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Algebra Difficulty 6.8 National olympiad Find the answer

For a real number rr, set r=min{rn:nZ}\|r\|=\min \{|r-n|: n \in \mathbb{Z}\}, where |\cdot| means the absolute value of a real number. 1. Is there a nonzero real number ss, such that limn(2+1)ns=0\lim _{n \rightarrow \infty}\left\|(\sqrt{2}+1)^{n} s\right\|=0 ? 2. Is there a nonzero real number ss, such that limn(2+3)ns=0\lim _{n \rightarrow \infty}\left\|(\sqrt{2}+3)^{n} s\right\|=0 ?

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

Solution

1. Yes. We prove that s=1s=1 has the property. Denote (2+1)n=xn+2yn(\sqrt{2}+1)^{n}=x_{n}+\sqrt{2} y_{n}, where xn,ynZx_{n}, y_{n} \in \mathbb{Z}. Then (2+1)n=xn2yn(-\sqrt{2}+1)^{n}=x_{n}-\sqrt{2} y_{n} and xn22yn2=(1)nx_{n}^{2}-2 y_{n}^{2}=(-1)^{n}. It follows that xn+\mid x_{n}+ 2yn2xn=2ynxn=2yn2xn22yn+xn0\sqrt{2} y_{n}-2 x_{n}|=| \sqrt{2} y_{n}-x_{n} \left\lvert\,=\frac{\left|2 y_{n}^{2}-x_{n}^{2}\right|}{\sqrt{2} y_{n}+x_{n}} \rightarrow 0\right.. 2. No. We prove this by contradiction. Assume that there is some real number s0s \neq 0 such that (2+3)ns=mn+ϵn(\sqrt{2}+3)^{n} s=m_{n}+\epsilon_{n}, where limnϵn=0\lim _{n \rightarrow \infty} \epsilon_{n}=0. Denote α=2+3,αˉ=2+3\alpha=\sqrt{2}+3, \bar{\alpha}=-\sqrt{2}+3. Consider the power series: s1αx=n=0mnxn+n=0ϵnxn \frac{s}{1-\alpha x}=\sum_{n=0}^{\infty} m_{n} x^{n}+\sum_{n=0}^{\infty} \epsilon_{n} x^{n} Since (1αx)(1αˉx)=16x+7x2(1-\alpha x)(1-\bar{\alpha} x)=1-6 x+7 x^{2}, multiplying both sides of the above equation by 16x+7x21-6 x+7 x^{2} we get s(1αˉx)=(16x+7x2)n=0mnxn+(16x+7x2)n=0ϵnxn \begin{equation*} s(1-\bar{\alpha} x)=\left(1-6 x+7 x^{2}\right) \sum_{n=0}^{\infty} m_{n} x^{n}+\left(1-6 x+7 x^{2}\right) \sum_{n=0}^{\infty} \epsilon_{n} x^{n} \tag{9} \end{equation*} Denote (16x+7x2)n=0mnxn=n=0pnxn,(16x+7x2)n=0ϵnxn=n=0ηnxn\left(1-6 x+7 x^{2}\right) \sum_{n=0}^{\infty} m_{n} x^{n}=\sum_{n=0}^{\infty} p_{n} x^{n},\left(1-6 x+7 x^{2}\right) \sum_{n=0}^{\infty} \epsilon_{n} x^{n}=\sum_{n=0}^{\infty} \eta_{n} x^{n}, where pnZp_{n} \in \mathbb{Z}, limnηn=0\lim _{n \rightarrow \infty} \eta_{n}=0. Because the left hand side of (9) is a polynomial of degree 1it holds that pn+ηn=0,n2p_{n}+\eta_{n}=0, n \geq 2. Since limnηn=0\lim _{n \rightarrow \infty} \eta_{n}=0, we get pn=ηn=0p_{n}=\eta_{n}=0 when nn is large enough. As a consequnce, (16x+7x2)n=0mnxn\left(1-6 x+7 x^{2}\right) \sum_{n=0}^{\infty} m_{n} x^{n} and (16x+7x2)n=0ϵnxn\left(1-6 x+7 x^{2}\right) \sum_{n=0}^{\infty} \epsilon_{n} x^{n} are polynomials. So we have n=0ϵnxn=G(x)16x+7x2 \sum_{n=0}^{\infty} \epsilon_{n} x^{n}=\frac{G(x)}{1-6 x+7 x^{2}} Write the right hand side as H(x)+A1αˉx+B1αxH(x)+\frac{A}{1-\bar{\alpha} x}+\frac{B}{1-\alpha x}, where H(x)H(x) is a polynomial and A,BA, B are constants. Since limnϵn=0\lim _{n \rightarrow \infty} \epsilon_{n}=0, the radius of convergence of the power series in the left hand side is at least 1. While α\alpha and αˉ\bar{\alpha} are larger than 1A1 A and BB must be zero. Hence ϵn=0\epsilon_{n}=0 for large nn. It follows that (2+3)ns=mnZ(\sqrt{2}+3)^{n} s=m_{n} \in \mathbb{Z} for large nn. It's a contradiction!

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