Problem

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Tags: Comc



Initially, the integer $80$ is written on a blackboard. At each step, the integer $x$ on the blackboard is replaced with an integer chosen uniformly at random among [0,x−1], unless $x=0$ , in which case it is replaced by an integer chosen uniformly at random among [0,2024]. Let $P(a,b)$ be the probability that after $a$ steps, the integer on the board is $b$. Determine $$\lim_{x\to\infty}\frac{P(a,80)}{P(a,2024)}$$(that is, the value that the function $\frac{P(a,80)}{P(a,2024)}$ approaches as $a$ goes to infinity).