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HMMT February

Algebra Difficulty 4.7 AIME Find the answer

Let z=1−2iz=1-2 i. Find 1z+2z2+3z3+⋯\frac{1}{z}+\frac{2}{z^{2}}+\frac{3}{z^{3}}+\cdots.

A number or a short expression. Fractions can be typed as 3/2, and spacing doesn't matter.

Solution

Let x=1z+2z2+3z3+⋯x=\frac{1}{z}+\frac{2}{z^{2}}+\frac{3}{z^{3}}+\cdots, so z⋅x=(1+2z+3z2+4z3+⋯ )z \cdot x=\left(1+\frac{2}{z}+\frac{3}{z^{2}}+\frac{4}{z^{3}}+\cdots\right). Then z⋅x−x=z \cdot x-x= 1+1z+1z2+1z3+⋯=11−1/z=zz−11+\frac{1}{z}+\frac{1}{z^{2}}+\frac{1}{z^{3}}+\cdots=\frac{1}{1-1 / z}=\frac{z}{z-1}. Solving for xx in terms of zz, we obtain x=z(z−1)2x=\frac{z}{(z-1)^{2}}. Plugging in the original value of zz produces x=(2i−1)/4x=(2 i-1) / 4.

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