Problem

Source: Mathematics Regional Olympiad of Mexico West 2021 P3

Tags: number theory, Sequence, recurrence relation



The sequence of real numbers $a_1, a_2, a_3, ...$ is defined as follows: $a_1 = 2019$, $a_2 = 2020$, $a_3 = 2021$ and for all $n \ge 1$ $$a_{n+3} = 5a^6_{n+2} + 3a^3_{n+1} + a^2_n.$$Show that this sequence does not contain numbers of the form $m^6$ where $m$ is a positive integer.