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Algebra Difficulty 6.0 National olympiad Prove it

Given the equation x2x1=0x^{2}-x-1=0 with roots x1x_{1} and x2x_{2}, let an=x1nx2nx1x2(nZ+)a_{n}=\frac{x_{1}^{n}-x_{2}^{n}}{x_{1}-x_{2}}\left(n \in \mathbf{Z}_{+}\right). Prove:
(1) For any positive integer nn, we have
an+2=an+1+an a_{n+2}=a_{n+1}+a_{n} \text {; }
(2) For any positive integer m(m2)m(m \geqslant 2), there exists

a positive integer kk such that
ak42ak3(modm) a_{k}^{4}-2 a_{k} \equiv 3(\bmod m) \text {. }

Solution

(1) Note that for the roots xix_{i} (i=1,2)(i=1,2) of the known equation, we have xi2=xi+1x_{i}^{2}=x_{i}+1. Therefore,
an+1+an=x1n+1x2n+1x1x2+x1nx2nx1x2=x1n(x1+1)x2n(x2+1)x1x2=x1n+2x2n+2x1x2=an+2. \begin{array}{l} a_{n+1}+a_{n}=\frac{x_{1}^{n+1}-x_{2}^{n+1}}{x_{1}-x_{2}}+\frac{x_{1}^{n}-x_{2}^{n}}{x_{1}-x_{2}} \\ =\frac{x_{1}^{n}\left(x_{1}+1\right)-x_{2}^{n}\left(x_{2}+1\right)}{x_{1}-x_{2}} \\ =\frac{x_{1}^{n+2}-x_{2}^{n+2}}{x_{1}-x_{2}} \\ =a_{n+2} . \end{array}
(2) Let aibi(modm)(0bim1)a_{i} \equiv b_{i}(\bmod m)\left(0 \leqslant b_{i} \leqslant m-1\right).

Then, from ai=ai1+ai2a_{i}=a_{i-1}+a_{i-2}, we get
bibi1+bi2(modm) b_{i} \equiv b_{i-1}+b_{i-2}(\bmod m) \text {. }

Therefore, the pair (bi,bi+1)\left(b_{i}, b_{i+1}\right) determines the preceding and succeeding terms, and it is not (0,0)(0,0) (because if (bi,bi+1)=(0,0)\left(b_{i}, b_{i+1}\right)=(0,0), then by the recurrence formula, the entire sequence modulo mm would be 0, which contradicts a1=a2=1a_{1}=a_{2}=1).
Hence, the possible values of (bi,bi+1)\left(b_{i}, b_{i+1}\right) are m21m^{2}-1.
For m2m^{2} pairs (bi,bi+1)\left(b_{i}, b_{i+1}\right), by the pigeonhole principle, there must exist i,j(1i<jm2)i, j\left(1 \leqslant i<j \leqslant m^{2}\right), such that
(bi,bi+1)=(bj,bj+1) \left(b_{i}, b_{i+1}\right)=\left(b_{j}, b_{j+1}\right) \text {. }

Thus, bi=bj,bi+1=bj+1b_{i}=b_{j}, b_{i+1}=b_{j+1}.
Let p=jip=j-i. Then bk+p=bkb_{k+p}=b_{k}.
Therefore, ak+pak(modm)a_{k+p} \equiv a_{k}(\bmod m).
Hence, the sequence {an}\left\{a_{n}\right\} is a periodic sequence modulo mm with period pp.
Since a1a21(modm)a_{1} \equiv a_{2} \equiv 1(\bmod m), we have
ap+1ap+21(modm) a_{p+1} \equiv a_{p+2} \equiv 1(\bmod m) \text {. }

By the recurrence formula, we get
ap0(modm),ap11(modm),ap21(modm). \begin{array}{l} a_{p} \equiv 0(\bmod m), a_{p-1} \equiv 1(\bmod m), \\ a_{p-2} \equiv-1(\bmod m) . \end{array}

By periodicity, we have
aip21(modm)(tZ+,tp21) a_{i p-2} \equiv-1(\bmod m)\left(t \in \mathbf{Z}_{+}, t p-2 \geqslant 1\right) \text {. }

Let k=tp2k=t p-2, then
ak42ak3(modm) a_{k}^{4}-2 a_{k} \equiv 3(\bmod m) \text {. }

Therefore, for any positive integer mm, there must exist a positive integer kk such that
ak42ak3(modm). a_{k}^{4}-2 a_{k} \equiv 3(\bmod m) .
(Zhang Jialiang, Northwest Normal University High School, 730070)

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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.