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Algebra Difficulty 6.9 National olympiad Prove it Croatia

Prove that for all x[1111,110111]x \in [\frac{1}{111}, \frac{110}{111}] there exist numbers ai{1,1},i=1,2,,101a_i \in \{-1, 1\}, i = 1, 2, \dots, 101 such that
x101x1402, |x_{101} - x| \le \frac{1}{402},
where
x0=1,xk=(xk1+1)ak,for k=1,2,,101.x_0 = 1, \quad x_k = (x_{k-1} + 1)^{a_k}, \quad \text{for } k = 1, 2, \dots, 101.

Solution

For a given positive integer nn let SnS_n denote the set of all possible values that xnx_n can obtain for different choices of numbers aia_i, 1in1 \le i \le n. For example:
S1={12,2},S2={13,23,32,3},S3={14,25,35,34,43,53,52,4}, S_1 = \{\frac{1}{2}, 2\}, \quad S_2 = \{\frac{1}{3}, \frac{2}{3}, \frac{3}{2}, 3\}, \quad S_3 = \{\frac{1}{4}, \frac{2}{5}, \frac{3}{5}, \frac{3}{4}, \frac{4}{3}, \frac{5}{3}, \frac{5}{2}, 4\}, \dots
Note that, for every xSnx \in S_n both x+1x+1 and 1x+1\frac{1}{x+1} belong to Sn+1S_{n+1}. Furthermore, one of those two numbers is smaller than 1 and the other is greater than 1. Thus, each SnS_n consists of even number of numbers. For a given positive integer nn let
Sn={a1,a2,,a2m}, with a1<a2<<a2m S_n = \{a_1, a_2, \dots, a_{2m}\}, \text{ with } a_1 < a_2 < \dots < a_{2m}
and
Sn+1={b1,b2,,b2k}, with b1<b2<<b2k. S_{n+1} = \{b_1, b_2, \dots, b_{2k}\}, \text{ with } b_1 < b_2 < \dots < b_{2k}.
The following statements can easily be proved by induction:
* Claim 1. m=2n1m = 2^{n-1}, k=2nk = 2^n and thus Sn+1=2Sn|S_{n+1}| = 2|S_n|.
* Claim 2. a1=1n+1a_1 = \frac{1}{n+1}, am=nn+1a_m = \frac{n}{n+1}, am+1=n+1na_{m+1} = \frac{n+1}{n}, a2m=n+1a_{2m} = n+1.
* Claim 3. b1<b2<<b2m<1<b2m+1<<b4mb_1 < b_2 < \dots < b_{2m} < 1 < b_{2m+1} < \dots < b_{4m}.
* Claim 4. ai=1a2m+1ia_i = \frac{1}{a_{2m+1-i}}, bi=1b4m+1ib_i = \frac{1}{b_{4m+1-i}}.
* Claim 5. bi=11+a2m+1ib_i = \frac{1}{1 + a_{2m+1-i}}, for 1i2m1 \le i \le 2m.
* Claim 6. bi=1b2m+1ib_i = \frac{1}{b_{2m+1-i}}, for 1i2m1 \le i \le 2m.
Combining Claim 5 and Claim 4 we get:
bi=ai1+ai,for 1i2m.(2) b_i = \frac{a_i}{1 + a_i}, \quad \text{for } 1 \le i \le 2m. \qquad (2)
For all integers n2n \ge 2, we will prove that ai+1ai12n1a_{i+1} - a_i \le \frac{1}{2n-1} for all 1im1 \le i \le m. That is obviously true for n=2n=2.
As an induction hypothesis, let us assume that this holds for nn. We will prove that the claim holds for n+1n+1, i.e. we will prove that bi+1bi12n+1b_{i+1} - b_i \le \frac{1}{2n+1} for all 1i2m1 \le i \le 2m.
From (2) and Claim 2 we know that
bm=n2n+1,bm+1=n+12n+1. b_m = \frac{n}{2n+1}, \quad b_{m+1} = \frac{n+1}{2n+1}.
Therefore,
bm+1bm=12n+1, b_{m+1} - b_m = \frac{1}{2n+1},
thus the claim holds for i=mi = m. Let us prove that the claim holds for i<mi < m. We have:
bi+1bi=1ai+1+11ai+1=ai+1ai(1+ai)(1+ai+1). b_{i+1} - b_i = \frac{1}{a_{i+1} + 1} - \frac{1}{a_i + 1} = \frac{a_{i+1} - a_i}{(1+a_i)(1+a_{i+1})}.
By induction hypothesis, ai+1ai12n1a_{i+1} - a_i \le \frac{1}{2n-1} and from Claim 2 we know that ai1n+1a_i \ge \frac{1}{n+1} and ai+11n+1a_{i+1} \ge \frac{1}{n+1}. Thus,
bi+1bi=ai+1ai(1+ai)(1+ai+1)12n1(1+1n+1)(1+1n+1)<12n+1, b_{i+1} - b_i = \frac{a_{i+1} - a_i}{(1+a_i)(1+a_{i+1})} \le \frac{\frac{1}{2n-1}}{(1+\frac{1}{n+1})(1+\frac{1}{n+1})} < \frac{1}{2n+1},
with the last inequality being equivalent to 2n25>02n^2 - 5 > 0 which holds for n2n \ge 2. Finally, we will prove that bi+1bi12n+1b_{i+1} - b_i \le \frac{1}{2n+1} for m<i<2mm < i < 2m.
From Claim 6 we have:
bi+1bi=1bj1bj+1=bj+1bj(1+bj)(1+bj+1)<bj+1bj<12n+1. b_{i+1} - b_i = \frac{1}{b_j} - \frac{1}{b_{j+1}} = \frac{b_{j+1} - b_j}{(1+b_j)(1+b_{j+1})} < b_{j+1} - b_j < \frac{1}{2n+1}.
where we denoted j=2mi<mj = 2m - i < m.
For n=101n = 101, let S101={c1,c2,,cs}S_{101} = \{c_1, c_2, \dots, c_s\}, where c1<c2<<csc_1 < c_2 < \dots < c_s.
Since c1=1102c_1 = \frac{1}{102} and cs=101102c_s = \frac{101}{102} we know that c11111<1201c_1 - \frac{1}{111} < \frac{1}{201} and 110111cs<1201\frac{110}{111} - c_s < \frac{1}{201}.
Therefore, in set Sn={c0,c1,,cs,cs+1}S'_n = \{c_0, c_1, \dots, c_s, c_{s+1}\} with c0=1111c_0 = \frac{1}{111} and cs+1=110111c_{s+1} = \frac{110}{111} the following holds:
ci+1ci1201, for 0<is. c_{i+1} - c_i \le \frac{1}{201}, \text{ for } 0 < i \le s.
For given x[1111,110111]x \in [\frac{1}{111}, \frac{110}{111}], let jj be an index such that cjxcj+1c_j \le x \le c_{j+1}. Since, cj+1cj1201c_{j+1} - c_j \le \frac{1}{201} we conclude that xcj1402|x - c_j| \le \frac{1}{402} or xcj+11402|x - c_{j+1}| \le \frac{1}{402}.

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