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k a May Highlights and 2025 AoPS Online Class Information
jlacosta   0
May 1, 2025
May is an exciting month! National MATHCOUNTS is the second week of May in Washington D.C. and our Founder, Richard Rusczyk will be presenting a seminar, Preparing Strong Math Students for College and Careers, on May 11th.

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[*]May 21st, 4:00pm PT/7:00pm ET, Mathcamp 2025 Qualifying Quiz Part 2 Math Jam, Problems 5 and 6, Canada/USA Mathcamp staff will discuss solutions to Problems 5 and 6 of the 2025 Mathcamp Qualifying Quiz![/list]
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0 replies
jlacosta
May 1, 2025
0 replies
k i Adding contests to the Contest Collections
dcouchman   1
N Apr 5, 2023 by v_Enhance
Want to help AoPS remain a valuable Olympiad resource? Help us add contests to AoPS's Contest Collections.

Find instructions and a list of contests to add here: https://artofproblemsolving.com/community/c40244h1064480_contests_to_add
1 reply
dcouchman
Sep 9, 2019
v_Enhance
Apr 5, 2023
k i Zero tolerance
ZetaX   49
N May 4, 2019 by NoDealsHere
Source: Use your common sense! (enough is enough)
Some users don't want to learn, some other simply ignore advises.
But please follow the following guideline:


To make it short: ALWAYS USE YOUR COMMON SENSE IF POSTING!
If you don't have common sense, don't post.


More specifically:

For new threads:


a) Good, meaningful title:
The title has to say what the problem is about in best way possible.
If that title occured already, it's definitely bad. And contest names aren't good either.
That's in fact a requirement for being able to search old problems.

Examples:
Bad titles:
- "Hard"/"Medium"/"Easy" (if you find it so cool how hard/easy it is, tell it in the post and use a title that tells us the problem)
- "Number Theory" (hey guy, guess why this forum's named that way¿ and is it the only such problem on earth¿)
- "Fibonacci" (there are millions of Fibonacci problems out there, all posted and named the same...)
- "Chinese TST 2003" (does this say anything about the problem¿)
Good titles:
- "On divisors of a³+2b³+4c³-6abc"
- "Number of solutions to x²+y²=6z²"
- "Fibonacci numbers are never squares"


b) Use search function:
Before posting a "new" problem spend at least two, better five, minutes to look if this problem was posted before. If it was, don't repost it. If you have anything important to say on topic, post it in one of the older threads.
If the thread is locked cause of this, use search function.

Update (by Amir Hossein). The best way to search for two keywords in AoPS is to input
[code]+"first keyword" +"second keyword"[/code]
so that any post containing both strings "first word" and "second form".


c) Good problem statement:
Some recent really bad post was:
[quote]$lim_{n\to 1}^{+\infty}\frac{1}{n}-lnn$[/quote]
It contains no question and no answer.
If you do this, too, you are on the best way to get your thread deleted. Write everything clearly, define where your variables come from (and define the "natural" numbers if used). Additionally read your post at least twice before submitting. After you sent it, read it again and use the Edit-Button if necessary to correct errors.


For answers to already existing threads:


d) Of any interest and with content:
Don't post things that are more trivial than completely obvious. For example, if the question is to solve $x^{3}+y^{3}=z^{3}$, do not answer with "$x=y=z=0$ is a solution" only. Either you post any kind of proof or at least something unexpected (like "$x=1337, y=481, z=42$ is the smallest solution). Someone that does not see that $x=y=z=0$ is a solution of the above without your post is completely wrong here, this is an IMO-level forum.
Similar, posting "I have solved this problem" but not posting anything else is not welcome; it even looks that you just want to show off what a genius you are.

e) Well written and checked answers:
Like c) for new threads, check your solutions at least twice for mistakes. And after sending, read it again and use the Edit-Button if necessary to correct errors.



To repeat it: ALWAYS USE YOUR COMMON SENSE IF POSTING!


Everything definitely out of range of common sense will be locked or deleted (exept for new users having less than about 42 posts, they are newbies and need/get some time to learn).

The above rules will be applied from next monday (5. march of 2007).
Feel free to discuss on this here.
49 replies
ZetaX
Feb 27, 2007
NoDealsHere
May 4, 2019
Circle is tangent to circumcircle and incircle
ABCDE   74
N 2 minutes ago by zuat.e
Source: 2016 ELMO Problem 6
Elmo is now learning olympiad geometry. In triangle $ABC$ with $AB\neq AC$, let its incircle be tangent to sides $BC$, $CA$, and $AB$ at $D$, $E$, and $F$, respectively. The internal angle bisector of $\angle BAC$ intersects lines $DE$ and $DF$ at $X$ and $Y$, respectively. Let $S$ and $T$ be distinct points on side $BC$ such that $\angle XSY=\angle XTY=90^\circ$. Finally, let $\gamma$ be the circumcircle of $\triangle AST$.

(a) Help Elmo show that $\gamma$ is tangent to the circumcircle of $\triangle ABC$.

(b) Help Elmo show that $\gamma$ is tangent to the incircle of $\triangle ABC$.

