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Belarusian Mathematical Olympiad

Algebra Difficulty 7.1 National Olympiad, round 2 Prove it Belarus

Let rr be some positive real number. It is known that for some positive integer nn the following condition holds: all positive real numbers a1,…,ana_1, \dots, a_n satisfying the equality a1+⋯+an=r(1a1+⋯+1an)a_1 + \dots + a_n = r\left(\frac{1}{a_1} + \dots + \frac{1}{a_n}\right), ai≠ra_i \ne \sqrt{r}, i=1,…,ni = 1, \dots, n, also satisfy the equality 1r−a1+⋯+1r−an=1r\frac{1}{\sqrt{r} - a_1} + \dots + \frac{1}{\sqrt{r} - a_n} = \frac{1}{\sqrt{r}}. Find nn.
(D. Bazylev)

Solution

Note that if a1,…,ana_1, \dots, a_n satisfy the equality
a1+⋯+an=r(1a1+⋯+1an),(∗) a_1 + \dots + a_n = r \left( \frac{1}{a_1} + \dots + \frac{1}{a_n} \right), \quad (*)
then the numbers b1=ra1,…,bn=ranb_1 = \frac{r}{a_1}, \dots, b_n = \frac{r}{a_n} satisfy the equality
b1+⋯+bn=r(1b1+⋯+1bn). b_1 + \dots + b_n = r \left( \frac{1}{b_1} + \dots + \frac{1}{b_n} \right).
By condition, we have
1r−b1+⋯+1r−bn=1r, \frac{1}{\sqrt{r} - b_1} + \dots + \frac{1}{\sqrt{r} - b_n} = \frac{1}{\sqrt{r}},
which gives 1r−ra1+⋯+1r−ran=1r\frac{1}{\sqrt{r} - \frac{r}{a_1}} + \dots + \frac{1}{\sqrt{r} - \frac{r}{a_n}} = \frac{1}{\sqrt{r}}. The last equality is equivalent to the equality
a1r−a1+⋯+anr−an=−1.(1) \frac{a_1}{\sqrt{r} - a_1} + \dots + \frac{a_n}{\sqrt{r} - a_n} = -1. \quad (1)
By condition,
1r−a1+⋯+1r−an=1r.(2) \frac{1}{\sqrt{r} - a_1} + \dots + \frac{1}{\sqrt{r} - a_n} = \frac{1}{\sqrt{r}}. \quad (2)
Subtracting (1) from (2) multiplied by r\sqrt{r}, we obtain
r−a1r−a1+⋯+r−anr−an=1−(−1)=2. \frac{\sqrt{r} - a_1}{\sqrt{r} - a_1} + \dots + \frac{\sqrt{r} - a_n}{\sqrt{r} - a_n} = 1 - (-1) = 2.
It follows that n=2n=2.

It remains to verify that the problem condition holds for n=2n = 2. Indeed
a1+a2=r(1a1+1a2)  ⟺  (a1+a2)(1−ra1a2)=0. a_1 + a_2 = r \left( \frac{1}{a_1} + \frac{1}{a_2} \right) \iff (a_1 + a_2) \left( 1 - \frac{r}{a_1 a_2} \right) = 0.
By condition, a1,a2≥0a_1, a_2 \ge 0 hence the last equality is equivalent to the equality a1a2=ra_1 a_2 = r. Then
1r−a1+1r−a2=2r−(a1+a2)r−r(a1+a2)+a1a2=2r−(a1+a2)2r−r(a1+a2)=1r, \frac{1}{\sqrt{r} - a_1} + \frac{1}{\sqrt{r} - a_2} = \frac{2\sqrt{r} - (a_1 + a_2)}{r - \sqrt{r}(a_1 + a_2) + a_1 a_2} = \frac{2\sqrt{r} - (a_1 + a_2)}{2r - \sqrt{r}(a_1 + a_2)} = \frac{1}{\sqrt{r}},
as required.

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