Olympiad Maths Prep

Track / Stage 6 / 70 of 400 #1070 of 2000

Problem 1070

National olympiad, first round
Number theory Difficulty 6.1 Prove it

Where F1=F2=1F_{1}=F_{2}=1, and for n1n \geqslant 1, we have
Fn+2=Fn+1+Fn. F_{n+2}=F_{n+1}+F_{n} .

This one wants a proof. Work it on paper, read the official solution, then mark yourself honestly — the ladder only means something if the record is true.

Official solution

[Proof] Let f(x)=11+xf(x)=\frac{1}{1+x}. Clearly, for 0x<y0 \leqslant x<y we have
0<f(x)f(y)=yx(1+x)(1+y)<yx. 0<f(x)-f(y)=\frac{y-x}{(1+x)(1+y)}<y-x .

From this, it is easy to prove that for any natural number nn, when x0x \geqslant 0,
gn(x)=x+f(x)+f(f(x))++f(n)(x) is strictly increasing,  g_{n}(x)=x+f(x)+f(f(x))+\cdots+f^{(n)}(x) \text { is strictly increasing, }

where f(n)(x)=f(f(f(x)))f^{(n)}(x)=f(f(\cdots f(x) \cdots)) is the nn-fold composition of the function ff with itself.
We prove the desired conclusion by induction. When n=1n=1, it is clear that x1<F1F2=1\quad x_{1}<\frac{F_{1}}{F_{2}}=1.
Assume that the conclusion holds for 1nk11 \leqslant n \leqslant k-1. Without loss of generality, assume that x1,x2,,xkx_{1}, x_{2}, \cdots, x_{k} are all non-zero, otherwise by the recursive relation of {xn}\left\{x_{n}\right\}, we have xk=0x_{k}=0, and the desired conclusion follows from the induction hypothesis. Thus, 0<xi<1,i=1,2,,k0<x_{i}<1, i=1,2, \cdots, k, and for i=2,3,,ki=2,3, \cdots, k we have
xi1=1[1xi1]+xi11+xi=f(xi) x_{i-1}=\frac{1}{\left[\frac{1}{x_{i-1}}\right]+x_{i}} \leqslant \frac{1}{1+x_{i}}=f\left(x_{i}\right)

Let y1=xk,y2=xk1,,yk=x1y_{1}=x_{k}, y_{2}=x_{k-1}, \cdots, y_{k}=x_{1}, then from (2) we get
0<y1<1,yif(yi1),i=2,3,,k. 0<y_{1}<1, y_{i} \leqslant f\left(y_{i-1}\right), i=2,3, \cdots, k .

Since f(x)f(x) is decreasing for x0x \geqslant 0, from (3) we have
x1+x2++xk=y1+y2++yky1+y2++yk1+f(yk1). \begin{aligned} x_{1}+x_{2}+\cdots+x_{k} & =y_{1}+y_{2}+\cdots+y_{k} \\ & \leqslant y_{1}+y_{2}+\cdots+y_{k-1}+f\left(y_{k-1}\right) . \end{aligned}
, and by (1) and (3) we get
x1+x2++xky1+y2++yk2+f(yk2)+f(f(yk2)). x_{1}+x_{2}+\cdots+x_{k} \leqslant y_{1}+y_{2}+\cdots+y_{k-2}+f\left(y_{k-2}\right)+f\left(f\left(y_{k-2}\right)\right) .

Repeating the use of (1) and (3) we get
x1+x2++xky1+f(y1)++f(k1)(y1) x_{1}+x_{2}+\cdots+x_{k} \leqslant y_{1}+f\left(y_{1}\right)+\cdots+f^{(k-1)}\left(y_{1}\right) \text {. }

Since 0<y1<10<y_{1}<1, by (1) we get
x1+x2++xk<1+f(1)++f(k1)(1) x_{1}+x_{2}+\cdots+x_{k}<1+f(1)+\cdots+f^{(k-1)}(1) \text {. }

Since F1F2=1\frac{F_{1}}{F_{2}}=1, and for i1i \geqslant 1 we have
f(FiFi+1)=Fi+1Fi+Fi+1=Fi+1Fi+2, f\left(\frac{F_{i}}{F_{i+1}}\right)=\frac{F_{i+1}}{F_{i}+F_{i+1}}=\frac{F_{i+1}}{F_{i+2}},

thus
1+f(1)++f(k1)(1)=F1F2+F2F3++FkFk+1. 1+f(1)+\cdots+f^{(k-1)}(1)=\frac{F_{1}}{F_{2}}+\frac{F_{2}}{F_{3}}+\cdots+\frac{F_{k}}{F_{k+1}} .

Therefore,
x1+x2++xk<F1F2+F2F3++FkFk+1, x_{1}+x_{2}+\cdots+x_{k}<\frac{F_{1}}{F_{2}}+\frac{F_{2}}{F_{3}}+\cdots+\frac{F_{k}}{F_{k+1}},

which means that the desired conclusion also holds when n=kn=k, completing the induction proof.

Source: NuminaMath-1.5, licensed Apache-2.0. Statement and solution reproduced as published; topic, difficulty and ordering added by this site.