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Bay Area Mathematical Olympiad

Algebra Difficulty 7.5 National Olympiad, round 2 Prove it United States

Problem:
Let F1,F2,F3…F_{1}, F_{2}, F_{3} \ldots be the Fibonacci sequence, the sequence of positive integers with F1=F2=1F_{1}=F_{2}=1 and Fn+2=Fn+1+FnF_{n+2}=F_{n+1}+F_{n} for all n≥1n \geq 1. A Fibonacci number is by definition a number appearing in this sequence.
Let P1,P2,P3,…P_{1}, P_{2}, P_{3}, \ldots be the sequence consisting of all the integers that are products of two Fibonacci numbers (not necessarily distinct), in increasing order. The first few terms are
1,2,3,4,5,6,8,9,10,13,… 1,2,3,4,5,6,8,9,10,13, \ldots
since, for example 3=1⋅3,4=2⋅23=1 \cdot 3, 4=2 \cdot 2, and 10=2⋅510=2 \cdot 5.
Consider the sequence DnD_{n} of successive differences of the PnP_{n} sequence, where Dn=Pn+1−PnD_{n}=P_{n+1}-P_{n} for n≥1n \geq 1. The first few terms of DnD_{n} are
1,1,1,1,1,2,1,1,3,… 1,1,1,1,1,2,1,1,3, \ldots
Prove that every number in DnD_{n} is a Fibonacci number.

