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IMO 2009 — Complete Shortlist Question 10

IMO Shortlist · IMO 2009 — Complete Shortlist

Question 10

Let $n$ be a positive integer. Given a sequence $\varepsilon_{1}, \ldots, \varepsilon_{n-1}$ with $\varepsilon_{i}=0$ or $\varepsilon_{i}=1$ for each $i=1, \ldots, n-1$, the sequences $a_{0}, \ldots, a_{n}$ and $b_{0}, \ldots, b_{n}$ are constructed by the following rules:

$$
\begin{gathered}
a_{0}=b_{0}=1, \quad a_{1}=b_{1}=7, \\
a_{i+1}=\left\{\begin{array}{ll}
2 a_{i-1}+3 a_{i}, & \text { if } \varepsilon_{i}=0, \\
3 a_{i-1}+a_{i}, & \text { if } \varepsilon_{i}=1,
\end{array} \text { for each } i=1, \ldots, n-1,\right. \\
b_{i+1}=\left\{\begin{array}{ll}
2 b_{i-1}+3 b_{i}, & \text { if } \varepsilon_{n-i}=0, \\
3 b_{i-1}+b_{i}, & \text { if } \varepsilon_{n-i}=1,
\end{array} \text { for each } i=1, \ldots, n-1 .\right.
\end{gathered}
$$

Prove that $a_{n}=b_{n}$.