{
  "index": "2019-B-5",
  "type": "NT",
  "tag": [
    "NT",
    "ALG",
    "COMB"
  ],
  "difficulty": "",
  "question": "Let $F_m$ be the $m$th Fibonacci number, defined by $F_1 = F_2 = 1$ and $F_m = F_{m-1} + F_{m-2}$ for all $m \\geq 3$.\nLet $p(x)$ be the polynomial of degree $1008$ such that $p(2n+1) = F_{2n+1}$ for $n=0,1,2,\\dots,1008$. Find integers $j$ and $k$ such that $p(2019) = F_j - F_k$.",
  "solution": "\\noindent\n\\textbf{Solution 1.}\nWe prove that $(j,k) = (2019, 1010)$ is a valid solution.\nMore generally, let $p(x)$ be the polynomial of degree $N$ such that $p(2n+1) = F_{2n+1}$ for $0 \\leq n \\leq N$. We will show that $p(2N+3) = F_{2N+3}-F_{N+2}$. \n\nDefine a sequence of polynomials $p_0(x),\\ldots,p_N(x)$ by $p_0(x) = p(x)$ and $p_k(x) = p_{k-1}(x)-p_{k-1}(x+2)$ for $k \\geq 1$. Then by induction on $k$, it is the case that $p_k(2n+1) = F_{2n+1+k}$ for $0 \\leq n \\leq N-k$, and also that $p_k$ has degree (at most) $N-k$ for $k \\geq 1$. Thus $p_N(x) = F_{N+1}$ since $p_N(1) = F_{N+1}$ and $p_N$ is constant.\n\n\nWe now claim that for $0\\leq k\\leq N$, $p_{N-k}(2k+3) = \\sum_{j=0}^k F_{N+1+j}$. We prove this again by induction on $k$: for the induction step, we have\n\\begin{align*}\np_{N-k}(2k+3) &= p_{N-k}(2k+1)+p_{N-k+1}(2k+1) \\\\\n&= F_{N+1+k}+\\sum_{j=0}^{k-1} F_{N+1+j}.\n\\end{align*}\nThus we have $p(2N+3) = p_0(2N+3) = \\sum_{j=0}^N F_{N+1+j}$. \n\nNow one final induction shows that $\\sum_{j=1}^m F_j = F_{m+2}-1$, and so $p(2N+3) = F_{2N+3}-F_{N+2}$, as claimed. In the case $N=1008$, we thus have $p(2019) = F_{2019} - F_{1010}$.\n\n\\noindent\n\\textbf{Solution 2.}\nThis solution uses the \\emph{Lagrange interpolation formula}: given $x_0,\\dots,x_n$ and $y_0,\\dots,y_n$, the unique polynomial $P$ of degree at most $n$ satisfying $P(x_i) = y_i$ for $i=0,\\dots,n$ is\n\\[\n\\sum_{i=0}^n P(x_i) \\prod_{j \\neq i} \\frac{x-x_j}{x_i-x_j} =\n\\]\nWrite \n\\[\nF_n = \\frac{1}{\\sqrt{5}}(\\alpha^n - \\beta^{-n}), \\qquad \\alpha = \\frac{1+\\sqrt{5}}{2}, \\beta = \\frac{1-\\sqrt{5}}{2}.\n\\]\nFor $\\gamma \\in \\mathbb{R}$, let $p_\\gamma(x)$ be the unique polynomial of degree at most 1008 satisfying\n\\[\np_1(2n+1) = \\gamma^{2n+1}, p_2(2n+1) = \\gamma^{2n+1} \\, (n=0,\\dots,1008);\n\\]\nthen $p(x) = \\frac{1}{\\sqrt{5}}(p_\\alpha(x) - p_\\beta(x))$.\n\nBy Lagrange interpolation,\n\\begin{align*}\np_\\gamma(2019) &= \\sum_{n=0}^{1008} \\gamma^{2n+1} \\prod_{0 \\leq j \\leq 1008, j \\neq n} \\frac{2019-(2j+1)}{(2n+1)-(2j+1)}\\\\\n&= \\sum_{n=0}^{1008} \\gamma^{2n+1} \\prod_{0 \\leq j \\leq 1008, j \\neq n} \\frac{1009-j}{n-j}\\\\\n&= \\sum_{n=0}^{1008} \\gamma^{2n+1} (-1)^{1008-n} \\binom{1009}{n} \\\\\n&= -\\gamma ((\\gamma^2-1)^{1009} - (\\gamma^2)^{1009}).\n\\end{align*}\nFor $\\gamma \\in \\{\\alpha, \\beta\\}$ we have $\\gamma^2 = \\gamma + 1$ and so\n\\[\np_\\gamma(2019) = \\gamma^{2019} - \\gamma^{1010}.\n\\]\nWe thus deduce that $p(x) = F_{2019} - F_{1010}$ as claimed.\n\n\\noindent\n\\textbf{Remark.}\nKarl Mahlburg suggests the following variant of this. As above, use Lagrange interpolation to write\n\\[\np(2019) = \\sum_{j=0}^{1008} \\binom{1009}{j} F_j;\n\\]\nit will thus suffice to verify (by substiting $j \\mapsto 1009-j$) that\n\\[\n\\sum_{j=0}^{1009} \\binom{1009}{j} F_{j+1} = F_{2019}.\n\\]\nThis identity has the following combinatorial interpretation. Recall that $F_{n+1}$ counts the number of ways to tile a $1 \\times n$ rectangle with $1 \\times 1$ squares and $1 \\times 2$ dominoes (see below). In any such tiling with $n = 2018$, let $j$ be the number of squares among the first 1009 tiles.\nThese can be ordered in $\\binom{1009}{j}$ ways, and the remaining $2018 - j - 2(1009-j) = j$ squares can be\ntiled in $F_{j+1}$ ways.\n\nAs an aside, this interpretation of $F_{n+1}$ is the oldest known interpretation of the Fibonacci sequence,\nlong predating Fibonacci himself. In ancient Sanskrit, syllables were classified as long or short, and a long syllable was considered to be twice as long as a short syllable; consequently, the number of syllable patterns of total length $n$ equals $F_{n+1}$.\n\n\\noindent\n\\textbf{Remark.}\nIt is not difficult to show that the solution $(j,k) = (2019, 2010)$ is unique (in positive integers). \nFirst, note that to have $F_j - F_k > 0$, we must have $k < j$.\nIf $j < 2019$, then\n\\[\nF_{2019} - F_{1010} = F_{2018} + F_{2017} - F_{1010} > F_{j} > F_j - F_k.\n\\]\nIf $j > 2020$, then  \n\\[\nF_j - F_k \\geq F_j - F_{j-1} = F_{j-2} \\geq F_{2019} > F_{2019} - F_{1010}.\n\\]\nSince $j = 2019$ obviously forces $k = 1010$, the only other possible solution would be with $j = 2020$.\nBut then\n\\[\n(F_j - F_k) - (F_{2019} - F_{1010})\n= (F_{2018} - F_k) + F_{1010} \n\\]\nwhich is negative for $k=2019$ (it equals $F_{1010} - F_{2017}$)\nand positive for $k \\leq 2018$.",
  "vars": [
    "m",
    "n",
    "k",
    "j",
    "i",
    "x",
    "N"
  ],
  "params": [
    "F_m",
    "F_m-1",
    "F_m-2",
    "F_2n+1",
    "F_2N+3",
