IMO 2009 Shortlist A6

Suppose that s1,s2,s3,... is a strictly increasing sequence of positive integers such that the subsequences ss1, ss2, ss...

IMO 2009 Shortlist A6

Category: Algebra

Problem

Suppose that s1,s2,s3,... is a strictly increasing sequence of positive integers such that the subsequences ss1, ss2, ss3, ... and ss1+1, ss2+1, ss3+1, ... are both arithmetic progressions. Prove that s1,s2,s3,... is itself an arithmetic progression.