IMO 1991 · Problem 6

An infinite sequence \(x_0,x_1,x_2,\ldots\) of real numbers is said to be bounded if there is a constant \(C\) such that \(|x_i|\le C\) for every \(i\ge0\).

Given any real number \(a>1\), construct a bounded infinite sequence \(x_0,x_1,x_2,\ldots\) such that \[ |x_i-x_j||i-j|^a\ge1 \] for every pair of distinct nonnegative integers \(i,j\).

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

Solution

For every nonnegative integer \(n\), define \[ x_n=4\bigl(n\sqrt2-\lfloor n\sqrt2\rfloor\bigr), \] where \(\lfloor t\rfloor\) denotes the greatest integer not exceeding \(t\). Since \[ 0\le n\sqrt2-\lfloor n\sqrt2\rfloor<1, \] the sequence is bounded by \(4\).

Take any distinct nonnegative integers \(i,j\). By symmetry, assume \(i>j\), and put \[ d=i-j\ge1,\qquad m=\lfloor i\sqrt2\rfloor-\lfloor j\sqrt2\rfloor. \] Then \(m\) is a nonnegative integer and \[ x_i-x_j=4(d\sqrt2-m). \] The floor inequalities give \[ m<i\sqrt2-(j\sqrt2-1)=d\sqrt2+1. \] Consequently, \[ 0<d\sqrt2+m <2d\sqrt2+1 \le(2\sqrt2+1)d <4d. \]

Because \(\sqrt2\) is irrational and \(d>0\), the integer \(2d^2-m^2\) is nonzero. Thus its absolute value is at least \(1\), and \[ |d\sqrt2-m| =\frac{|2d^2-m^2|}{d\sqrt2+m} \ge\frac1{d\sqrt2+m} >\frac1{4d}. \] It follows that \[ |x_i-x_j||i-j|^a =4|d\sqrt2-m|d^a >d^{a-1} \ge1, \] where the last inequality uses \(d\ge1\) and \(a>1\). This proves that the constructed sequence satisfies every requirement.

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