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Algebra Difficulty 8.1 Shortlist Prove it Bulgaria

Problem:
Find all sequences of positive integers {an}n=1\{a_{n}\}_{n=1}^{\infty}, such that a4=4a_{4}=4 and the identity
1a1a2a3+1a2a3a4++1anan+1an+2=(n+3)an4an+1an+2 \frac{1}{a_{1} a_{2} a_{3}}+\frac{1}{a_{2} a_{3} a_{4}}+\cdots+\frac{1}{a_{n} a_{n+1} a_{n+2}}=\frac{(n+3) a_{n}}{4 a_{n+1} a_{n+2}}
holds true for every positive integer n2n \geq 2.

Solution

Solution:
We rewrite the recurrence relation as
(n+2)an14anan+1+1anan+1an+2=(n+3)an4an+1an+2(n+2)an+2=(n+3)an24an1 \frac{(n+2) a_{n-1}}{4 a_{n} a_{n+1}}+\frac{1}{a_{n} a_{n+1} a_{n+2}}=\frac{(n+3) a_{n}}{4 a_{n+1} a_{n+2}} \Longleftrightarrow (n+2) a_{n+2}=\frac{(n+3) a_{n}^{2}-4}{a_{n-1}}
for n3n \geq 3. Setting n=2n=2 in the initial relation we obtain 4(a1+4)=5a1a224\left(a_{1}+4\right)=5 a_{1} a_{2}^{2}, implying that a116a_{1} \mid 16 and 5a1+45 \mid a_{1}+4. Therefore a1=16a_{1}=16 and a2=1a_{2}=1 or a1=1a_{1}=1 and a2=2a_{2}=2.

Case 1. Let a1=16a_{1}=16 and a2=1a_{2}=1. Then 5a5=6a3245 a_{5}=6 a_{3}^{2}-4, a3a6=18a_{3} a_{6}=18 and 7a7=2a5217 a_{7}=2 a_{5}^{2}-1 for n=3,4n=3,4 and 55, respectively. Since a3±2(mod5)a_{3} \equiv \pm 2\pmod{5} and a3a_{3} as a divisor of 1818 we conclude that a3=3a_{3}=3 or a3=18a_{3}=18. The direct check of both values shows no solutions in this case.

Case 2. Let a1=1a_{1}=1 and a2=2a_{2}=2. Then n=3n=3 and n=4n=4 give 5a5+2=3a325 a_{5}+2=3 a_{3}^{2} and a3a6=18a_{3} a_{6}=18, respectively. Again a3±2(mod5)a_{3} \equiv \pm 2\pmod{5} and we see that a3=3a_{3}=3 and a6=6a_{6}=6 or a3=18a_{3}=18 and a6=1a_{6}=1. In the second case we obtain a5=194a_{5}=194 which gives a contradiction with 8a8=9a624a58 a_{8}=\frac{9 a_{6}^{2}-4}{a_{5}}.

In the first case a5=5a_{5}=5 and hence the only possible values are ai=ia_{i}=i for i=1,2,,6i=1,2, \ldots, 6. Now easy induction shows that an=na_{n}=n for all nn.

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