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Algebra Difficulty 5.3 AIME, harder Find the answer

Define a sequence ai,ja_{i, j} of integers such that a1,n=nna_{1, n}=n^{n} for n1n \geq 1 and ai,j=ai1,j+ai1,j+1a_{i, j}=a_{i-1, j}+a_{i-1, j+1} for all i,j1i, j \geq 1. Find the last (decimal) digit of a128,1a_{128,1}.

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

Solution

By applying the recursion multiple times, we find that a1,1=1,a2,n=nn+(n+1)n+1a_{1,1}=1, a_{2, n}=n^{n}+(n+1)^{n+1}, and a3,n=nn+2(n+1)n+1+(n+2)n+2a_{3, n}=n^{n}+2(n+1)^{n+1}+(n+2)^{n+2}. At this point, we can conjecture and prove by induction that am,n=k=0m1(m1k)(n+k)n+k=k0(m1k)(n+k)n+ka_{m, n}=\sum_{k=0}^{m-1}\binom{m-1}{k}(n+k)^{n+k}=\sum_{k \geq 0}\binom{m-1}{k}(n+k)^{n+k}. (The second expression is convenient for dealing with boundary cases. The induction relies on (m0)=(m10)\binom{m}{0}=\binom{m-1}{0} on the k=0k=0 boundary, as well as (mk)=(m1k)+(m1k1)\binom{m}{k}=\binom{m-1}{k}+\binom{m-1}{k-1} for k1k \geq 1.) We fix m=128m=128. Note that (127k)1(mod2)\binom{127}{k} \equiv 1(\bmod 2) for all 1k1271 \leq k \leq 127 and (127k)0(mod5)\binom{127}{k} \equiv 0(\bmod 5) for 3k1243 \leq k \leq 124, by Lucas' theorem on binomial coefficients. Therefore, we find that a128,1=k=0127(127k)(k+1)k+1k=0127(k+1)k+10(mod2)a_{128,1}=\sum_{k=0}^{127}\binom{127}{k}(k+1)^{k+1} \equiv \sum_{k=0}^{127}(k+1)^{k+1} \equiv 0 \quad(\bmod 2) and a128,1k[0,2][125,127](127k)(k+1)k+14(mod5)a_{128,1} \equiv \sum_{k \in[0,2] \cup[125,127]}\binom{127}{k}(k+1)^{k+1} \equiv 4 \quad(\bmod 5). Therefore, a128,14(mod10)a_{128,1} \equiv 4(\bmod 10).

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