+a^{3}\right)=\lambda^{4}-a^{4}
so we also have
a3λ3=a3+λ3a3a3+λ4a4<a3+1 a^{3} \leq \lambda^{3}=a^{3}+\lambda^{3}-a^{3} \leq a^{3}+\lambda^{4}-a^{4}<a^{3}+1
which implies λ3=a3\left\lfloor\lambda^{3}\right\rfloor=a^{3}. By hypothesis, we therefore know that a3a^{3} is a perfect square, hence a=λa=\lfloor\lambda\rfloor is also a perfect square, as required.

Let us now prove the general case, by induction on nn. The base case, n=1n=1, has been established. For the inductive step, suppose we know that, if λn+1,λn+2,,λ4n\left\lfloor\lambda^{n+1}\right\rfloor,\left\lfloor\lambda^{n+2}\right\rfloor, \ldots,\left\lfloor\lambda^{4 n}\right\rfloor are all perfect squares, then λ\lfloor\lambda\rfloor is a perfect square. From the fact that λ(n+1)+1,λ(n+1)+2,,λ4(n+1)\left\lfloor\lambda^{(n+1)+1}\right\rfloor,\left\lfloor\lambda^{(n+1)+2}\right\rfloor, \ldots,\left\lfloor\lambda^{4(n+1)}\right\rfloor are all perfect squares, we want to deduce that λ\lfloor\lambda\rfloor is a perfect square. If we also knew that λn+1\left\lfloor\lambda^{n+1}\right\rfloor is a perfect square, then we could apply the inductive hypothesis and conclude immediately. Now, setting λˉ=λn+1\bar{\lambda}=\lambda^{n+1}, in particular, λˉ2,λˉ3\left\lfloor\bar{\lambda}^{2}\right\rfloor,\left\lfloor\bar{\lambda}^{3}\right\rfloor, and λˉ4\left\lfloor\bar{\lambda}^{4}\right\rfloor are three of our perfect squares. From the case n=1n=1 applied to λˉ\bar{\lambda} it therefore follows that λn+1\left\lfloor\lambda^{n+1}\right\rfloor is a perfect square, and this concludes the proof.

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Source: MathNet, licensed CC-BY-4.0. Statement translated into English from it; metadata (topic, difficulty) added by this project.