Consider the recurrence relation f n + 1 ( x ) = x f n ( x ) , for non-negative integers n with f 0 ( x ) = 1 .
x → 1 lim x 6 6 6 − 1 f 6 6 6 ( x ) − 1
Let the limit above equals to B A for coprime positive integers A and B .
Denote D as the absolute difference between the smallest and largest prime factors of A + B .
What is the value of 1 + 2 + 3 + … + ( D 2 − 1 ) + D 2 ?
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Did it the same way.Probably it is the only way to do the sum.BTW,this is the first problem where the answer literally stares at one's face.
A s f n + 1 ( x ) = x f n ( x ) a n d f 0 ( x ) = 1 s o , f 1 ( x ) = x 1 , f 2 ( x ) = x x , f 3 ( x ) = x x x a n d s o o n f 1 ′ ( x ) = 1 , f n + 1 ′ ( x ) = f n ( x ) . f n ′ ( x ) . x f n ( x ) − 1 o r , f n ′ ( x ) f n + 1 ′ ( x ) = x f n + 1 ( x ) . f n ( x ) . . . . . . ( i ) A s x → 1 f 1 ( x ) → 1 f 2 ( x ) → 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . f n ( x ) → 1 s o , B A = l i m x → 1 x 6 6 6 − 1 f 6 6 6 ( x ) − 1 = l i m x → 1 6 6 6 . x 6 6 5 f 6 6 6 ′ ( x ) . . . . . ( i i ) b y e q n ( i ) , l i m x → 1 f n ′ ( x ) f n + 1 ′ ( x ) = 1 ⇒ l i m x → 1 f 6 6 6 ′ ( x ) = l i m x → 1 f 6 6 5 ′ ( x ) = l i m x → 1 f 6 6 4 ′ ( x ) = . . . . . . . = l i m x → 1 f 1 ′ ( x ) = 1 b y e q n ( i i ) , B A = 6 6 6 1 ⇒ A + B = 6 6 7 = 2 3 × 2 9 ⇒ D = 2 9 − 2 3 = 6 A n s = 2 ( D 2 ) ( D 2 + 1 ) = 6 6 6
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Because the limit is in the form of 0 0 at x = 1 , so L'hopital rule is applicable
Which means we need to evaluate the first derivative of f 6 6 6 ( x ) at x = 1
Claim : f n ′ ( 1 ) = 1 for all positive integers n .
Proof by Mathematical Induction :
Basic Step: for n = 1 , f 1 ′ ( 1 ) = 1 , which is true
Inductive Step: for a positive integer k , we assume f k ′ ( 1 ) = 1
By recurrence relation, ln ( f k + 1 ( x ) ) = f k ( x ) ⋅ ln ( x )
Differentiation gives f k + 1 ( x ) f k + 1 ′ ( x ) = x f k ( x ) + f k ′ ( x ) ⋅ ln ( x )
Substitution of x = 1 proved that it's true for n = k + 1 too.
Thus the limit is equals to 6 6 6 ⋅ 1 6 6 5 f 6 6 6 ′ ( 1 ) = 6 6 6 1 ⇒ A + B = 6 6 7 = 2 3 × 2 9 ⇒ D = 2 9 − 2 3 = 6
Hence, with the knowledge of i = 1 ∑ n i = 2 n ( n + 1 ) . In this case n = D 2 = 3 6 yields the answer 6 6 6