Let n (n≥1) be an integer. Consider the equation 2⋅⌊2x1⌋−n+1=(n+1)(1−nx) where x is the unknown real variable.
a. Solve the equation for n=8.
b. Prove that there exists an integer n for which the equation has at least 2021 solutions. (For any real number y by ⌊y⌋ we denote the largest integer m such that m≤y.)
Solution
Solution:
Let k=⌊2x1⌋, k∈Z.
a. For n=8, the equation becomes k=⌊2x1⌋=8−36x⇒x=0 and x=368−k Since x=0, we have k=8, and the last relation implies k=⌊2x1⌋=⌊8−k18⌋. Checking signs, we see that 0<k<8. By direct verification, we find the solutions k=3 (hence x=365) and k=4 (hence x=91).
b. From the given equation we have x=0 and x=n(n+1)2(n−k). Therefore, k=n and k=⌊2x1⌋=⌊4(n−k)n(n+1)⌋. Again, checking signs we see that 0≤k<n. The last equation implies k≤4(n−k)n(n+1)<k+1⇒{(2k−n)2+n≥0(2k+1−n)2<n+1⇒⇒2n−1−n+1<k<2n−1+n+1 Conversely, if k∈Z satisfies (2) and 0<k<n, then x=n(n+1)2(n−k) is a solution to the given equation. It remains to note that choosing n such that n+1>2021 ensures that there exist at least 2021 integer values of k which satisfy (2).
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