Suppose that a1,a2,a3,… and b1,b2,b3,… are two sequences of real numbers. These sequences are said to be Co-Algebraic if a non-zero two-variable polynomial P(x,y) with real coefficients exists such that for each natural number n, P(an,bn)=0.
a) Prove that sequences n and 2n (for each natural number n) are not Co-Algebraic.
b) Are sequences 2n and 3n (for each natural number n) Co-Algebraic?
c) Suppose that f(x,y) is a non-zero two-variable polynomial with real coefficients. Prove that there exists a natural number n such that f(2n,3n) is not divisible by 5n.
Solution
a) Assume to the contrary that there exists a non-zero polynomial P(x,y)∈R[x,y] such that for every n∈N, P(n,2n)=0. Let d be the degree of P with respect to its second variable, y. P(x,y) can be written as, P(x,y)=pd(x)yd+⋯+p1(x)y+p0(x), where pi's are polynomials in x and pd is not zero. For every ϵ>0, there exists N1>0 such that for every n>N1, ∣pd(n)∣>ϵ. Furthermore, there exists N2>0 such that for every n>N2, ∣p0(n)∣,…,∣pd−1(n)∣<(2)n=22n. Now for every n>max{N1,N2}, ∣P(n,2n)∣=∣pd(n)2dn+⋯+p1(n)2n+p0(n)∣≥∣pd(n)2dn∣−(∣pd−1(n)2(d−1)n∣+⋯+∣p1(n)2n∣+∣p0(n)∣)>ϵ2dn−22n(1+2n+⋯+2(d−1)n)>ϵ2dn−2(d−1)n+2n+1=2dn(ϵ−2−2n+1). Since 2−2n+1 approaches zero as n approaches infinity, ∣P(n,2n)∣ approaches infinity and cannot be zero for large values of n.
b) No! Let α=log23 (i.e., 2α=3). It is easy to prove that α is irrational. Suppose that the two mentioned sequences are Co-Algebraic and that there exists a non-zero polynomial P(x,y) such that for every positive natural number n, P(2n,3n)=0. This polynomial is the sum of monomials of the form ck,lxkyl, where k and l are nonnegative integers and ck,l=0 is a real number. Thus P(2n,3n) is the sum of expressions of the form ck,l2nk3nl=ck,l2n(k+αl). Since α is irrational, different pairs (k,l) of integers lead to different values for k+αl. Let β be the maximum value of k+αl among all of the pairs (k,l) for which ck,l is not zero. Therefore, P(2n,3n) can be written as P(2n,3n)=c22βn+c12β1n+⋯+ck2βkn,(∗) where c=0 and βi<β for 1≤i≤k. Now, dividing both sides of (*) by 2βn results in 2βn1P(2n,3n)=c+c12(β1−β)n+⋯+ck2(βk−β)n. The left hand side approaches zero and the right hand side approaches c as n approaches infinity. This is a contradiction because it is assumed that c=0, and shows that two sequences 2n and 3n are not Co-Algebraic.
c) According to part (b), there exists m∈N such that f(2m,3m)=0. Let k be the largest natural number such that 5k∣P(2m,3m). It is claimed that if n:=m+4×5k, then f(2n,3n) is not divisible by 5k+1, and since k+1<n, not divisible by 5n either. In order to prove it, note that φ(5k+1)=4×5k, and by Euler's theorem 24×5k≡5k+134×5k≡5k+11. Hence f(2n,3n)=f(2m+4×5k,3m+4×5k)≡5k+1f(2m,3m)≡5k+10.
Want a route through all this instead of an archive? The track
puts 2,000 problems in a working order, from AMC 10 level to the IMO shortlist.
Source: MathNet,
licensed CC-BY-4.0.
Statement reproduced verbatim; metadata (topic, difficulty) added by this project.