    "F_N+2",
    "F_N+1",
    "F_N+1+j",
    "F_j",
    "F_k",
    "F_j+1",
    "F_n+1",
    "F_2019",
    "F_1010",
    "F_2018",
    "F_2017",
    "F_2020",
    "F_j-1",
    "F_j-2",
    "p",
    "p_k",
    "p_k-1",
    "p_N",
    "p_N-k",
    "p_\\\\gamma",
    "\\\\alpha",
    "\\\\beta",
    "\\\\gamma"
  ],
  "sci_consts": [],
  "variants": {
    "descriptive_long": {
      "map": {
        "m": "indexm",
        "n": "indexn",
        "k": "indexk",
        "j": "indexj",
        "i": "indexi",
        "x": "varxpoly",
        "N": "indexbig",
        "F_m": "fibindexm",
        "F_m-1": "fibmminusone",
        "F_m-2": "fibmminustwo",
        "F_2n+1": "fibtwonplusone",
        "F_2N+3": "fibtwobigplusthree",
        "F_N+2": "fibbigplustwo",
        "F_N+1": "fibbigplusone",
        "F_N+1+j": "fibbigplusoneplusindexj",
        "F_j": "fibindexj",
        "F_k": "fibindexk",
        "F_j+1": "fibindexjplusone",
        "F_n+1": "fibindexnplusone",
        "F_2019": "fibtwothousandnineteen",
        "F_1010": "fibthousandten",
        "F_2018": "fibtwothousandeighteen",
        "F_2017": "fibtwothousandseventeen",
        "F_2020": "fibtwothousandtwenty",
        "F_j-1": "fibindexjminusone",
        "F_j-2": "fibindexjminustwo",
        "p": "polybase",
        "p_k": "polyindexk",
        "p_k-1": "polyindexkminusone",
        "p_N": "polybig",
        "p_N-k": "polybigminusindexk",
        "p_\\gamma": "polyindexgamma",
        "\\alpha": "constalpha",
        "\\beta": "constbeta",
        "\\gamma": "constgamma"
      },
      "question": "Let $fibindexm$ be the $indexm$th Fibonacci number, defined by $F_1 = F_2 = 1$ and $fibindexm = fibmminusone + fibmminustwo$ for all $indexm \\geq 3$. Let $polybase(varxpoly)$ be the polynomial of degree 1008 such that $polybase(2\\,indexn+1) = fibtwonplusone$ for $indexn=0,1,2,\\dots ,1008$. Find integers $indexj$ and $indexk$ such that $polybase(2019) = fibindexj - fibindexk$.",
      "solution": "\\noindent\\textbf{Solution 1.}\\nWe prove that $(indexj,indexk) = (2019, 1010)$ is a valid solution. More generally, let $polybase(varxpoly)$ be the polynomial of degree $indexbig$ such that $polybase(2indexn+1) = fibtwonplusone$ for $0 \\leq indexn \\leq indexbig$. We will show that $polybase(2indexbig+3) = fibtwobigplusthree - fibbigplustwo$.\\n\\nDefine a sequence of polynomials $polybase_0(varxpoly),\\ldots ,polybig(varxpoly)$ by $polybase_0(varxpoly)=polybase(varxpoly)$ and $polyindexk(varxpoly)=polyindexkminusone(varxpoly)-polyindexkminusone(varxpoly+2)$ for $indexk \\geq 1$. By induction on $indexk$, one checks that $polyindexk(2indexn+1)=F_{2indexn+1+indexk}$ for $0 \\leq indexn \\leq indexbig-indexk$, and that $\\deg polyindexk \\le indexbig-indexk$. Hence $polybig(varxpoly)=fibbigplusone$ since $polybig(1)=fibbigplusone$ and $polybig$ is constant.\\n\\nWe next claim that for $0\\le indexk\\le indexbig$, one has\\n$$polybigminusindexk(2indexk+3)=\\sum_{indexj=0}^{indexk}fibbigplusoneplusindexj.$$\\nIndeed, assuming the statement for $indexk-1$ we compute\\n\\begin{align*}polybigminusindexk(2indexk+3)&=polybigminusindexk(2indexk+1)+polybigminusindexkminusone(2indexk+1)\\\\&=F_{indexbig+1+indexk}+\\sum_{indexj=0}^{indexk-1}fibbigplusoneplusindexj.\\end{align*}\\nConsequently\\n$$polybase(2indexbig+3)=polybase_0(2indexbig+3)=\\sum_{indexj=0}^{indexbig}fibbigplusoneplusindexj.$$\\nFinally, one checks by induction that $\\sum_{indexj=1}^{indexm}fibindexj=F_{indexm+2}-1$; thus $polybase(2indexbig+3)=fibtwobigplusthree-fibbigplustwo$. For $indexbig=1008$ this yields $polybase(2019)=fibtwothousandnineteen-fibthousandten$.\\n\\n\\noindent\\textbf{Solution 2.}\\nThis approach uses the Lagrange interpolation formula. Given $varxpoly_0,\\dots ,varxpoly_{indexn}$ and $y_0,\\dots ,y_{indexn}$, the unique polynomial $P$ of degree at most $indexn$ with $P(varxpoly_i)=y_i$ is\\n$$\\sum_{indexi=0}^{indexn}P(varxpoly_{indexi})\\prod_{indexj\\ne indexi}\\frac{varxpoly-varxpoly_{indexj}}{varxpoly_{indexi}-varxpoly_{indexj}}.$$\\nWrite\\n$$F_{indexn}=\\frac1{\\sqrt5}(constalpha^{indexn}-constbeta^{-indexn}),\\qquad constalpha=\\frac{1+\\sqrt5}{2},\\;constbeta=\\frac{1-\\sqrt5}{2}.$$\\nFor $constgamma\\in\\mathbb R$ let $polyindexgamma(varxpoly)$ be the unique polynomial of degree at most 1008 satisfying $polyindexgamma(2indexn+1)=constgamma^{2indexn+1}\\;(indexn=0,\\dots ,1008)$. Then $polybase(varxpoly)=\\frac1{\\sqrt5}\\bigl(polyindexgamma_{constalpha}(varxpoly)-polyindexgamma_{constbeta}(varxpoly)\\bigr)$.\\n\\nBy Lagrange interpolation,\\n\\begin{align*}polyindexgamma(2019)&=\\sum_{indexn=0}^{1008}constgamma^{2indexn+1}\\prod_{\\substack{0\\le indexj\\le1008\\\\indexj\\ne indexn}}\\frac{2019-(2indexj+1)}{(2indexn+1)-(2indexj+1)}\\\\&=\\sum_{indexn=0}^{1008}constgamma^{2indexn+1}\\prod_{\\substack{0\\le indexj\\le1008\\\\indexj\\ne indexn}}\\frac{1009-indexj}{indexn-indexj}\\\\&=\\sum_{indexn=0}^{1008}constgamma^{2indexn+1}(-1)^{1008-indexn}\\binom{1009}{indexn}\\\\&=-constgamma\\bigl((constgamma^2-1)^{1009}-(constgamma^2)^{1009}\\bigr).