Problem

Source: Turkish Mathematical Olympiad 2nd Round 1995

Tags: function, logarithms, algebra unsolved, algebra



Let $A$ be a real number and $(a_{n})$ be a sequence of real numbers such that $a_{1}=1$ and \[1<\frac{a_{n+1}}{a_{n}}\leq A \mbox{ for all }n\in\mathbb{N}.\] $(a)$ Show that there is a unique non-decreasing surjective function $f: \mathbb{N}\rightarrow \mathbb{N}$ such that $1<A^{k(n)}/a_{n}\leq A$ for all $n\in \mathbb{N}$. $(b)$ If $k$ takes every value at most $m$ times, show that there is a real number $C>1$ such that $Aa_{n}\geq C^{n}$ for all $n\in \mathbb{N}$.