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Algebra Difficulty 7.4 National Olympiad, round 2 Prove it Philippines

Problem:

Let a1,a2,a_{1}, a_{2}, \ldots be a sequence of integers defined by a1=3a_{1}=3, a2=3a_{2}=3, and

an+2=an+1anan+1an+2 a_{n+2}=a_{n+1} a_{n}-a_{n+1}-a_{n}+2

for all n1n \geq 1. Find the remainder when a2020a_{2020} is divided by 2222.

Solution

Solution:

Let {Fn}n=1={1,1,2,3,5,8,}\{F_{n}\}_{n=1}^{\infty}=\{1,1,2,3,5,8, \ldots\} be the sequence of Fibonacci numbers. We first claim that an=2Fn+1a_{n}=2^{F_{n}}+1 for all nNn \in \mathbb{N}. Clearly, this is true for n=1,2n=1,2. Let kNk \in \mathbb{N} and suppose that the claim is true for n=kn=k and for n=k+1n=k+1. Then
ak+2=ak+1akak+1ak+2=(ak+11)(ak1)+1=2Fk+12Fk+1=2Fk+2+1 \begin{aligned} a_{k+2} & =a_{k+1} a_{k}-a_{k+1}-a_{k}+2 \\ & =\left(a_{k+1}-1\right)\left(a_{k}-1\right)+1 \\ & =2^{F_{k+1}} 2^{F_{k}}+1 \\ & =2^{F_{k+2}}+1 \end{aligned}

By strong induction, the claim is proved. Therefore, we now find the remainder when 2F2020+12^{F_{2020}}+1 is divided by 2222. To this end, it is easier to find residues modulo 22 and modulo 1111 and process them to get the residue modulo 2222 (e.g. through Chinese Remainder Theorem).

Clearly, 2F20202^{F_{2020}} is even, i.e., 2F2020+11(mod2)2^{F_{2020}}+1 \equiv 1 \pmod{2}. We will see later that 2F2020+10(mod11)2^{F_{2020}}+1 \equiv 0 \pmod{11}. Therefore, by Chinese Remainder Theorem, a2020=2F2020+111(mod22)a_{2020}=2^{F_{2020}}+1 \equiv 11 \pmod{22}.

There are several ways to find the residue of 2F2020+1(mod11)2^{F_{2020}}+1 \pmod{11}.

Way 1.1: By Fermat's Little Theorem, 2101(mod11)2^{10} \equiv 1 \pmod{11}. This prompts us to consider the sequence of residues of Fn(mod10)F_{n} \pmod{10} in order to find F2020(mod10)F_{2020} \pmod{10}:
{Fn(mod10)}n=1={1,1,2,3,5,8,3,1,4,5,9,4,3,7,0,7,7,4,1,5,6,1,7,8,5,3,8,1,9,0,9,9,8,7,5,2,7,9,6,5,1,6,7,3,0,3,3,6,9,5,4,9,3,2,5,7,2,9,1,0,} \begin{gathered} \{F_{n} \pmod{10}\}_{n=1}^{\infty}=\{1,1,2,3,5,8,3,1,4,5,9,4,3,7,0,7,7,4,1,5,6,1,7,8,5,3,8,1,9,0,9,9,8,7,5,2,7,9,6,5,1,6,7,3,0,3,3,6,9,5,4,9,3,2,5,7,2,9,1,0, \ldots\} \end{gathered}
We see that the sequence is cyclic with period 6060. Therefore, since 2020=60×33+402020=60 \times 33 + 40, we obtain F20205(mod10)F_{2020} \equiv 5 \pmod{10}. Consequently, for some kZk \in \mathbb{Z},
2F2020+1=210k+5+1(210)k25+1330(mod11) 2^{F_{2020}}+1=2^{10k+5}+1 \equiv (2^{10})^{k} 2^{5}+1 \equiv 33 \equiv 0 \pmod{11}

Way 1.2: Another way to find F2020(mod10)F_{2020} \pmod{10} is to get the residues of F2020F_{2020} modulo 22 and 55 and process them to find the residue modulo 1010. Again, we list down the sequence of residues modulo 22 and 55:
{Fn(mod2)}n=1={1,1,0,}\{F_{n} \pmod{2}\}_{n=1}^{\infty}=\{1,1,0, \ldots\} which has period 33, and
{Fn(mod5)}n=1={1,1,2,3,0,3,3,1,4,0,4,4,3,2,0,2,2,4,1,0,} \{F_{n} \pmod{5}\}_{n=1}^{\infty}=\{1,1,2,3,0,3,3,1,4,0,4,4,3,2,0,2,2,4,1,0, \ldots\}
which has period 2020. Since 20201(mod3)2020 \equiv 1 \pmod{3} and 20200(mod20)2020 \equiv 0 \pmod{20}, then F20201(mod2)F_{2020} \equiv 1 \pmod{2} and F20200(mod5)F_{2020} \equiv 0 \pmod{5}. Therefore, F20205(mod10)F_{2020} \equiv 5 \pmod{10} by Chinese Remainder Theorem. Thus, the result holds.

Solution 2:

Inspired by the factorization in (1), we define bn=an1b_{n}=a_{n}-1 for all nNn \in \mathbb{N}. Then b1=b2=2b_{1}=b_{2}=2 and (1) simplifies to
bn+2=bn+1bn b_{n+2}=b_{n+1} b_{n}
We observe that b1=2F1b_{1}=2^{F_{1}}, b2=2F2b_{2}=2^{F_{2}}, and (3) implies b3=2F3b_{3}=2^{F_{3}}. This pattern continues and obviously shows that bn=2Fnb_{n}=2^{F_{n}} for all nNn \in \mathbb{N}. Very similar arguments to Solution 1 will give b20200(mod2)b_{2020} \equiv 0 \pmod{2} and b202010(mod11)b_{2020} \equiv 10 \pmod{11}. Therefore, by Chinese Remainder Theorem, b202010(mod22)b_{2020} \equiv 10 \pmod{22}. Equivalently, a202011(mod22)a_{2020} \equiv 11 \pmod{22}.

Solution 3:

By bashing, we can list down the residues of {an}n=1\{a_{n}\}_{n=1}^{\infty} (or of {bn}n=1\{b_{n}\}_{n=1}^{\infty} as defined in Solution 2):
{an(mod22)}n=1={3,3,5,9,11,15,9,3,17,11,7,17,9,19,13,19,19,17,3,11,21,3,19,15,11,9,15,3,7,13,7,7,15,19,11,5,19,7,21,11,3,21,19,9,13,9,9,21,7,11,17,7,9,5,11,19,5,7,3,13,} \begin{aligned} &\{a_{n} \pmod{22}\}_{n=1}^{\infty}=\{3,3,5,9,11,15,9,3,17,11,7,17,9,19,13,19,19,17,3,11,21,3,19,15, \\ & 11,9,15,3,7,13,7,7,15,19,11,5,19,7,21,11,3,21,19,9,13,9,9,21,7,11, \\ & 17,7,9,5,11,19,5,7,3,13, \ldots\} \end{aligned}
Since the sequence is cyclic with period 6060, and 202040(mod60)2020 \equiv 40 \pmod{60}, then a202011(mod22)a_{2020} \equiv 11 \pmod{22}.

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