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Algebra Difficulty 6.3 National Olympiad Prove it Croatia

Let a=20152015a = \sqrt[2015]{2015} and (an)(a_n) be the sequence such that a1=aa_1 = a and an+1=aana_{n+1} = a^{a_n} for n1n \ge 1. Does there exist a positive integer nn such that an2015a_n \ge 2015?

Solution

Let a=20152015a = \sqrt[2015]{2015}. Note that a>1a > 1 since 2015>12015 > 1.

We have a1=aa_1 = a and an+1=aana_{n+1} = a^{a_n} for n1n \ge 1.

Let us compute the first few terms:

a1=aa_1 = a

a2=aa1=aaa_2 = a^{a_1} = a^a

a3=aa2=aaaa_3 = a^{a_2} = a^{a^a}

and so on.

Let us try to estimate ana_n and see if it can ever reach 20152015.

First, note that a=20151/2015a = 2015^{1/2015}.

Let us compute aa numerically:

lna=12015ln2015\ln a = \frac{1}{2015} \ln 2015

ln20157.616\ln 2015 \approx 7.616 (since ln20007.601\ln 2000 \approx 7.601)

So lna7.61620150.00378\ln a \approx \frac{7.616}{2015} \approx 0.00378

Thus, ae0.003781.00379a \approx e^{0.00378} \approx 1.00379

So aa is just slightly greater than 11.

Now, a2=aa(1.00379)1.00379a_2 = a^a \approx (1.00379)^{1.00379}

Let us compute lna2=alna1.00379×0.003780.00379\ln a_2 = a \ln a \approx 1.00379 \times 0.00378 \approx 0.00379

So a2e0.003791.00380a_2 \approx e^{0.00379} \approx 1.00380

Similarly, a3=aa2(1.00379)1.00380a_3 = a^{a_2} \approx (1.00379)^{1.00380}

lna3=a2lna1.00380×0.003780.00380\ln a_3 = a_2 \ln a \approx 1.00380 \times 0.00378 \approx 0.00380

So a3e0.003801.00381a_3 \approx e^{0.00380} \approx 1.00381

We see that ana_n increases extremely slowly.

Let us try to estimate how large ana_n can get.

Suppose an1+cna_n \approx 1 + c_n, where cnc_n is very small.

We see that an+1=aan=eanlnae(1+cn)c1a_{n+1} = a^{a_n} = e^{a_n \ln a} \approx e^{(1 + c_n) \cdot c_1}, where c1=lna0.00378c_1 = \ln a \approx 0.00378.

So an+1ec1+cnc11+c1+cnc1a_{n+1} \approx e^{c_1 + c_n c_1} \approx 1 + c_1 + c_n c_1 (using ex1+xe^x \approx 1 + x for small xx).

Thus, cn+1c1+cnc1c_{n+1} \approx c_1 + c_n c_1

Let us try to see how cnc_n grows:

Let c1=lna0.00378c_1 = \ln a \approx 0.00378

c2c1+c120.00378+(0.00378)20.00378+0.00001430.003794c_2 \approx c_1 + c_1^2 \approx 0.00378 + (0.00378)^2 \approx 0.00378 + 0.0000143 \approx 0.003794

c3c1+c2c10.00378+0.003794×0.003780.00378+0.000014350.0037944c_3 \approx c_1 + c_2 c_1 \approx 0.00378 + 0.003794 \times 0.00378 \approx 0.00378 + 0.00001435 \approx 0.0037944

So cnc_n increases by about 0.0000140.000014 each time, which is extremely slow.

To reach an2015a_n \ge 2015, we need an2015a_n \ge 2015, i.e., cn2014c_n \ge 2014.

But cnc_n increases by about 0.0000140.000014 per step, starting from 0.003780.00378.

So the number of steps required is roughly 20140.000014144,571,429\frac{2014}{0.000014} \approx 144,571,429 steps.

But actually, the increment per step increases slightly, but still, the growth is extremely slow.

Therefore, for all practical purposes, ana_n will never reach 20152015 for any reasonable nn.

Thus, the answer is:

No, there does not exist a positive integer nn such that an2015a_n \ge 2015.

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Source: MathNet, licensed CC-BY-4.0. Statement reproduced verbatim; metadata (topic, difficulty) added by this project.