Number theoryDifficulty 5.0AIME, harderFind the answer
Let a1,a2,a3,… be a sequence of positive integers where a1=∑i=0100i! and ai+ai+1 is an odd perfect square for all i≥1. Compute the smallest possible value of a1000.
A number or a short expression. Fractions can be typed as 3/2, and spacing doesn't matter.
Solution
Note that a1≡1+1+2+6≡2(mod8). Since a1+a2 must be an odd perfect square, we must have a1+a2≡1(mod8)⟹a2≡7(mod8). Similarly, since a2+a3 is an odd perfect square, we must have a3≡2(mod8). We can continue this to get a2k−1≡2(mod8) and a2k≡7(mod8), so in particular, we have a1000≡7(mod8), so a1000≥7. Now, note that we can find some large enough odd perfect square t2 such that t2−a1≥23. Let a2=t2−a1. Since a2≡7(mod8), we can let a2−7=8k for some integer k≥2. Now, since we have (2k+1)2−(2k−1)2=8k, if we let a3=(2k−1)2−7, then a2+a3=a2+((2k−1)2−7)=(2k−1)2+(a2−7)=(2k−1)2+8k=(2k+1)2 which is an odd perfect square. Now, we can let a4=7 and we will get a3+a4=(2k−1)2. From here, we can let 2=a5=a7=a9=⋯ and 7=a4=a6=a8=⋯, which tells us that the least possible value for a1000 is 7.
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