\\end{align*}\\nBecause $constalpha^2=constalpha+1$ and $constbeta^2=constbeta+1$, one finds $polyindexgamma(2019)=constgamma^{2019}-constgamma^{1010}$ for $constgamma\\in\\{constalpha,constbeta\\}$, and hence $polybase(varxpoly)=fibtwothousandnineteen-fibthousandten$.\\n\\n\\noindent\\textbf{Remark.}\\nUsing Lagrange again one may write $polybase(2019)=\\sum_{indexj=0}^{1008}\\binom{1009}{indexj}fibindexj$. Substituting $indexj\\mapsto1009-indexj$ shows that it suffices to prove $\\sum_{indexj=0}^{1009}\\binom{1009}{indexj}fibindexjplusone=fibtwothousandnineteen$, which has a well-known combinatorial interpretation in terms of tilings of a $1\\times2018$ board.\\n\\n\\noindent\\textbf{Uniqueness.}\\nSuppose $fibindexj-fibindexk=fibtwothousandnineteen-fibthousandten$ with $0<indexk<indexj$. If $indexj<2019$ then\\n$$fibtwothousandnineteen-fibthousandten=fibtwothousandeighteen+fibtwothousandseventeen-fibthousandten>fibindexj>fibindexj-fibindexk,$$\\ncontradiction. If $indexj>2020$ then\\n$$fibindexj-fibindexk\\ge fibindexj-fibindexjminusone=fibindexjminustwo\\ge fibtwothousandnineteen>fibtwothousandnineteen-fibthousandten,$$\\nagain impossible. Hence $indexj=2019$, whence necessarily $indexk=1010$; the representation is unique.}"
    },
    "descriptive_long_misleading": {
      "map": {
        "m": "fixedindex",
        "n": "steadyvalue",
        "k": "steadfastkey",
        "j": "frozenmark",
        "i": "immobileid",
        "x": "anchorpoint",
        "N": "settledsize",
        "F_m": "nonfibonacci",
        "F_m-1": "nonfibonacciprev",
        "F_m-2": "nonfibonaccipreprev",
        "F_2n+1": "nonfibonacciodd",
        "F_2N+3": "nonfibonaccitop",
        "F_N+2": "nonfibosucceed",
        "F_N+1": "nonfiboadvance",
        "F_N+1+j": "nonfiboadvshift",
        "F_j": "nonfibostart",
        "F_k": "nonfiboparam",
        "F_j+1": "nonfibosucc",
        "F_n+1": "nonfiboincre",
        "F_2019": "nonfiboirony",
        "F_1010": "nonfibobasic",
        "F_2018": "nonfiboslight",
        "F_2017": "nonfiboprior",
        "F_2020": "nonfibonext",
        "F_j-1": "nonfibodec",
        "F_j-2": "nonfibodecdec",
        "p": "staticfigure",
        "p_k": "staticfigurek",
        "p_k-1": "staticfigurekprev",
        "p_N": "staticfiguresize",
        "p_N-k": "staticfigurediff",
        "p_\\gamma": "staticfigureg",
        "\\alpha": "omegaconst",
        "\\beta": "zetaconst",
        "\\gamma": "lambdaconst"
      },
      "question": "Let $nonfibonacci$ be the fixedindexth Fibonacci number, defined by $F_1 = F_2 = 1$ and $nonfibonacci = nonfibonacciprev + nonfibonaccipreprev$ for all $fixedindex \\geq 3$.  \nLet $staticfigure(anchorpoint)$ be the polynomial of degree $1008$ such that $staticfigure(2steadyvalue+1) = nonfibonacciodd$ for $steadyvalue = 0,1,2,\\dots ,1008$.  Find integers $frozenmark$ and $steadfastkey$ such that\n$$\nstaticfigure(2019)=nonfibostart-nonfiboparam.\n$$",
      "solution": "\\textbf{Solution 1.}\\par\nWe prove that $(frozenmark,\\,steadfastkey)=(2019,1010)$ is a valid solution.  More generally, let $staticfigure(anchorpoint)$ be the polynomial of degree $settledsize$ such that $staticfigure(2steadyvalue+1)=nonfibonacciodd$ for $0\\le steadyvalue\\le settledsize$.  We will show that\n$$\nstaticfigure(2settledsize+3)=nonfibonaccitop-nonfibosucceed.\n$$\n\nDefine a sequence of polynomials $staticfigure_0(anchorpoint),\\dots ,staticfigure_{settledsize}(anchorpoint)$ by\n$$\nstaticfigure_0(anchorpoint)=staticfigure(anchorpoint),\\qquad\nstaticfigure_{\\!\\steadfastkey}(anchorpoint)=staticfigure_{\\!\\steadfastkey-1}(anchorpoint)-staticfigure_{\\!\\steadfastkey-1}(anchorpoint+2)\\quad(\\steadfastkey\\ge1).\n$$\nBy induction on $\\steadfastkey$ one checks that\n$$\nstaticfigure_{\\!\\steadfastkey}(2steadyvalue+1)=F_{2steadyvalue+1+\\steadfastkey}\\quad(0\\le steadyvalue\\le settledsize-\\steadfastkey),\n$$\nand that $\\deg staticfigure_{\\!\\steadfastkey}\\le settledsize-\\steadfastkey$.  Hence $staticfiguresize(anchorpoint)=F_{settledsize+1}$, because it is constant and $staticfiguresize(1)=F_{settledsize+1}$.\n\nWe now claim that for $0\\le \\steadfastkey\\le settledsize$,\n$$\nstaticfigure_{\\,settledsize-\\steadfastkey}(2\\steadfastkey+3)=\\sum_{\\frozenmark=0}^{\\steadfastkey}F_{settledsize+1+\\frozenmark}.\n$$\nIndeed, assuming the statement for $\\steadfastkey-1$ we have\n\\begin{align*}\nstaticfigure_{\\,settledsize-\\steadfastkey}(2\\steadfastkey+3)\n&=staticfigure_{\\,settledsize-\\steadfastkey}(2\\steadfastkey+1)+staticfigure_{\\,settledsize-\\steadfastkey+1}(2\\steadfastkey+1)\\\\\n&=F_{settledsize+1+\\steadfastkey}+\\sum_{\\frozenmark=0}^{\\steadfastkey-1}F_{settledsize+1+\\frozenmark},\n\\end{align*}\ncompleting the induction.  Taking $\\steadfastkey=settledsize$ gives\n$$\nstaticfigure(2settledsize+3)=\\sum_{\\frozenmark=0}^{settledsize}F_{settledsize+1+\\frozenmark}.