Problem

Source: 2012 China TST Test 2 p3

Tags: pigeonhole principle, combinatorics proposed, combinatorics



Let $a_1<a_2$ be two given integers. For any integer $n\ge 3$, let $a_n$ be the smallest integer which is larger than $a_{n-1}$ and can be uniquely represented as $a_i+a_j$, where $1\le i<j\le n-1$. Given that there are only a finite number of even numbers in $\{a_n\}$, prove that the sequence $\{a_{n+1}-a_{n}\}$ is eventually periodic, i.e. that there exist positive integers $T,N$ such that for all integers $n>N$, we have \[a_{T+n+1}-a_{T+n}=a_{n+1}-a_{n}.\]