MathDB
CHMMC 2022 Winter / 2022-23 Team #3

Source:

August 10, 2023
algebra

Problem Statement

Let a1,a2,...a_1,a_2,... be a strictly increasing sequence of positive real numbers such that a1=1a_1 = 1,a2=4a_2 = 4, and that for every positive integer kk, the subsequence a4k3a_{4k-3},a4k2a_{4k-2},a4k1a_{4k-1},a4ka_{4k} is geometric and the subsequence a4k1a_{4k-1},a4ka_{4k},a4k+1a_{4k+1},a4k+2a_{4k+2} is arithmetic. For each positive integer kk, let rk be the common ratio of the geometric sequence a4k3a_{4k-3},a4k2a_{4k-2},a4k1a_{4k-1},a4ka_{4k}. Compute k=1(rk1)(rk+11)\sum_{k=1}^{\infty} (r_k -1)(r_{k+1} -1)