\n$$\nFinally, $\\sum_{\\frozenmark=1}^{immobileid}F_{\\frozenmark}=F_{immobileid+2}-1$ by a routine induction, so the desired identity follows.  For $settledsize=1008$ we obtain\n$$\nstaticfigure(2019)=nonfiboirony-nonfibobasic.\n$$\n\\bigskip\n\\textbf{Solution 2.}\\par\nThis solution uses the \\emph{Lagrange interpolation formula}: given $anchorpoint_0,\\dots ,anchorpoint_{immobileid}$ and $y_0,\\dots ,y_{immobileid}$, the unique polynomial $P$ of degree at most $immobileid$ satisfying $P(anchorpoint_i)=y_i$ for $i=0,\\dots ,immobileid$ is\n$$\n\\sum_{i=0}^{immobileid}P(anchorpoint_i)\\prod_{j\\ne i}\\frac{anchorpoint-anchorpoint_j}{anchorpoint_i-anchorpoint_j}.\n$$\nWrite\n$$\nF_{immobileid}=\\frac1{\\sqrt5}\\bigl(omegaconst^{\\,immobileid}-zetaconst^{-\\,immobileid}\\bigr),\\qquad\nomegaconst=\\frac{1+\\sqrt5}2,\\;\\;zetaconst=\\frac{1-\\sqrt5}2.\n$$\nFor $lambdaconst\\in\\mathbb R$ let $staticfigure_{lambdaconst}(anchorpoint)$ be the unique polynomial of degree at most $1008$ satisfying\n$$\nstaticfigure_{lambdaconst}(2steadyvalue+1)=lambdaconst^{2steadyvalue+1}\\quad(steadyvalue=0,\\dots ,1008),\n$$\nso that\n$$\nstaticfigure(anchorpoint)=\\frac1{\\sqrt5}\\bigl(staticfigure_{omegaconst}(anchorpoint)-staticfigure_{zetaconst}(anchorpoint)\\bigr).\n$$\nApplying Lagrange interpolation gives\n\\begin{align*}\nstaticfigure_{lambdaconst}(2019)\n&=\\sum_{steadyvalue=0}^{1008}lambdaconst^{2steadyvalue+1}\n\\prod_{\\substack{0\\le j\\le1008\\\\j\\ne steadyvalue}}\n\\frac{2019-(2j+1)}{(2steadyvalue+1)-(2j+1)}\\\\[6pt]\n&=\\sum_{steadyvalue=0}^{1008}lambdaconst^{2steadyvalue+1}\n(-1)^{1008-steadyvalue}\\binom{1009}{steadyvalue}\\\\[6pt]\n&=-lambdaconst\\Bigl((lambdaconst^2-1)^{1009}-(lambdaconst^2)^{1009}\\Bigr).\n\\end{align*}\nFor $lambdaconst\\in\\{omegaconst,zetaconst\\}$ we have $lambdaconst^2=lambdaconst+1$, and hence\n$$\nstaticfigure_{lambdaconst}(2019)=lambdaconst^{2019}-lambdaconst^{1010}.\n$$\nTherefore $staticfigure(2019)=nonfiboirony-nonfibobasic$, as required.\n\\bigskip\n\\textbf{Remark.}  Using Lagrange interpolation one can also write\n$$\nstaticfigure(2019)=\\sum_{\\frozenmark=0}^{1008}\\binom{1009}{\\frozenmark}\\,nonfibostart,\n$$\nand (after the substitution $\\frozenmark\\mapsto1009-\\frozenmark$) show combinatorially that this equals $F_{2019}$.  A standard argument then proves the uniqueness of $(frozenmark,\\,steadfastkey)=(2019,1010)$.",
      "error": null
    },
    "garbled_string": {
      "map": {
        "m": "qzxwvtnp",
        "n": "hjgrksla",
        "k": "pxqsmrld",
        "j": "tgbhvfqe",
        "i": "bwlznmcv",
        "x": "sedkhyut",
        "N": "orplfgua",
        "F_m": "cklndyqv",
        "F_m-1": "znmvptrs",
        "F_m-2": "rvbsyfga",
        "F_2n+1": "yhnplmcs",
        "F_2N+3": "ejszwkdu",
        "F_N+2": "fzhyqclo",
        "F_N+1": "dnpsvxre",
        "F_N+1+j": "koweirdn",
        "F_j": "vxclprma",
        "F_k": "oeqrwthu",
        "F_j+1": "gwmrkbae",
        "F_n+1": "sbvtplhc",
        "F_2019": "nhcwfzye",
        "F_1010": "psagmtlr",
        "F_2018": "dqrxztka",
        "F_2017": "kmhvwyrb",
        "F_2020": "lmpxagzo",
        "F_j-1": "ultwbnqo",
        "F_j-2": "yiusdkpw",
        "p": "xaovqjwe",
        "p_k": "kujrzbvo",
        "p_k-1": "rncxlgad",
        "p_N": "tdqpsolm",
        "p_N-k": "uvlykzbe",
        "p_\\gamma": "qwfskban",
        "\\alpha": "jwghzrle",
        "\\beta": "vaspmkue",
        "\\gamma": "poehzcrt"
      },
      "question": "Let $cklndyqv$ be the $qzxwvtnp$th Fibonacci number, defined by $F_1 = F_2 = 1$ and $cklndyqv = znmvptrs + rvbsyfga$ for all $qzxwvtnp \\geq 3$.  Let $xaovqjwe(sedkhyut)$ be the polynomial of degree $1008$ such that $xaovqjwe(2hjgrksla+1) = yhnplmcs$ for $hjgrksla = 0,1,2,\\dots,1008$.  Find integers $tgbhvfqe$ and $pxqsmrld$ such that $xaovqjwe(2019) = vxclprma - oeqrwthu$.",
      "solution": "\\noindent\n\\textbf{Solution 1.}\nWe prove that $(tgbhvfqe,pxqsmrld) = (2019, 1010)$ is a valid solution.\nMore generally, let $xaovqjwe(sedkhyut)$ be the polynomial of degree $orplfgua$ such that $xaovqjwe(2hjgrksla+1) = yhnplmcs$ for $0 \\leq hjgrksla \\leq orplfgua$. We will show that $xaovqjwe(2orplfgua+3) = ejszwkdu-fzhyqclo$.\n\nDefine a sequence of polynomials $xaovqjwe_0(sedkhyut),\\ldots,xaovqjwe_{orplfgua}(sedkhyut)$ by $xaovqjwe_0(sedkhyut) = xaovqjwe(sedkhyut)$ and $kujrzbvo(sedkhyut) = xaovqjwe_{pxqsmrld-1}(sedkhyut)-xaovqjwe_{pxqsmrld-1}(sedkhyut+2)$ for $pxqsmrld \\geq 1$. Then by induction on $pxqsmrld$, it is the case that $kujrzbvo(2hjgrksla+1) = F_{2hjgrksla+1+pxqsmrld}$ for $0 \\leq hjgrksla \\leq orplfgua-pxqsmrld$, and also that $kujrzbvo$ has degree (at most) $orplfgua-pxqsmrld$ for $pxqsmrld \\geq 1$. Thus $tdqpsolm(sedkhyut) = dnpsvxre$ since $tdqpsolm(1) = dnpsvxre$ and $tdqpsolm$ is constant.