Maths Olympiad Prep

Library / /19 of 38

Algebra Difficulty 6.7 National olympiad Prove it China

Let NN^* be the set of all positive integers. Prove that there exists a unique function f:NNf: N^* \to N^* satisfying f(1)=f(2)=1f(1) = f(2) = 1 and f(n)=f(f(n1))+f(nf(n1))f(n) = f(f(n-1)) + f(n-f(n-1)), n=3,4,n = 3, 4, \dots. For such ff, find the value of f(2m)f(2^m) for integer m2m \ge 2.

Solution

We show by induction that for any integer n>1n > 1, f(n)f(n) is uniquely determined by the value of f(1)f(1), f(2)f(2), \dots, f(n1)f(n-1), and n2f(n)n\frac{n}{2} \le f(n) \le n.

For n=2n = 2, f(2)=1f(2) = 1, the claim is true.
Assume that for any kk, 1k<n1 \le k < n (n3n \ge 3), f(k)f(k) is uniquely determined, and k2f(k)k\frac{k}{2} \le f(k) \le k, then 1n12f(n1)n11 \le \frac{n-1}{2} \le f(n-1) \le n-1, and 1nf(n1)n11 \le n - f(n-1) \le n-1, hence by induction hypothesis, the value of f(f(n1))f(f(n-1)) and f(nf(n1))f(n - f(n-1)) is determined, and the value of f(n)f(n), by definition, is
f(n)=f(f(n1))+f(nf(n1)), f(n) = f(f(n-1)) + f(n - f(n-1)),
which is uniquely determined. Furthermore, we have
12f(n1)f(f(n1))f(n1),12(nf(n1))f(nf(n1))nf(n1). \frac{1}{2}f(n-1) \le f(f(n-1)) \le f(n-1), \\ \frac{1}{2}(n - f(n-1)) \le f(n - f(n-1)) \le n - f(n-1).
Equality above implies n2f(n)f(n1)+(nf(n1))=n\frac{n}{2} \le f(n) \le f(n-1) + (n - f(n-1)) = n. The claim is also true for nn. By induction, we proved that there exists a unique function f:NNf: N^* \to N^* satisfying the required properties, and n2f(n)n\frac{n}{2} \le f(n) \le n.

Next, we show by induction that for any positive integer nn, we have
f(n+1)f(n){0,1}. f(n+1) - f(n) \in \{0, 1\}.
When n=1n = 1, this is true.
Assume that it is true for nkn \le k. By the recurrence,
f(k+2)f(k+1)=(f(f(k+1))+f(k+2f(k+1)))(f(f(k))+f(k+1f(k)))=(f(f(k+1))f(f(k)))+(f(k+2f(k+1))f(k+1f(k))). \begin{align*} & f(k + 2) - f(k + 1) \\ &= (f(f(k + 1)) + f(k + 2 - f(k + 1))) - (f(f(k)) + f(k + 1 - f(k))) \\ &= (f(f(k + 1)) - f(f(k))) + (f(k + 2 - f(k + 1)) - f(k + 1 - f(k))). \end{align*}
By induction hypothesis, f(k+1)f(k){0,1}f(k+1) - f(k) \in \{0, 1\}.
If f(k+1)=f(k)+1f(k+1) = f(k)+1, since 1f(k)k1 \le f(k) \le k, it follows,
from above and induction hypothesis, that
f(k+2)f(k+1)=f(f(k)+1)f(f(k)){0,1}. f(k + 2) - f(k + 1) = f(f(k) + 1) - f(f(k)) \in \{0, 1\}.
If f(k+1)=f(k)f(k+1) = f(k), since 1k+1f(k)k1 \le k+1-f(k) \le k, it follows
from above and the induction hypothesis that
f(k+2)f(k+1)=f(k+2f(k))f(k+1f(k)){0,1}. f(k + 2) - f(k + 1) = f(k + 2 - f(k)) - f(k + 1 - f(k)) \in \{0, 1\}.
Thus, the claim is true for n=k+1n = k + 1. By induction, it is true for any positive integer nn.

Finally, we show by induction that for any positive integer mm, we have f(2m)=2m1f(2^m) = 2^{m-1}.
For m=1m=1, the result is clear.
Assume that the result is true for m=km = k, i.e., f(2k)=2k1f(2^k) = 2^{k-1}, consider the case for m=k+1m = k + 1.
Assume on the contrary that f(2k+1)2kf(2^{k+1}) \ne 2^k, since f(2k+1)2kf(2^{k+1}) \ge 2^k, and f(2k+1)f(2^{k+1}) is an integer, we have f(2k+1)2k+1f(2^{k+1}) \ge 2^k + 1. Since f(1)=1f(1) = 1, by the previous claim, let nn be the smallest integer such that f(n)=2k+1f(n) = 2^k + 1, we have n2k+1n \le 2^{k+1}, by the minimality of nn, f(n1)=2kf(n-1) = 2^k. Notice that n2k2kn - 2^k \le 2^k, we have
2k+1=f(n)=f(f(n1))+f(nf(n1))=f(2k)+f(n2k)2f(2k)=2k, 2^k + 1 = f(n) = f(f(n-1)) + f(n - f(n-1)) = f(2^k) + f(n - 2^k) \le 2f(2^k) = 2^k,
which is a contradiction. It follows that f(2k+1)=2kf(2^{k+1}) = 2^k, the result is also true for m=k+1m = k + 1. By induction, f(2m)=2m1f(2^m) = 2^{m-1} for any positive integer mm.

f(2m)=2m1\boxed{f(2^m) = 2^{m-1}} for integer m2m \ge 2.

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 and solution reproduced as published; topic and difficulty added by this site.