Maths Olympiad Prep

Library / /222 of 397

, 2021

Algebra Difficulty 6.0 National Olympiad Prove it Taiwan

Let a1,a2,a3,a_1, a_2, a_3, \dots be a sequence of positive integers such that a1=2021a_1 = 2021 and
an+1an=an. \sqrt{a_{n+1} - a_n} = \lfloor \sqrt{a_n} \rfloor.
Show that there are infinitely many odd numbers and infinitely many even numbers in this sequence.

Solution

Suppose there are not infinitely many odd numbers or not infinitely many even numbers, then there exists an NN such that the sequence aN,aN+1,aN+2,a_N, a_{N+1}, a_{N+2}, \dots all have the same parity. So when nNn \ge N,
bn:=an=an+1an b_n := \lfloor \sqrt{a_n} \rfloor = \sqrt{a_{n+1} - a_n}
is even. Let kn=anbn2k_n = a_n - b_n^2, then 0kn2bn0 \le k_n \le 2b_n. We have
an+1=an+bn2=2bn2+kn    bn+12bn2+kn<bn+1+1, a_{n+1} = a_n + b_n^2 = 2b_n^2 + k_n \implies b_{n+1} \le \sqrt{2b_n^2 + k_n} < b_{n+1} + 1,
therefore from an+2=2bn+12+kn+1=2bn2+kn+bn+12a_{n+2} = 2b_{n+1}^2 + k_{n+1} = 2b_n^2 + k_n + b_{n+1}^2,
an+24bn2+2kn4bn2+4bn<(2bn+1)2 a_{n+2} \le 4b_n^2 + 2k_n \le 4b_n^2 + 4b_n < (2b_n + 1)^2
an+2>2bn2+kn+(2bn2+kn1)2=4bn2+2kn+122bn2+kn. a_{n+2} > 2b_n^2 + k_n + (\sqrt{2b_n^2 + k_n} - 1)^2 = 4b_n^2 + 2k_n + 1 - 2\sqrt{2b_n^2 + k_n}.
Note that
4bn2+2kn+122bn2+kn(2bn1)2    2bn+kn2bn2+kn, 4b_n^2 + 2k_n + 1 - 2\sqrt{2b_n^2 + k_n} \ge (2b_n - 1)^2 \iff 2b_n + k_n \ge \sqrt{2b_n^2 + k_n},
and the latter is clearly true, so we have bn+2=an+2=2bn1b_{n+2} = \lfloor a_{n+2} \rfloor = 2b_n - 1 or 2bn2b_n. Since bn+2b_{n+2} is even when n+2Nn + 2 \ge N, we have bn+2=2bnb_{n+2} = 2b_n. Thus we have bN+2s=2sbN,bN+2s+1=2sbN+1b_{N+2s} = 2^s b_N, b_{N+2s+1} = 2^s b_{N+1}.
bN+2s2=aN+2s+1aN+2s=bN+2s+12bN+2s2+kN+2s+1kN+2s, b_{N+2s}^2 = a_{N+2s+1} - a_{N+2s} = b_{N+2s+1}^2 - b_{N+2s}^2 + k_{N+2s+1} - k_{N+2s},
we have
kN+2s+1kN+2s=2bN+2s2bN+2s+12=22s(2bN2bN+12), k_{N+2s+1} - k_{N+2s} = 2b_{N+2s}^2 - b_{N+2s+1}^2 = 2^{2s}(2b_N^2 - b_{N+1}^2),
from 0kn2bn0 \le k_n \le 2b_n, we have
22s2bN2bN+122bN+2s+1+2bN+2s=2s+1(bN+1+bN). 2^{2s}|2b_N^2 - b_{N+1}^2| \le 2b_{N+2s+1} + 2b_{N+2s} = 2^{s+1}(b_{N+1} + b_N).
Note that 22 is not a perfect square, so 2bN2bN+1202b_N^2 - b_{N+1}^2 \ne 0, hence taking ss sufficiently large yields a contradiction.

Want a route through all this instead of an archive? The track puts 2,000 problems in a working order, from AMC 10 level to the IMO shortlist.

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