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Algebra Difficulty 7.4 National olympiad, round 2 Prove it Netherlands

We define a sequence by a1=850a_1 = 850 and
an+1=an2an1 a_{n+1} = \frac{a_n^2}{a_n - 1}
for n1n \ge 1. Determine all values of nn for which an=2024\lfloor a_n \rfloor = 2024.

Solution

The only value that satisfies is n=1175n = 1175.

First, we note that we can rewrite the recursion as
an+1=an21+1an1=an21an1+1an1=an+1+1an1.(1) a_{n+1} = \frac{a_n^2 - 1 + 1}{a_n - 1} = \frac{a_n^2 - 1}{a_n - 1} + \frac{1}{a_n - 1} = a_n + 1 + \frac{1}{a_n - 1}. \quad (1)
Since the difference of an+1an>1a_{n+1} - a_n > 1, there is at most one nn that satisfies. Now we are going to show that n=1175n = 1175 does indeed satisfy. First, the above gives that
a1175=a1+1174+1a11+1a21++1a11741>850+1174=2024. \begin{aligned} a_{1175} &= a_1 + 1174 + \frac{1}{a_1 - 1} + \frac{1}{a_2 - 1} + \dots + \frac{1}{a_{1174} - 1} \\ &> 850 + 1174 \\ &= 2024. \end{aligned}
More generally, it follows from (1) that an849+na_n \ge 849 + n. From this we deduce that
1a11++1a117411849+1850++12022<511849+1001900+20011000+40011200+40011600+2312000=17283+19+15+13+14+232000=17283+20+36+60+45180+232000<11180+161180+3180<1. \begin{aligned} \frac{1}{a_1 - 1} + \cdots + \frac{1}{a_{1174} - 1} &\le \frac{1}{849} + \frac{1}{850} + \cdots + \frac{1}{2022} \\ &< 51 \cdot \frac{1}{849} + 100 \cdot \frac{1}{900} + 200 \cdot \frac{1}{1000} + 400 \cdot \frac{1}{1200} + 400 \cdot \frac{1}{1600} + 23 \cdot \frac{1}{2000} \\ &= \frac{17}{283} + \frac{1}{9} + \frac{1}{5} + \frac{1}{3} + \frac{1}{4} + \frac{23}{2000} \\ &= \frac{17}{283} + \frac{20+36+60+45}{180} + \frac{23}{2000} \\ &< \frac{11}{180} + \frac{161}{180} + \frac{3}{180} \\ &< 1. \end{aligned}
Using this, we conclude that indeed

a1175a_{1175} \le 850 + 1174 + 1849+1850++12022\frac{1}{849} + \frac{1}{850} + \cdots + \frac{1}{2022} < 2024 + 1. \quad \square

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