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XV OBM

Brazil algebra

Problem

The sequence is defined by , , . Find all terms which are perfect squares.
Solution
We have , where , and .

and are even, so all are even.

and are odd, so is even for multiple of .

We need both and even for to be a perfect square.

So the answer is all multiple of .
Final answer
All terms with indices divisible by 3 (a3, a6, a9, ...).

Techniques

Recurrence relationsFactorization techniques