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Algebra Difficulty 5.6 AIME, harder Find the answer

Compute a1=0a2=0a7=0a1+a2++a73a1+a2++a7 \sum_{a_{1}=0}^{\infty} \sum_{a_{2}=0}^{\infty} \cdots \sum_{a_{7}=0}^{\infty} \frac{a_{1}+a_{2}+\cdots+a_{7}}{3^{a_{1}+a_{2}+\cdots+a_{7}}}

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

Solution

Note that, since this is symmetric in a1a_{1} through a7a_{7}, a1=0a2=0a7=0a1+a2++a73a1+a2++a7=7a1=0a2=0a7=0a13a1+a2++a7=7(a1=0a13a1)(a=013a)6 \sum_{a_{1}=0}^{\infty} \sum_{a_{2}=0}^{\infty} \cdots \sum_{a_{7}=0}^{\infty} \frac{a_{1}+a_{2}+\cdots+a_{7}}{3^{a_{1}+a_{2}+\cdots+a_{7}}} =7 \sum_{a_{1}=0}^{\infty} \sum_{a_{2}=0}^{\infty} \cdots \sum_{a_{7}=0}^{\infty} \frac{a_{1}}{3^{a_{1}+a_{2}+\cdots+a_{7}}} =7\left(\sum_{a_{1}=0}^{\infty} \frac{a_{1}}{3^{a_{1}}}\right)\left(\sum_{a=0}^{\infty} \frac{1}{3^{a}}\right)^{6} If S=a3aS=\sum \frac{a}{3^{a}}, then 3SS=13a=3/23 S-S=\sum \frac{1}{3^{a}}=3 / 2, so S=3/4S=3 / 4. It follows that the answer equals 734(32)6=153092567 \cdot \frac{3}{4} \cdot\left(\frac{3}{2}\right)^{6}=\frac{15309}{256}. Alternatively, let f(z)=a1=0a2=0a7=0za1+a2++a7f(z)=\sum_{a_{1}=0}^{\infty} \sum_{a_{2}=0}^{\infty} \cdots \sum_{a_{7}=0}^{\infty} z^{a_{1}+a_{2}+\cdots+a_{7}}. Note that we can rewrite f(z)=(a=0za)7=1(1z)7f(z)=\left(\sum_{a=0}^{\infty} z^{a}\right)^{7}=\frac{1}{(1-z)^{7}}. Furthermore, note that zf(z)=a1=0a2=0a7=0(a1+a2++a7)za1+a2++a7z f^{\prime}(z)=\sum_{a_{1}=0}^{\infty} \sum_{a_{2}=0}^{\infty} \cdots \sum_{a_{7}=0}^{\infty}\left(a_{1}+a_{2}+\cdots+\right. \left.a_{7}\right) z^{a_{1}+a_{2}+\cdots+a_{7}}, so the sum in question is simply f(1/3)3\frac{f^{\prime}(1 / 3)}{3}. Since f(x)=7(1z)8f^{\prime}(x)=\frac{7}{(1-z)^{8}}, it follows that the sum is equal to 73728=15309256\frac{7 \cdot 3^{7}}{2^{8}}=\frac{15309}{256}.

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