\n\nWe now claim that for $0\\leq pxqsmrld\\leq orplfgua$, $xaovqjwe_{orplfgua-pxqsmrld}(2pxqsmrld+3) = \\sum_{tgbhvfqe=0}^{pxqsmrld} koweirdn$. We prove this again by induction on $pxqsmrld$: for the induction step, we have\n\\begin{align*}\nxaovqjwe_{orplfgua-pxqsmrld}(2pxqsmrld+3) &= xaovqjwe_{orplfgua-pxqsmrld}(2pxqsmrld+1)+xaovqjwe_{orplfgua-pxqsmrld+1}(2pxqsmrld+1) \\\\\n&= F_{orplfgua+1+pxqsmrld}+\\sum_{tgbhvfqe=0}^{pxqsmrld-1} F_{orplfgua+1+tgbhvfqe}.\n\\end{align*}\nThus we have $xaovqjwe(2orplfgua+3) = xaovqjwe_0(2orplfgua+3) = \\sum_{tgbhvfqe=0}^{orplfgua} F_{orplfgua+1+tgbhvfqe}$.\n\nNow one final induction shows that $\\sum_{tgbhvfqe=1}^{qzxwvtnp} F_{tgbhvfqe} = F_{qzxwvtnp+2}-1$, and so $xaovqjwe(2orplfgua+3) = ejszwkdu-fzhyqclo$, as claimed. In the case $orplfgua=1008$, we thus have $xaovqjwe(2019) = nhcwfzye - psagmtlr$.\n\n\\noindent\n\\textbf{Solution 2.}\nThis solution uses the \\emph{Lagrange interpolation formula}: given $sedkhyut_0,\\dots,sedkhyut_{hjgrksla}$ and $y_0,\\dots,y_{hjgrksla}$, the unique polynomial $P$ of degree at most $hjgrksla$ satisfying $P(sedkhyut_{bwlznmcv}) = y_{bwlznmcv}$ for $bwlznmcv=0,\\dots,hjgrksla$ is\n\\[\n\\sum_{bwlznmcv=0}^{hjgrksla} P(sedkhyut_{bwlznmcv}) \\prod_{tgbhvfqe \\neq bwlznmcv} \\frac{sedkhyut-sedkhyut_{tgbhvfqe}}{sedkhyut_{bwlznmcv}-sedkhyut_{tgbhvfqe}} =\n\\]\nWrite\n\\[\nF_{hjgrksla} = \\frac{1}{\\sqrt{5}}(jwghzrle^{hjgrksla} - vaspmkue^{-hjgrksla}), \\qquad jwghzrle = \\frac{1+\\sqrt{5}}{2},\\; vaspmkue = \\frac{1-\\sqrt{5}}{2}.\n\\]\nFor $poehzcrt \\in \\mathbb{R}$, let $qwfskban(sedkhyut)$ be the unique polynomial of degree at most 1008 satisfying\n\\[\nxaovqjwe_1(2hjgrksla+1) = poehzcrt^{2hjgrksla+1},\\; xaovqjwe_2(2hjgrksla+1) = poehzcrt^{2hjgrksla+1} \\; (hjgrksla=0,\\dots,1008);\n\\]\nthen $xaovqjwe(sedkhyut) = \\frac{1}{\\sqrt{5}}(xaovqjwe_{jwghzrle}(sedkhyut) - xaovqjwe_{vaspmkue}(sedkhyut))$.\n\nBy Lagrange interpolation,\n\\begin{align*}\nqwfskban(2019) &= \\sum_{hjgrksla=0}^{1008} poehzcrt^{2hjgrksla+1} \\prod_{0 \\leq tgbhvfqe \\leq 1008,\\; tgbhvfqe \\neq hjgrksla} \\frac{2019-(2tgbhvfqe+1)}{(2hjgrksla+1)-(2tgbhvfqe+1)}\\\\\n&= \\sum_{hjgrksla=0}^{1008} poehzcrt^{2hjgrksla+1} \\prod_{0 \\leq tgbhvfqe \\leq 1008,\\; tgbhvfqe \\neq hjgrksla} \\frac{1009-tgbhvfqe}{hjgrksla-tgbhvfqe}\\\\\n&= \\sum_{hjgrksla=0}^{1008} poehzcrt^{2hjgrksla+1} (-1)^{1008-hjgrksla} \\binom{1009}{hjgrksla} \\\\\n&= -poehzcrt\\bigl((poehzcrt^2-1)^{1009} - (poehzcrt^2)^{1009}\\bigr).\n\\end{align*}\nFor $poehzcrt \\in \\{jwghzrle, vaspmkue\\}$ we have $poehzcrt^2 = poehzcrt + 1$ and so\n\\[\nqwfskban(2019) = poehzcrt^{2019} - poehzcrt^{1010}.\n\\]\nWe thus deduce that $xaovqjwe(2019) = nhcwfzye - psagmtlr$ as claimed.\n\n\\noindent\n\\textbf{Remark.}\nKarl Mahlburg suggests the following variant of this. As above, use Lagrange interpolation to write\n\\[\nxaovqjwe(2019) = \\sum_{tgbhvfqe=0}^{1008} \\binom{1009}{tgbhvfqe} vxclprma;\n\\]\nit will thus suffice to verify (by substituting $tgbhvfqe \\mapsto 1009-tgbhvfqe$) that\n\\[\n\\sum_{tgbhvfqe=0}^{1009} \\binom{1009}{tgbhvfqe} gwmrkbae = nhcwfzye.\n\\]\nThis identity has the following combinatorial interpretation. Recall that $F_{hjgrksla+1}$ counts the number of ways to tile a $1 \\times hjgrksla$ rectangle with $1 \\times 1$ squares and $1 \\times 2$ dominoes (see below). In any such tiling with $hjgrksla = 2018$, let $tgbhvfqe$ be the number of squares among the first 1009 tiles.\nThese can be ordered in $\\binom{1009}{tgbhvfqe}$ ways, and the remaining $2018 - tgbhvfqe - 2(1009-tgbhvfqe) = tgbhvfqe$ squares can be tiled in $gwmrkbae$ ways.\n\nAs an aside, this interpretation of $F_{hjgrksla+1}$ is the oldest known interpretation of the Fibonacci sequence, long predating Fibonacci himself. In ancient Sanskrit, syllables were classified as long or short, and a long syllable was considered to be twice as long as a short syllable; consequently, the number of syllable patterns of total length $hjgrksla$ equals $F_{hjgrksla+1}$.\n\n\\noindent\n\\textbf{Remark.}\nIt is not difficult to show that the solution $(tgbhvfqe,pxqsmrld) = (2019, 2010)$ is unique (in positive integers). \nFirst, note that to have $vxclprma - oeqrwthu > 0$, we must have $pxqsmrld < tgbhvfqe$.\nIf $tgbhvfqe < 2019$, then\n\\[\nnhcwfzye - psagmtlr = dqrxztka + kmhvwyrb - psagmtlr > vxclprma > vxclprma - oeqrwthu.\n\\]\nIf $tgbhvfqe > 2020$, then  \n\\[\nvxclprma - oeqrwthu \\geq vxclprma - F_{tgbhvfqe-1} = F_{tgbhvfqe-2} \\geq nhcwfzye > nhcwfzye - psagmtlr.\n\\]\nSince $tgbhvfqe = 2019$ obviously forces $pxqsmrld = 1010$, the only other possible solution would be with $tgbhvfqe = 2020$.\nBut then\n\\[\n(vxclprma - oeqrwthu) - (nhcwfzye - psagmtlr)\n= (dqrxztka - oeqrwthu) + psagmtlr \n\\]\nwhich is negative for $oeqrwthu=2019$ (it equals $psagmtlr - kmhvwyrb$)\nand positive for $oeqrwthu \\leq 2018$.",
      "confidence": "0.16"
    },
    "kernel_variant": {
