Maths Olympiad Prep

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Algebra Difficulty 4.6 AIME Find the answer United States

Problem:
Define sgn(x)\operatorname{sgn}(x) to be 11 when xx is positive, 1-1 when xx is negative, and 00 when xx is 00. Compute
n=1sgn(sin(2n))2n. \sum_{n = 1}^{\infty}\frac{\operatorname{sgn}(\sin(2^{n}))}{2^{n}}.
(The arguments to sin\sin are in radians.)

A number or a short expression. Fractions can be typed as 3/2, and spacing doesn't matter.

Solution

Solution:
Note that each of the following is equivalent to the next.

 sgn(sin(2n))=+1\cdot\ \operatorname{sgn}(\sin (2^{n})) = +1

 0<2nmod2π<π\cdot\ 0 < 2^{n} \bmod 2\pi < \pi

 0<2nπmod2<1\cdot\ 0 < \frac{2^{n}}{\pi} \bmod 2 < 1

The nnth digit after the decimal point in the binary representation of 1π\frac{1}{\pi} is 00.

Similarly, sgn(sin(2n))=1\operatorname{sgn}(\sin (2^{n})) = -1 if and only if the nnth digit after the decimal point in the binary representation of 1π\frac{1}{\pi} is 11. In particular, if ana_{n} is the nnth digit, then sgn(sin(2n))=12an\operatorname{sgn}(\sin (2^{n})) = 1 - 2a_{n}.

Thus, the desired sum is
n=1sgn(sin(2n))2n=n=112an2n=(n=112n)2(n=1an2n)=[12π]. \sum_{n = 1}^{\infty}\frac{\operatorname{sgn}(\sin(2^{n}))}{2^{n}} = \sum_{n = 1}^{\infty}\frac{1 - 2a_{n}}{2^{n}} = \left(\sum_{n = 1}^{\infty}\frac{1}{2^{n}}\right) - 2\left(\sum_{n = 1}^{\infty}\frac{a_{n}}{2^{n}}\right) = \left[1 - \frac{2}{\pi}\right].

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Source: MathNet, licensed CC-BY-4.0. Statement reproduced verbatim; metadata (topic, difficulty) added by this project.