Problem

Source: Indonesian Stage 1 TST for IMO 2022, Test 1 (Algebra)

Tags: algebra, polynomial, inequalities



Given a monic quadratic polynomial $Q(x)$, define \[ Q_n (x) = \underbrace{Q(Q(\cdots(Q(x))\cdots))}_{\text{compose $n$ times}} \]for every natural number $n$. Let $a_n$ be the minimum value of the polynomial $Q_n(x)$ for every natural number $n$. It is known that $a_n > 0$ for every natural number $n$ and there exists some natural number $k$ such that $a_k \neq a_{k+1}$. (a) Prove that $a_n < a_{n+1}$ for every natural number $n$. (b) Is it possible to satisfy $a_n < 2021$ for every natural number $n$? Proposed by Fajar Yuliawan