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Number theory Difficulty 6.3 National olympiad Find the answer

Determine the natural numbers that cannot be written as n+n+12\lfloor n + \sqrt{n} + \frac{1}{2} \rfloor for any nNn \in \mathbb{N}.

Solution

To determine the natural numbers that cannot be written as n+n+12\lfloor n + \sqrt{n} + \frac{1}{2} \rfloor for any nNn \in \mathbb{N}, we will analyze the function f(n)=n+n+12f(n) = n + \sqrt{n} + \frac{1}{2} and its properties.

1. Define the function and its floor value:
f(n)=n+n+12 f(n) = n + \sqrt{n} + \frac{1}{2}
We are interested in the floor value:
f(n)=n+n+12 \lfloor f(n) \rfloor = \lfloor n + \sqrt{n} + \frac{1}{2} \rfloor

2. Consider the function at consecutive integers:
f(n)=n+n+12 f(n) = n + \sqrt{n} + \frac{1}{2}
f(n+1)=(n+1)+n+1+12 f(n+1) = (n+1) + \sqrt{n+1} + \frac{1}{2}

3. **Calculate the difference between f(n+1)f(n+1) and f(n)f(n):**
f(n+1)f(n)=(n+1+n+1+12)(n+n+12) f(n+1) - f(n) = (n+1 + \sqrt{n+1} + \frac{1}{2}) - (n + \sqrt{n} + \frac{1}{2})
f(n+1)f(n)=1+n+1n f(n+1) - f(n) = 1 + \sqrt{n+1} - \sqrt{n}

4. Analyze the range of the difference:
Since n+1n\sqrt{n+1} - \sqrt{n} is always less than 1 for all nNn \in \mathbb{N}:
1<f(n+1)f(n)<2 1 < f(n+1) - f(n) < 2

5. Determine the conditions for skipping a number:
For a natural number kk to be skipped, it must lie between f(n)\lfloor f(n) \rfloor and f(n+1)\lfloor f(n+1) \rfloor without being equal to either. This happens if:
f(n)+1=f(n+1) \lfloor f(n) \rfloor + 1 = \lfloor f(n+1) \rfloor
This implies:
n+n+12+1=n+1+n+1+12 \lfloor n + \sqrt{n} + \frac{1}{2} \rfloor + 1 = \lfloor n+1 + \sqrt{n+1} + \frac{1}{2} \rfloor

6. Identify the skipped numbers:
The skipped numbers occur when:
{n}<12and{n+1}>12 \{\sqrt{n}\} < \frac{1}{2} \quad \text{and} \quad \{\sqrt{n+1}\} > \frac{1}{2}
This is true when n=k2+kn = k^2 + k for some integer kk.

7. Verify the skipped numbers:
For n=k2+kn = k^2 + k:
f(k2+k)=k2+k+k2+k+12 f(k^2 + k) = k^2 + k + \sqrt{k^2 + k} + \frac{1}{2}
f(k2+k+1)=k2+k+1+k2+k+1+12 f(k^2 + k + 1) = k^2 + k + 1 + \sqrt{k^2 + k + 1} + \frac{1}{2}
The difference:
f(k2+k+1)f(k2+k)=1+k2+k+1k2+k f(k^2 + k + 1) - f(k^2 + k) = 1 + \sqrt{k^2 + k + 1} - \sqrt{k^2 + k}
Since k2+k+1k2+k<1\sqrt{k^2 + k + 1} - \sqrt{k^2 + k} < 1, the floor values differ by 2:
f(k2+k+1)f(k2+k)=2 \lfloor f(k^2 + k + 1) \rfloor - \lfloor f(k^2 + k) \rfloor = 2
The skipped number is:
f(k2+k)+1=(k+1)2 \lfloor f(k^2 + k) \rfloor + 1 = (k+1)^2

8. Conclusion:
All and only perfect squares are skipped.

The final answer is all perfect squares.

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Source: NuminaMath-1.5, licensed Apache-2.0. Statement and solution reproduced as published; topic and difficulty added by this site.