      "question": "Let $\\{F_m\\}_{m\\in\\mathbb Z}$ be the Fibonacci sequence defined by  \n$F_0=0,\\;F_1=1,\\;F_{m+2}=F_{m+1}+F_{m}\\;(m\\ge 0)$ and extended to all\nintegers by $F_{-m}=(-1)^{m+1}F_{m}$.\n\nFor every integer $N\\ge 0$ there is a unique real polynomial $P_N(x)$ of\ndegree $N$ that satisfies  \n  $P_N(2n+4)=F_{2n+4}\\qquad(n=0,1,\\dots ,N).$  \n\nFix $N=2022$ and set $P(x)=P_{2022}(x)$.  \nDetermine $P(4052)$ in closed form, i.e. express it\nas an explicit linear combination of Fibonacci numbers with integral\ncoefficients.\n\n(You should, in particular, prove that  \n$\\displaystyle P(4052)=F_{4052}-2024\\,F_{2027}-F_{2028}\\,.$)",
      "solution": "Step 1.  Re–centring the interpolation nodes  \nPut $Q(x)=P(x+3)$.  Then $Q$ has degree $2022$ and  \n  $Q(2n+1)=F_{2n+4}\\qquad(n=0,1,\\dots ,2022).$     (1)\n\nThus $Q$ is known at the consecutive odd integers  \n$1,3,\\dots ,4045$.\n\nMore generally, fix non-negative integers $N$ and $s$.  \nLet $q$ be the (unique) polynomial of degree $N$ satisfying  \n\n  $q(2n+1)=F_{2n+1+s}\\qquad(0\\le n\\le N).$         (2)\n\nWe shall evaluate $q(2N+5)$, i.e. two grid steps beyond the last node.\n\nStep 2.  The Newton forward–difference expansion  \nIntroduce the forward difference with step $2$,\n  $\\Delta_{2}f(x)=f(x+2)-f(x)$,  \nand set $q_0=q,\\;q_{k+1}=\\Delta_{2}q_k\\;(k\\ge0)$.\nBy an immediate induction on $k$,\n\n  $q_k(2n+1)=F_{2n+1+s+k},\\qquad \\deg q_k\\le N-k\\;(k\\le N).$     (3)\n\nIn particular $q_N$ is constant and  \n  $q_N(x)\\equiv F_{N+1+s}$.                                        (4)\n\nBecause the grid is uniform, Newton’s forward-difference formula\nwrites for every integer $n\\ge0$  \n\n  $q(2n+1)=\\sum_{r=0}^{N}\\binom{n}{r}\\,\\Delta_{2}^{\\,r}q(1)\n                              =\\sum_{r=0}^{N}\\binom{n}{r}\\,q_r(1).$     (5)\n\nWe now take $n=N+2$, i.e. $2n+1=2N+5$:\n  $q(2N+5)=\\displaystyle\\sum_{r=0}^{N}\\binom{N+2}{r}\\,q_r(1).$   (6)\n\nInsert (3) with $n=0$ to obtain  \n\n  $q(2N+5)=\\sum_{r=0}^{N}\\binom{N+2}{r}\\,F_{r+s+1}. $             (7)\n\nStep 3.  Evaluation of the binomial–Fibonacci sum  \nWrite the Binet representation\n$F_m=(\\varphi^{m}-\\psi^{m})/\\sqrt5$, $\\varphi=(1+\\sqrt5)/2$,\n$\\psi=(1-\\sqrt5)/2$.  Denote  \n\n  $S_\\varphi=\\sum_{r=0}^{N}\\binom{N+2}{r}\\,\\varphi^{\\,r+s+1}\n                 =\\varphi^{s+1}\\sum_{r=0}^{N}\\binom{N+2}{r}\\varphi^{\\,r}.$\n\nAdd the missing two terms $r=N+1,N+2$ and subtract them again:\n\n$\\displaystyle\nS_\\varphi=\\varphi^{s+1}\\Bigl[(1+\\varphi)^{N+2}\n         -(N+2)\\varphi^{N+1}-\\varphi^{N+2}\\Bigr].$\n\nBecause $\\varphi^{2}=\\varphi+1$, we have $(1+\\varphi)=\\varphi^{2}$; hence\n$(1+\\varphi)^{N+2}=\\varphi^{2N+4}$.  Consequently  \n\n$\\displaystyle\nS_\\varphi=\\varphi^{2N+s+5}-(N+2)\\varphi^{N+s+2}-\\varphi^{N+s+3}.$\n\nReplacing $\\varphi$ by $\\psi$ gives an analogous expression $S_\\psi$.\nTherefore  \n\n$\\displaystyle\nq(2N+5)=\\frac{S_\\varphi-S_\\psi}{\\sqrt5}\n       =F_{2N+5+s}-(N+2)F_{N+2+s}-F_{N+3+s}. $                    (8)\n\nStep 4.  Specialisation to $Q$  \nFor $Q$ in (1) we have $N=2022$ and $s=3$.\nFormula (8) yields  \n\n  $Q(4049)=F_{4052}-2024\\,F_{2027}-F_{2028}.$                    (9)\n\nStep 5.  Returning from $Q$ to $P$  \nBecause $Q(x)=P(x+3)$, substituting $x=4049$ gives  \n\n  $P(4052)=Q(4049)=F_{4052}-2024\\,F_{2027}-F_{2028}.$             (10)\n\nEquation (10) is the required closed form.  Since the three\ncoefficients of the Binet basis $\\{\\varphi^{2027},\\varphi^{2028}\\}$ and\nthe constant $1$ are visibly independent, the answer cannot be compressed\nto a shorter Fibonacci combination. ∎",
      "metadata": {
        "replaced_from": "harder_variant",
        "replacement_date": "2025-07-14T19:09:31.865561",
        "was_fixed": false,
        "difficulty_analysis": "1.  The evaluation point $4052$ lies {\\it two} steps beyond the\nlast interpolation node $4048$, whereas both the original\nproblem and its first kernel variant required only a one–step\nextrapolation.  This forces an additional level of finite–difference\nanalysis: after the first difference one still has to evaluate a new\npolynomial outside its range of specification.\n\n2.  To make the extrapolation workable, a non–obvious\nre–centering ($x\\mapsto x+3$) is introduced.  Without it the\nindices refuse to line up with the Fibonacci recurrence, and\na naive attempt quickly bogs down.\n\n3.  A general theorem (equation (★)) had to be proved for an\narbitrary shift $s$.  Deriving and proving this identity required a\ncascade of $N$ finite–difference operators,\na careful degree chase, and a telescoping argument;\nnone of these are needed for the original task.\n\n4.  The solution also invoked the extension of the Fibonacci sequence\nto negative indices (to guarantee the correctness of finite\ndifferences near the boundary) and used properties of sums of\nFibonacci numbers, adding another conceptual layer.\n\n5.  Overall, the solver must juggle three intertwined ideas—\nfinite differences, degree–dropping inductive interpolation, and\nclassical Fibonacci summation identities—whereas the original\nproblem could be dispatched with a single round of these tools."
