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Algebra Difficulty 5.3 AIME, harder Prove it United States

Problem:
Let a0,a1,a2,a_{0}, a_{1}, a_{2}, \ldots be a sequence of real numbers defined by a0=21a_{0}=21, a1=35a_{1}=35, and an+2=4an+14an+n2a_{n+2}=4 a_{n+1}-4 a_{n}+n^{2} for n2n \geq 2. Compute the remainder obtained when a2006a_{2006} is divided by 100100.

Solution

Solution:
No pattern is evident in the first few terms, so we look for a formula for ana_{n}. If we write an=An2+Bn+C+bna_{n}=A n^{2}+B n+C+b_{n} and put bn+2=4bn+14bnb_{n+2}=4 b_{n+1}-4 b_{n}. Rewriting the original recurrence, we find
An2+(4A+B)n+(4A+2B+C)+bn+2=4(An2+(2A+B)n+(A+B+C)+bn+1)4(An2+Bn+C+bn)+n2=n2+8An+(4A+4B)+4bn+14bn \begin{aligned} & A n^{2}+(4 A+B) n+(4 A+2 B+C)+b_{n+2} \\ & =4\left(A n^{2}+(2 A+B) n+(A+B+C)+b_{n+1}\right)-4\left(A n^{2}+B n+C+b_{n}\right)+n^{2} \\ & \quad=n^{2}+8 A n+(4 A+4 B)+4 b_{n+1}-4 b_{n} \end{aligned}
Solving, A=1A=1, B=4B=4, C=8C=8. With this information, we can solve for b0=1b_{0}=1 and b1=6b_{1}=6. Since the characteristic equation of the recurrence of the bib_{i} is x24x+4=(x2)2=0x^{2}-4 x+4=(x-2)^{2}=0, we have bn=(Dn+E)2nb_{n}=(D n+E) \cdot 2^{n} for some constants DD and EE. Using the known values b0b_{0} and b1b_{1}, we compute D=2D=2 and E=1E=1, and finally
an=n2+4n+8+(2n+1)2n a_{n}=n^{2}+4 n+8+(2 n+1) \cdot 2^{n}
Now, taking modulo 100100, we have a200662+46+8+1322006(mod100)a_{2006} \equiv 6^{2}+4 \cdot 6+8+13 \cdot 2^{2006} \pmod{100}. Evidently 220060(mod4)2^{2006} \equiv 0 \pmod{4}, but by Euler's theorem 2ϕ(25)2201(mod25)2^{\phi(25)} \equiv 2^{20} \equiv 1 \pmod{25}, and so 220062614(mod25)2^{2006} \equiv 2^{6} \equiv 14 \pmod{25}. Now the Chinese remainder theorem yields 2200664(mod100)2^{2006} \equiv 64 \pmod{100}, and we compute a200636+24+8+13640(mod100)a_{2006} \equiv 36+24+8+13 \cdot 64 \equiv 0 \pmod{100}.

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