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Problem 1882

National Olympiad second round; IMO P1/P4
Algebra Difficulty 7.0 Prove it BMO Round 2 · United Kingdom · 2026

Let NN be a positive integer and let (kn)n1(k_n)_{n \geq 1} be a sequence of positive integers with all terms at most NN. Annabel begins by choosing integers x1,x2,,xNx_1, x_2, \ldots, x_N. She then extends this to an infinite sequence (xn)n1(x_n)_{n \geq 1} of integers by defining
xn=i=nknn1xix_n = \sum_{i=n-k_n}^{n-1} x_i
for each n>Nn > N.
Show that there are either finitely many strictly positive terms or finitely many strictly negative terms in the infinite sequence (xn)(x_n).

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