IMO 1970 · Problem 3

The real numbers \(a_0,a_1,\ldots,a_n,\ldots\) satisfy the condition: \[ 1=a_0\le a_1\le a_2\le\cdots\le a_n\le\cdots. \] The numbers \(b_1,b_2,\ldots,b_n,\ldots\) are defined by \[ b_n=\sum_{k=1}^{n}\left(1-\frac{a_{k-1}}{a_k}\right)\frac{1}{\sqrt{a_k}}. \] (a) Prove that \(0\le b_n<2\) for all \(n\).

(b) Given \(c\) with \(0\le c<2\), prove that there exist numbers \(a_0,a_1,\ldots\) with the above properties such that \(b_n>c\) for large enough \(n\).

Official text of the problem. Official problem paper (PDF)

Solution

(a) Put \(x_k=1/\sqrt{a_k}\). Then \[ 1=x_0\ge x_1\ge x_2\ge\cdots>0. \] For every \(k\ge1\), we have \[ \begin{aligned} \left(1-\frac{a_{k-1}}{a_k}\right)\frac1{\sqrt{a_k}} &=x_k\left(1-\frac{x_k^2}{x_{k-1}^2}\right)\\ &=(x_{k-1}-x_k)\frac{x_k}{x_{k-1}} \left(1+\frac{x_k}{x_{k-1}}\right). \end{aligned} \] Since \(0<x_k/x_{k-1}\le1\), this expression is nonnegative and at most \(2(x_{k-1}-x_k)\). Summing gives \[ 0\le b_n\le2\sum_{k=1}^{n}(x_{k-1}-x_k) =2(1-x_n)<2, \] where the strict inequality follows from \(x_n>0\). This also covers any equal consecutive terms of the sequence.

(b) Fix \(0\le c<2\), and set \[ r=\frac{c+1}{3}. \] Then \(0<r<1\), and \[ r(1+r)-c=\frac{(2-c)^2}{9}>0. \] Define \[ a_k=r^{-2k}\qquad(k=0,1,2,\ldots). \] Thus \(a_0=1\) and \(a_{k+1}>a_k\), so the required conditions hold. Moreover, \[ \frac{a_{k-1}}{a_k}=r^2, \qquad \frac1{\sqrt{a_k}}=r^k. \] Consequently, the finite geometric sum yields \[ b_n=(1-r^2)\sum_{k=1}^{n}r^k =r(1+r)(1-r^n). \] As \(0<r<1\), we have \(r^n\to0\), and hence \[ b_n\longrightarrow r(1+r)>c. \] Therefore \(b_n>c\) for all sufficiently large \(n\), as required.

The solution was checked against John Scholes' IMO solution archive (Kalva).