Maths Olympiad Prep

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Number theory Difficulty 5.0 AIME, harder Prove it United States

Problem:

Let a1=3a_{1}=3 and define an+1=(3an2+1)/2ana_{n+1} = \left(3 a_{n}^{2} + 1\right) / 2 - a_{n} for n1n \geq 1. If nn is a power of 33, prove that ana_{n} is divisible by nn.

Solution

Solution:

The main trick is finding a closed-form expression for ana_{n}, which requires some experimentation. We will show that an=(22n+1+1)/3a_{n} = \left(2^{2^{n}+1} + 1\right) / 3 for all nn by induction. It is easy to check that the formula holds for n=1n=1. And if it holds for some nn, then

an+1=3an2+12an=12(3[22n+1+13]2+1)22n+1+13=12((22n+1)2+2(22n+1)+13+1)22n+1+13=12(22n+1+2+2(22n+1)+43)22n+1+13=22n+1+1+22n+1+2322n+1+13=22n+1+1+13, \begin{aligned} a_{n+1} & = \frac{3 a_{n}^{2} + 1}{2} - a_{n} \\ & = \frac{1}{2}\left(3\left[\frac{2^{2^{n}+1} + 1}{3}\right]^{2} + 1\right) - \frac{2^{2^{n}+1} + 1}{3} \\ & = \frac{1}{2}\left(\frac{\left(2^{2^{n}+1}\right)^{2} + 2\left(2^{2^{n}+1}\right) + 1}{3} + 1\right) - \frac{2^{2^{n}+1} + 1}{3} \\ & = \frac{1}{2}\left(\frac{2^{2^{n+1}+2} + 2\left(2^{2^{n}+1}\right) + 4}{3}\right) - \frac{2^{2^{n}+1} + 1}{3} \\ & = \frac{2^{2^{n+1}+1} + 2^{2^{n}+1} + 2}{3} - \frac{2^{2^{n}+1} + 1}{3} \\ & = \frac{2^{2^{n+1}+1} + 1}{3}, \end{aligned}

giving the induction step.

Now, by Euler's theorem, 3k3^{k} divides 223k112^{2 \cdot 3^{k-1}} - 1, for any nonnegative integer kk, since ϕ(3k)\phi\left(3^{k}\right) (i.e. the number of integers in {1,2,,3k}\{1,2, \ldots, 3^{k}\} relatively prime to 3k3^{k}) equals 23k12 \cdot 3^{k-1}. But notice that 223k11=(23k11)(23k1+1)2^{2 \cdot 3^{k-1}} - 1 = \left(2^{3^{k-1}} - 1\right)\left(2^{3^{k-1}} + 1\right), and 3k13^{k-1} is odd 23k12(mod3)23k11\Rightarrow 2^{3^{k-1}} \equiv 2 \pmod{3} \Rightarrow 2^{3^{k-1}} - 1 is relatively prime to 3k3^{k}, so, in fact, 3k3^{k} divides 23k1+12^{3^{k-1}} + 1. Also, for any integers c,dc, d with dd odd, 2c+12cd+12^{c} + 1 \mid 2^{c d} + 1. We conclude that 3k2a+13^{k} \mid 2^{a} + 1 whenever 3k1a3^{k-1} \mid a and aa is odd.

Applying this result twice in succession, we find that 3k23k+13^{k} \mid 2^{3^{k}} + 1 and then that 3k+1223k+1+13^{k+1} \mid 2^{2^{3^{k}} + 1} + 1, so that 3k(223k+1+1)/3=a3k3^{k} \mid \left(2^{2^{3^{k}} + 1} + 1\right) / 3 = a_{3^{k}} for any integer k0k \geq 0, and this is what we wanted to prove.

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