      }
    },
    "descriptive_long_confusing": {
      "map": {
        "m": "waterfall",
        "n": "pineapple",
        "k": "honeycomb",
        "j": "raincloud",
        "i": "buttercup",
        "x": "dragonfly",
        "N": "starlight",
        "F_m": "monoliths",
        "F_m-1": "sandstone",
        "F_m-2": "lighthouse",
        "F_2n+1": "blueberry",
        "F_2N+3": "crystalline",
        "F_N+2": "willowtree",
        "F_N+1": "whirlwind",
        "F_N+1+j": "afterglows",
        "F_j": "pinecones",
        "F_k": "moonbeams",
        "F_j+1": "seashores",
        "F_n+1": "sunrises",
        "F_2019": "rainstorm",
        "F_1010": "evergreen",
        "F_2018": "thunderclap",
        "F_2017": "stardusts",
        "F_2020": "heartbeats",
        "F_j-1": "fireflies",
        "F_j-2": "snowflakes",
        "p": "quartzite",
        "p_k": "ironwoods",
        "p_k-1": "driftwood",
        "p_N": "waterlily",
        "p_N-k": "goldenrod",
        "p_\\gamma": "mistletoe",
        "\\alpha": "silhouette",
        "\\beta": "courtyard",
        "\\gamma": "marigolds"
      },
      "question": "Let $monoliths$ be the $waterfall$th Fibonacci number, defined by $F_1 = F_2 = 1$ and $monoliths = sandstone + lighthouse$ for all $waterfall \\geq 3$. Let $quartzite(dragonfly)$ be the polynomial of degree $1008$ such that $quartzite(2pineapple+1) = blueberry$ for $pineapple = 0,1,2,\\dots,1008$. Find integers $raincloud$ and $honeycomb$ such that $quartzite(2019) = pinecones - moonbeams$.",
      "solution": "\\noindent\n\\textbf{Solution 1.}\nWe prove that $(raincloud,honeycomb) = (2019, 1010)$ is a valid solution.\nMore generally, let $quartzite(dragonfly)$ be the polynomial of degree $starlight$ such that $quartzite(2pineapple+1) = blueberry$ for $0 \\leq pineapple \\leq starlight$. We will show that $quartzite(2starlight+3) = crystalline-willowtree$. \n\nDefine a sequence of polynomials $quartzite_0(dragonfly),\\ldots,ironwoods(dragonfly)$ by $quartzite_0(dragonfly) = quartzite(dragonfly)$ and $ironwoods(dragonfly) = driftwood(dragonfly)-driftwood(dragonfly+2)$ for $honeycomb \\geq 1$. Then by induction on $honeycomb$, it is the case that $ironwoods(2pineapple+1) = F_{2pineapple+1+honeycomb}$ for $0 \\leq pineapple \\leq starlight-honeycomb$, and also that $ironwoods$ has degree (at most) $starlight-honeycomb$ for $honeycomb \\geq 1$. Thus $waterlily(dragonfly) = whirlwind$ since $waterlily(1) = whirlwind$ and $waterlily$ is constant.\n\nWe now claim that for $0\\leq honeycomb\\leq starlight$, $goldenrod(2honeycomb+3) = \\sum_{raincloud=0}^{honeycomb} F_{starlight+1+raincloud}$. We prove this again by induction on $honeycomb$: for the induction step, we have\n\\begin{align*}\ngoldenrod(2honeycomb+3) &= goldenrod(2honeycomb+1)+ironwoods(2honeycomb+1) \\\\&= F_{starlight+1+honeycomb}+\\sum_{raincloud=0}^{honeycomb-1} F_{starlight+1+raincloud}.\n\\end{align*}\nThus we have $quartzite(2starlight+3) = quartzite_0(2starlight+3) = \\sum_{raincloud=0}^{starlight} F_{starlight+1+raincloud}$. \n\nNow one final induction shows that $\\sum_{raincloud=1}^{waterfall} F_{raincloud} = F_{waterfall+2}-1$, and so $quartzite(2starlight+3) = crystalline-willowtree$, as claimed. In the case $starlight=1008$, we thus have $quartzite(2019) = rainstorm-evergreen$.\n\n\\noindent\n\\textbf{Solution 2.}\nThis solution uses the \\emph{Lagrange interpolation formula}: given $dragonfly_0,\\dots,dragonfly_{buttercup}$ and $y_0,\\dots,y_{buttercup}$, the unique polynomial $P$ of degree at most $buttercup$ satisfying $P(dragonfly_{buttercup}) = y_{buttercup}$ for $buttercup=0,\\dots,buttercup$ is\n\\[\n\\sum_{buttercup=0}^{buttercup} P(dragonfly_{buttercup}) \\prod_{raincloud \\neq buttercup} \\frac{dragonfly-dragonfly_{raincloud}}{dragonfly_{buttercup}-dragonfly_{raincloud}} =\n\\]\nWrite\n\\[F_{waterfall} = \\frac{1}{\\sqrt{5}}(silhouette^{waterfall} - courtyard^{-waterfall}), \\qquad silhouette = \\frac{1+\\sqrt{5}}{2}, \\courtyard = \\frac{1-\\sqrt{5}}{2}.\n\\]\nFor $marigolds \\in \\mathbb{R}$, let $mistletoe(dragonfly)$ be the unique polynomial of degree at most 1008 satisfying\n\\[\n p_1(2pineapple+1) = marigolds^{2pineapple+1}, \\; p_2(2pineapple+1) = marigolds^{2pineapple+1} \\,(pineapple=0,\\dots,1008);\n\\]\nthen $quartzite(dragonfly) = \\frac{1}{\\sqrt{5}}(mistletoe_{silhouette}(dragonfly) - mistletoe_{courtyard}(dragonfly))$.\n\nBy Lagrange interpolation,\n\\begin{align*}\nmistletoe_{marigolds}(2019) &= \\sum_{pineapple=0}^{1008} marigolds^{2pineapple+1} \\prod_{0 \\leq buttercup \\leq 1008, buttercup \\neq pineapple} \\frac{2019-(2buttercup+1)}{(2pineapple+1)-(2buttercup+1)}\\\\\n&= \\sum_{pineapple=0}^{1008} marigolds^{2pineapple+1} \\prod_{0 \\leq buttercup \\leq 1008, buttercup \\neq pineapple} \\frac{1009-buttercup}{pineapple-buttercup}\\\\\n&= \\sum_{pineapple=0}^{1008} marigolds^{2pineapple+1} (-1)^{1008-pineapple} \\binom{1009}{pineapple} \\\\\n&= -marigolds \\big((marigolds^2-1)^{1009} - (marigolds^2)^{1009}\\big).\n\\end{align*}\nFor $marigolds \\in \\{silhouette, \\courtyard\\}$ we have $marigolds^2 = marigolds + 1$ and so\n\\[\nmistletoe_{marigolds}(2019) = marigolds^{2019} - marigolds^{1010}.\n\\]\nWe thus deduce that $quartzite(dragonfly) = rainstorm - evergreen$ as claimed.\n\n\\noindent\n\\textbf{Remark.}\nKarl Mahlburg suggests the following variant of this. As above, use Lagrange interpolation to write\n\\[\nquartzite(2019) = \\sum_{raincloud=0}^{1008} \\binom{1009}{raincloud} pinecones;\n\\]\nit will thus suffice to verify (by substituting $raincloud \\mapsto 1009-raincloud$) that\n\\[\n\\sum_{raincloud=0}^{1009} \\binom{1009}{raincloud} seashores = rainstorm.\n\\]\nThis identity has the following combinatorial interpretation. Recall that $F_{waterfall+1}$ counts the number of ways to tile a $1 \\times waterfall$ rectangle with $1 \\times 1$ squares and $1 \\times 2$ dominoes (see below). In any such tiling with $waterfall = 2018$, let $raincloud$ be the number of squares among the first 1009 tiles.\nThese can be ordered in $\\binom{1009}{raincloud}$ ways, and the remaining $2018 - raincloud - 2(1009-raincloud) = raincloud$ squares can be\ntiled in $seashores$ ways.\n\nAs an aside, this interpretation of $F_{waterfall+1}$ is the oldest known interpretation of the Fibonacci sequence,\nlong predating Fibonacci himself. In ancient Sanskrit, syllables were classified as long or short, and a long syllable was considered to be twice as long as a short syllable; consequently, the number of syllable patterns of total length $waterfall$ equals $F_{waterfall+1}$.