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Algebra Difficulty 5.5 AIME, harder Prove it Silk Road Mathematics Competition

Let a(1),a(2),a(1), a(2), \dots be the infinite sequence defined by:
a(1)=a(2)=1a(1) = a(2) = 1 and
a(n)=a(a(n1))+a(na(n1)) for n3. a(n) = a(a(n-1)) + a(n - a(n-1)) \text{ for } n \ge 3.
Prove that a(2n)2a(n)a(2n) \le 2a(n) for all n1n \ge 1.

Solution

We first prove that:
(1)a(n+1)a(n)=0 or 1 (1) \qquad a(n+1) - a(n) = 0 \text{ or } 1
for all positive integers nn. It is true if n=1,2n = 1, 2, since a(3)=2a(3) = 2. Assume that n3n \ge 3 and (1) is true for all knk \le n. In particular, 1a(k)k1 \le a(k) \le k for all knk \le n

a(n+1)a(n)=a(a(n))a(a(n1))+a(n+1a(n))a(na(n1))=={a(na(n)+1)a(na(n)),if a(n)=a(n1),a(a(n1)+1)a(a(n1)),if a(n)=a(n1)+1, a(n+1) - a(n) = a(a(n)) - a(a(n-1)) + a(n+1 - a(n)) - a(n - a(n-1)) = \\ = \begin{cases} a(n - a(n) + 1) - a(n - a(n)), & \text{if } a(n) = a(n-1), \\ a(a(n-1) + 1) - a(a(n-1)), & \text{if } a(n) = a(n-1) + 1, \end{cases}
and (1) follows by induction.

Now assume that a(2n)2a(n)a(2n) \le 2a(n) not for all n1n \ge 1, and let mm be the smallest integer for which this inequality is false. Hence, a(2m)>2a(m)a(2m) > 2a(m) and a(2(m1))2a(m1)a(2(m-1)) \le 2a(m-1). Moreover, if a(m)=a(m1)+1a(m) = a(m-1)+1, then a(2m)>2a(m)=2(a(m1)+1)a(2(m1))+2a(2m) > 2a(m) = 2(a(m-1)+1) \ge a(2(m-1))+2 and we get a contradiction to (1). Therefore, a(m)=a(m1)a(m) = a(m-1).

Let M=a(m)=a(m1)M = a(m) = a(m-1). Since a(2m)>2Ma(2m) > 2M and a(2m2)2Ma(2m-2) \le 2M, we have a(2m1)=2Ma(2m-1) = 2M or 2M+12M+1.

If a(2m1)=2Ma(2m-1) = 2M, then a(2m)=a(2M)+a(2m2M)2a(M)+2a(mM)=2a(m)a(2m) = a(2M) + a(2m-2M) \le 2a(M) + 2a(m-M) = 2a(m), which contradicts with our assumption a(2m)>2a(m)a(2m) > 2a(m).

If a(2m1)=2M+1a(2m-1) = 2M+1, then a(2m2)=2Ma(2m-2) = 2M and a(2m1)=a(2M)+a(2m12M)a(2M)+a(2m2M)2a(M)+2a(mM)=2a(m)a(2m-1) = a(2M) + a(2m-1-2M) \le a(2M) + a(2m-2M) \le 2a(M) + 2a(m-M) = 2a(m), which means 2M+12M2M+1 \le 2M, a contradiction.

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