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PrintMathematica competitions in Croatia
Croatia algebra
Problem
Prove that for all there exist numbers such that where
Solution
For a given positive integer let denote the set of all possible values that can obtain for different choices of numbers , . For example: Note that, for every both and belong to . Furthermore, one of those two numbers is smaller than 1 and the other is greater than 1. Thus, each consists of even number of numbers. For a given positive integer let and The following statements can easily be proved by induction: Claim 1. , and thus . Claim 2. , , , . Claim 3. . Claim 4. , . Claim 5. , for . Claim 6. , for . Combining Claim 5 and Claim 4 we get: For all integers , we will prove that for all . That is obviously true for . As an induction hypothesis, let us assume that this holds for . We will prove that the claim holds for , i.e. we will prove that for all . From (2) and Claim 2 we know that Therefore, thus the claim holds for . Let us prove that the claim holds for . We have: By induction hypothesis, and from Claim 2 we know that and . Thus, with the last inequality being equivalent to which holds for . Finally, we will prove that for . From Claim 6 we have: where we denoted . For , let , where . Since and we know that and . Therefore, in set with and the following holds: For given , let be an index such that . Since, we conclude that or .
Techniques
Recurrence relationsInduction / smoothing