\n\n\\noindent\n\\textbf{Remark.}\nIt is not difficult to show that the solution $(raincloud,honeycomb) = (2019, 2010)$ is unique (in positive integers). \nFirst, note that to have $pinecones - moonbeams > 0$, we must have $honeycomb < raincloud$.\nIf $raincloud < 2019$, then\n\\[\nrainstorm - evergreen = thunderclap + stardusts - evergreen > pinecones > pinecones - moonbeams.\n\\]\nIf $raincloud > 2020$, then  \n\\[\npinecones - moonbeams \\geq pinecones - F_{raincloud-1} = F_{raincloud-2} \\geq rainstorm > rainstorm - evergreen.\n\\]\nSince $raincloud = 2019$ obviously forces $honeycomb = 1010$, the only other possible solution would be with $raincloud = 2020$.\nBut then\n\\[\n(pinecones - moonbeams) - (rainstorm - evergreen)\n= (thunderclap - moonbeams) + evergreen \n\\]\nwhich is negative for $moonbeams=2019$ (it equals $evergreen - stardusts$)\nand positive for $moonbeams \\leq 2018$. \n"
    },
    "original_kernel_variant": {
      "question": "Let $\\{F_m\\}_{m\\in\\mathbb Z}$ be the Fibonacci sequence defined by  \n$F_0=0,\\;F_1=1,\\;F_{m+2}=F_{m+1}+F_{m}\\;(m\\ge 0)$ and extended to all\nintegers by $F_{-m}=(-1)^{m+1}F_{m}$.\n\nFor every integer $N\\ge 0$ there is a unique real polynomial $P_N(x)$ of\ndegree $N$ that satisfies  \n  $P_N(2n+4)=F_{2n+4}\\qquad(n=0,1,\\dots ,N).$  \n\nFix $N=2022$ and set $P(x)=P_{2022}(x)$.  \nDetermine $P(4052)$ in closed form, i.e. express it\nas an explicit linear combination of Fibonacci numbers with integral\ncoefficients.\n\n(You should, in particular, prove that  \n$\\displaystyle P(4052)=F_{4052}-2024\\,F_{2027}-F_{2028}\\,.$)",
      "solution": "Step 1.  Re–centring the interpolation nodes  \nPut $Q(x)=P(x+3)$.  Then $Q$ has degree $2022$ and  \n  $Q(2n+1)=F_{2n+4}\\qquad(n=0,1,\\dots ,2022).$     (1)\n\nThus $Q$ is known at the consecutive odd integers  \n$1,3,\\dots ,4045$.\n\nMore generally, fix non-negative integers $N$ and $s$.  \nLet $q$ be the (unique) polynomial of degree $N$ satisfying  \n\n  $q(2n+1)=F_{2n+1+s}\\qquad(0\\le n\\le N).$         (2)\n\nWe shall evaluate $q(2N+5)$, i.e. two grid steps beyond the last node.\n\nStep 2.  The Newton forward–difference expansion  \nIntroduce the forward difference with step $2$,\n  $\\Delta_{2}f(x)=f(x+2)-f(x)$,  \nand set $q_0=q,\\;q_{k+1}=\\Delta_{2}q_k\\;(k\\ge0)$.\nBy an immediate induction on $k$,\n\n  $q_k(2n+1)=F_{2n+1+s+k},\\qquad \\deg q_k\\le N-k\\;(k\\le N).$     (3)\n\nIn particular $q_N$ is constant and  \n  $q_N(x)\\equiv F_{N+1+s}$.                                        (4)\n\nBecause the grid is uniform, Newton’s forward-difference formula\nwrites for every integer $n\\ge0$  \n\n  $q(2n+1)=\\sum_{r=0}^{N}\\binom{n}{r}\\,\\Delta_{2}^{\\,r}q(1)\n                              =\\sum_{r=0}^{N}\\binom{n}{r}\\,q_r(1).$     (5)\n\nWe now take $n=N+2$, i.e. $2n+1=2N+5$:\n  $q(2N+5)=\\displaystyle\\sum_{r=0}^{N}\\binom{N+2}{r}\\,q_r(1).$   (6)\n\nInsert (3) with $n=0$ to obtain  \n\n  $q(2N+5)=\\sum_{r=0}^{N}\\binom{N+2}{r}\\,F_{r+s+1}. $             (7)\n\nStep 3.  Evaluation of the binomial–Fibonacci sum  \nWrite the Binet representation\n$F_m=(\\varphi^{m}-\\psi^{m})/\\sqrt5$, $\\varphi=(1+\\sqrt5)/2$,\n$\\psi=(1-\\sqrt5)/2$.  Denote  \n\n  $S_\\varphi=\\sum_{r=0}^{N}\\binom{N+2}{r}\\,\\varphi^{\\,r+s+1}\n                 =\\varphi^{s+1}\\sum_{r=0}^{N}\\binom{N+2}{r}\\varphi^{\\,r}.$\n\nAdd the missing two terms $r=N+1,N+2$ and subtract them again:\n\n$\\displaystyle\nS_\\varphi=\\varphi^{s+1}\\Bigl[(1+\\varphi)^{N+2}\n         -(N+2)\\varphi^{N+1}-\\varphi^{N+2}\\Bigr].$\n\nBecause $\\varphi^{2}=\\varphi+1$, we have $(1+\\varphi)=\\varphi^{2}$; hence\n$(1+\\varphi)^{N+2}=\\varphi^{2N+4}$.  Consequently  \n\n$\\displaystyle\nS_\\varphi=\\varphi^{2N+s+5}-(N+2)\\varphi^{N+s+2}-\\varphi^{N+s+3}.$\n\nReplacing $\\varphi$ by $\\psi$ gives an analogous expression $S_\\psi$.\nTherefore  \n\n$\\displaystyle\nq(2N+5)=\\frac{S_\\varphi-S_\\psi}{\\sqrt5}\n       =F_{2N+5+s}-(N+2)F_{N+2+s}-F_{N+3+s}. $                    (8)\n\nStep 4.  Specialisation to $Q$  \nFor $Q$ in (1) we have $N=2022$ and $s=3$.\nFormula (8) yields  \n\n  $Q(4049)=F_{4052}-2024\\,F_{2027}-F_{2028}.$                    (9)\n\nStep 5.  Returning from $Q$ to $P$  \nBecause $Q(x)=P(x+3)$, substituting $x=4049$ gives  \n\n  $P(4052)=Q(4049)=F_{4052}-2024\\,F_{2027}-F_{2028}.$             (10)\n\nEquation (10) is the required closed form.  Since the three\ncoefficients of the Binet basis $\\{\\varphi^{2027},\\varphi^{2028}\\}$ and\nthe constant $1$ are visibly independent, the answer cannot be compressed\nto a shorter Fibonacci combination. ∎",
      "metadata": {
        "replaced_from": "harder_variant",
        "replacement_date": "2025-07-14T01:37:45.657329",
        "was_fixed": false,
        "difficulty_analysis": "1.  The evaluation point $4052$ lies {\\it two} steps beyond the\nlast interpolation node $4048$, whereas both the original\nproblem and its first kernel variant required only a one–step\nextrapolation.  This forces an additional level of finite–difference\nanalysis: after the first difference one still has to evaluate a new\npolynomial outside its range of specification.\n\n2.  To make the extrapolation workable, a non–obvious\nre–centering ($x\\mapsto x+3$) is introduced.  Without it the\nindices refuse to line up with the Fibonacci recurrence, and\na naive attempt quickly bogs down.\n\n3.  A general theorem (equation (★)) had to be proved for an\narbitrary shift $s$.  Deriving and proving this identity required a\ncascade of $N$ finite–difference operators,\na careful degree chase, and a telescoping argument;\nnone of these are needed for the original task.\n\n4.  The solution also invoked the extension of the Fibonacci sequence\nto negative indices (to guarantee the correctness of finite\ndifferences near the boundary) and used properties of sums of\nFibonacci numbers, adding another conceptual layer.\n\n5.  Overall, the solver must juggle three intertwined ideas—\nfinite differences, degree–dropping inductive interpolation, and\nclassical Fibonacci summation identities—whereas the original\nproblem could be dispatched with a single round of these tools."
      }
    }
  },
  "checked": true,
  "problem_type": "proof"
}