Let A,B∈N. Consider a sequence x1,x2,… such that for all n≥2, xn+1=A⋅gcdShow that the sequence attains only finitely many distinct values.
Problem
Source: MEMO 2023 T8
Tags: number theory
25.08.2023 12:46
Given the sequence x_n, define the two auxiliary sequences (for n>1) d_n=(x_n,x_{n-1}) and e_n=(d_n,B). For n>1, we note that e_n|d_n, which implies e_n|Ad_n+B=x_{n+1}, which implies e_n|(x_{n+1},x_n)=d_{n+1}; therefore e_n|e_{n+1}, since it divides both d_{n+1} and B. So, e_2|e_3|...|B, implying that the sequence eventually stabilizes [here we used that B\neq 0 because 0\not in \mathbb{N}] on some number e, for n\geq N. Letting x_n=ex'_n and B=eB', we have (for n\geq N) that ex'_{n+1}=Ae(x'_n,x'_{n-1})+eB'\implies x'_{n+1}=A(x'_n,x'_{n-1})+B'. This new sequence is bounded if and only if the original sequence is bounded, and furthermore defining as before the sequences d'_n,e'_n, we must have e'_n=1 (for n\geq N)[otherwise the original sequence wouldn't have satisfied e_n=e\forall n\geq N], so wlog our original sequence satisfied e_n=1\forall n\geq 2. This also implies that D:=(A,B)=1, because otherwise, D would divide all terms starting from x_3, which further implies that D|e_n=(x_n,x_{n-1},B) (for n\geq 4) which is a contradiction. Now, we have d_{n+1}=(x_{n+1},x_n)=(Ad_n+B,Ad_{n-1}+B)==(Ad_n+B,A(d_n-d_{n-1})|(Ad_n+B,A)(Ad_n+B,d_n-d_{n-1})==(A,B)(Ad_n+B,d_n-d_{n-1})=(Ad_n+B,d_n-d_{n-1})|d_n-d_{n-1}. So d_{n+1}\leq |d_n-d_{n-1}|\leq \max\{d_n, d_{n-1}\}. This clearly implies that d_n is bounded, meaning that x_{n+1}=Ad_n+B is also bounded, as wanted.