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Algebra Difficulty 7.9 National olympiad, round 2 Find the answer

Let F(0)=0,F(1)=32F(0)=0, F(1)=\frac{3}{2}, and F(n)=52F(n1)F(n2)F(n)=\frac{5}{2} F(n-1)-F(n-2) for n2n \geq 2. Determine whether or not n=01F(2n)\sum_{n=0}^{\infty} \frac{1}{F\left(2^{n}\right)} is a rational number.

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

Solution

The characteristic equation of our linear recurrence is x252x+1=0x^{2}-\frac{5}{2} x+1=0, with roots x1=2x_{1}=2 and x2=12x_{2}=\frac{1}{2}. So F(n)=a2n+b(12)nF(n)=a \cdot 2^{n}+b \cdot\left(\frac{1}{2}\right)^{n} with some constants a,ba, b. By F(0)=0F(0)=0 and F(1)=32F(1)=\frac{3}{2}, these constants satisfy a+b=0a+b=0 and 2a+b2=322 a+\frac{b}{2}=\frac{3}{2}. So a=1a=1 and b=1b=-1, and therefore F(n)=2n2nF(n)=2^{n}-2^{-n} Observe that 1F(2n)=22n(22n)21=122n11(22n)21=122n1122n+11\frac{1}{F\left(2^{n}\right)}=\frac{2^{2^{n}}}{\left(2^{2^{n}}\right)^{2}-1}=\frac{1}{2^{2^{n}}-1}-\frac{1}{\left(2^{2^{n}}\right)^{2}-1}=\frac{1}{2^{2^{n}}-1}-\frac{1}{2^{2^{n+1}}-1} so n=01F(2n)=n=0(122n1122n+11)=12201=1\sum_{n=0}^{\infty} \frac{1}{F\left(2^{n}\right)}=\sum_{n=0}^{\infty}\left(\frac{1}{2^{2^{n}}-1}-\frac{1}{2^{2^{n+1}}-1}\right)=\frac{1}{2^{2^{0}}-1}=1 Hence the sum takes the value 1, which is rational.

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