Solution

Solution:
Let Φ=1+52\Phi=\frac{1+\sqrt{5}}{2} and φ=1−52\varphi=\frac{1-\sqrt{5}}{2}. Note for later use that Φφ=−1,Φ−φ=5,Φ=Φ2−1\Phi \varphi=-1, \Phi-\varphi=\sqrt{5}, \Phi=\Phi^{2}-1, and φ=φ2−1\varphi=\varphi^{2}-1. We use Binet's formula for the Fibonacci numbers: Fn=15(Φn−φn)F_{n}=\frac{1}{\sqrt{5}}\left(\Phi^{n}-\varphi^{n}\right). (The reader who is not familiar with this formula may prove it inductively by checking that it works for n=1,2n=1,2 and is compatible with the Fibonacci recurrence.)
Each PnP_{n} may be written as FjFkF_{j} F_{k} with j≥kj \geq k. Binet's formula gives
FjFk=15(Φj−φj)(Φk−φk)=15(Φj+k+φj+k−Φjφk−Φkφj)=15(Φj+k+φj+k−(Φφ)k(Φj−k+φj−k))=15(Φj+k+φj+k−(−1)k(Φj−k+φj−k))=15(Lj+k−(−1)kLj−k), \begin{aligned} F_{j} F_{k} & =\frac{1}{5}\left(\Phi^{j}-\varphi^{j}\right)\left(\Phi^{k}-\varphi^{k}\right) \\ & =\frac{1}{5}\left(\Phi^{j+k}+\varphi^{j+k}-\Phi^{j} \varphi^{k}-\Phi^{k} \varphi^{j}\right) \\ & =\frac{1}{5}\left(\Phi^{j+k}+\varphi^{j+k}-(\Phi \varphi)^{k}\left(\Phi^{j-k}+\varphi^{j-k}\right)\right) \\ & =\frac{1}{5}\left(\Phi^{j+k}+\varphi^{j+k}-(-1)^{k}\left(\Phi^{j-k}+\varphi^{j-k}\right)\right) \\ & =\frac{1}{5}\left(L_{j+k}-(-1)^{k} L_{j-k}\right), \end{aligned}
where we define Ln=Φn+φnL_{n}=\Phi^{n}+\varphi^{n}. In what follows, we will use two properties of LnL_{n} : it is positive for all n≥0n \geq 0, and Ln+4>LnL_{n+4}>L_{n} for all n≥0n \geq 0. Both properties are easily proved via the observation that LnL_{n} is, for all n≥2n \geq 2, the integer closest to Φn\Phi^{n}.
Now fix rr and consider the set of products FjFk(j≥k)F_{j} F_{k}(j \geq k) for which j+k=rj+k=r. All of these products share a "leading" term of 15Lr\frac{1}{5} L_{r}. The remaining term can be written as −(−1)k5Lr−2k-\frac{(-1)^{k}}{5} L_{r-2 k}. By the two properties of LnL_{n} noted above, we have
−Lr−4<−Lr−8<−Lr−12<⋯<−Lr−4⌊r/4⌋<Lr−2−4⌊(r−2)/4⌋<⋯<Lr−10<Lr−6<Lr−2 -L_{r-4}<-L_{r-8}<-L_{r-12}<\cdots<-L_{r-4\lfloor r / 4\rfloor}<L_{r-2-4\lfloor(r-2) / 4\rfloor}<\cdots<L_{r-10}<L_{r-6}<L_{r-2}
and thus
Fr−2F2<Fr−4F4<Fr−6F6<⋯<Fr−5F5<Fr−3F3<Fr−1F1. F_{r-2} F_{2}<F_{r-4} F_{4}<F_{r-6} F_{6}<\cdots<F_{r-5} F_{5}<F_{r-3} F_{3}<F_{r-1} F_{1} .
We note that the smallest and largest products in inequality (1) are Fr−2F2=Fr−2F_{r-2} F_{2}=F_{r-2} and Fr−1F1=Fr−1F_{r-1} F_{1}=F_{r-1}, respectively. Thus the largest product FjFkF_{j} F_{k} with j+k=rj+k=r is equal to the smallest product FjFkF_{j} F_{k} with j+k=r+1j+k=r+1. This implies that the sequence P1,P2,P3,…P_{1}, P_{2}, P_{3}, \ldots consists of chains of the form (1) strung end to end for successively increasing values of rr. All that remains is to show that the difference between any two consecutive terms in (1) is a Fibonacci number.
Such differences are of the form 15(Ln+2−Ln−2)\frac{1}{5}\left(L_{n+2}-L_{n-2}\right) (for some integer nn ), except in the middle where there is one difference of the form 15(Ln+1+Ln−1)\frac{1}{5}\left(L_{n+1}+L_{n-1}\right). We now show that both of these expressions are equal to FnF_{n} :
Fn=15(Φn−φn)=Φ−φ5(Φn−φn)=15(Φn+1+φn+1−Φφ(Φn−1+φn−1))=15(Φn+1+φn+1+Φn−1+φn−1)(=15(Ln+1+Ln−1))=15(Φn+2−Φn+φn+2−φn+Φn−Φn−2+φn−φn−2)=15(Φn+2+φn+2−Φn−2−φn−2)(=15(Ln+2−Ln−2)). \begin{aligned} F_{n} & =\frac{1}{\sqrt{5}}\left(\Phi^{n}-\varphi^{n}\right) \\ & =\frac{\Phi-\varphi}{5}\left(\Phi^{n}-\varphi^{n}\right) \\ & =\frac{1}{5}\left(\Phi^{n+1}+\varphi^{n+1}-\Phi \varphi\left(\Phi^{n-1}+\varphi^{n-1}\right)\right) \\ & =\frac{1}{5}\left(\Phi^{n+1}+\varphi^{n+1}+\Phi^{n-1}+\varphi^{n-1}\right) \quad\left(=\frac{1}{5}\left(L_{n+1}+L_{n-1}\right)\right) \\ & =\frac{1}{5}\left(\Phi^{n+2}-\Phi^{n}+\varphi^{n+2}-\varphi^{n}+\Phi^{n}-\Phi^{n-2}+\varphi^{n}-\varphi^{n-2}\right) \\ & =\frac{1}{5}\left(\Phi^{n+2}+\varphi^{n+2}-\Phi^{n-2}-\varphi^{n-2}\right) \quad\left(=\frac{1}{5}\left(L_{n+2}-L_{n-2}\right)\right) . \end{aligned}
Therefore, every term of D1,D2,D3,…D_{1}, D_{2}, D_{3}, \ldots is a Fibonacci number.

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