MathDB
CMI 2017 #4

Source: CMI 2017

April 26, 2018
CMIChennai Mathematical InstituteB.ScmathCS2017algebra

Problem Statement

The domain of a function ff is N\mathbb{N} (The set of natural numbers). The function is defined as follows : f(n)=n+nf(n)=n+\lfloor\sqrt{n}\rfloor where k\lfloor k\rfloor denotes the nearest integer smaller than or equal to kk. Prove that, for every natural number mm, the following sequence contains at least one perfect square m, f(m), f2(m), f3(m),m,~f(m),~f^2(m),~f^3(m),\cdots The notation fkf^k denotes the function obtained by composing ff with itself kk times.