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Algebra Difficulty 5.1 AIME, harder Find the answer

Example 2 Given the sequence {xn}\left\{x_{n}\right\} satisfies x0=0,xn+1=x_{0}=0, x_{n+1}= xn+a+b2+4axn,n=0,1,2,x_{n}+a+\sqrt{b^{2}+4 a x_{n}}, n=0,1,2, \cdots, where aa and bb are given positive real numbers. Find the general term of this sequence.

A number or a short expression. Spacing and $ signs are ignored.

Solution

Solution: Let yn=b2+4axny_{n}=\sqrt{b^{2}+4 a x_{n}}, then
y0=b,xn=yn2b24a y_{0}=b, x_{n}=\frac{y_{n}^{2}-b^{2}}{4 a} \text {. }

Thus, we have yn+12=(yn+2a)2y_{n+1}^{2}=\left(y_{n}+2 a\right)^{2}.
Since yn>0y_{n}>0, then yn+1yn=2ay_{n+1}-y_{n}=2 a, hence {yn}\left\{y_{n}\right\} is an arithmetic sequence with a common difference of 2a2 a.
From this, we deduce yn+1=y0+2an=2an+by_{n+1}=y_{0}+2 a n=2 a n+b, so
xn=yn2b24a=an2+bn x_{n}=\frac{y_{n}^{2}-b^{2}}{4 a}=a n^{2}+b n \text {. }

Comment: This problem transforms the original irrational recurrence relation into a familiar arithmetic sequence by expressing xnx_{n} in terms of yny_{n} through a substitution. If the terms inside and outside the square root are both linear in xnx_{n}, when the coefficients change, a similar substitution can transform it into the form yn+1=pyn+qy_{n+1}=p y_{n}+q, first solving for yny_{n}, then for xnx_{n}.

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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.