James Lin
74 replies
ABCDE
Jun 24, 2016
zuat.e
2 minutes ago
Division on 1989
mistakesinsolutions   3
N 16 minutes ago by reni_wee
Prove that for positive integer $n$ greater than $3,$ $n^{n^{n^n}} - n^{n^n}$ is divisible by $1989.$
3 replies
mistakesinsolutions
Jun 14, 2023
reni_wee
16 minutes ago
exponential diophantine in integers
skellyrah   0
24 minutes ago
find all integers x,y,z such that $$ 45^x = 5^y + 2000^z $$
0 replies
skellyrah
24 minutes ago
0 replies
Easy Geo Regarding Euler Line
USJL   12
N 26 minutes ago by Ilikeminecraft
Source: 2021 Taiwan TST Round 2 Independent Study 1-G
Let $ABCD$ be a convex quadrilateral with pairwise distinct side lengths such that $AC\perp BD$. Let $O_1,O_2$ be the circumcenters of $\Delta ABD, \Delta CBD$, respectively. Show that $AO_2, CO_1$, the Euler line of $\Delta ABC$ and the Euler line of $\Delta ADC$ are concurrent.

(Remark: The Euler line of a triangle is the line on which its circumcenter, centroid, and orthocenter lie.)

Proposed by usjl
12 replies
USJL
Apr 7, 2021
Ilikeminecraft
26 minutes ago
3^n + 61 is a square
VideoCake   24
N an hour ago by maromex
Source: 2025 German MO, Round 4, Grade 11/12, P6
Determine all positive integers \(n\) such that \(3^n + 61\) is the square of an integer.
24 replies
+1 w
VideoCake
Yesterday at 5:14 PM
maromex
an hour ago
A sharp one with 3 var (3)
mihaig   1
N an hour ago by aaravdodhia
Source: Own
Let $a,b,c\geq0$ satisfying
$$\left(a+b+c-2\right)^2+8\leq3\left(ab+bc+ca\right).$$Prove
$$a^2+b^2+c^2+5abc\geq8.$$
1 reply
mihaig
2 hours ago
aaravdodhia
an hour ago
Lines AD, BE, and CF are concurrent
orl   49
N an hour ago by Ilikeminecraft
Source: IMO Shortlist 2000, G3
Let $O$ be the circumcenter and $H$ the orthocenter of an acute triangle $ABC$. Show that there exist points $D$, $E$, and $F$ on sides $BC$, $CA$, and $AB$ respectively such that \[ OD + DH = OE + EH = OF + FH\] and the lines $AD$, $BE$, and $CF$ are concurrent.
49 replies
orl
Aug 10, 2008
Ilikeminecraft
an hour ago
Is this F.E.?
Jackson0423   1
N 2 hours ago by jasperE3

Let the set \( A = \left\{ \frac{f(x)}{x} \;\middle|\; x \neq 0,\ x \in \mathbb{R} \right\} \) be finite.
Find all functions \( f: \mathbb{R} \to \mathbb{R} \) satisfying the following condition for all real numbers \( x \):
\[
f(x - 1 - f(x)) = f(x) - x - 1.
\]
1 reply
Jackson0423
4 hours ago
jasperE3
2 hours ago
IMO Shortlist 2014 N2
hajimbrak   31
N 2 hours ago by Sakura-junlin
Determine all pairs $(x, y)$ of positive integers such that \[\sqrt[3]{7x^2-13xy+7y^2}=|x-y|+1.\]
Proposed by Titu Andreescu, USA
31 replies
hajimbrak
Jul 11, 2015
Sakura-junlin
2 hours ago
Permutations of Integers from 1 to n
Twoisntawholenumber   76
N 2 hours ago by maromex
Source: 2020 ISL C1
Let $n$ be a positive integer. Find the number of permutations $a_1$, $a_2$, $\dots a_n$ of the
sequence $1$, $2$, $\dots$ , $n$ satisfying
$$a_1 \le 2a_2\le 3a_3 \le \dots \le na_n$$.

Proposed by United Kingdom
76 replies
1 viewing
Twoisntawholenumber
Jul 20, 2021
maromex
2 hours ago
Another right angled triangle
ariopro1387   5
N 2 hours ago by aaravdodhia
Source: Iran Team selection test 2025 - P7
Let $ABC$ be a right angled triangle with $\angle A=90$.Let $M$ be the midpoint of $BC$, and $P$ be an arbitrary point on $AM$. The reflection of $BP$ over $AB$ intersects lines $AC$ and $AM$ at $T$ and $Q$, respectively. The circumcircles of $BPQ$ and $ABC$ intersect again at $F$. Prove that the center of the circumcircle of $CFT$ lies on $BQ$.
5 replies
ariopro1387
May 25, 2025
aaravdodhia
2 hours ago
trigonometric inequality
MATH1945   8
N 2 hours ago by mihaig
Source: ?
In triangle $ABC$, prove that $$sin^2(A)+sin^2(B)+sin^2(C) \leq \frac{9}{4}$$
8 replies
MATH1945
May 26, 2016
mihaig
2 hours ago
Inequality
srnjbr   5
N 2 hours ago by mihaig
For real numbers a, b, c and d that a+d=b+c prove the following:
(a-b)(c-d)+(a-c)(b-d)+(d-a)(b-c)>=0
5 replies
srnjbr
Oct 30, 2024
mihaig
2 hours ago
IMO 2014 Problem 4
ipaper   170
N 3 hours ago by lpieleanu
Let $P$ and $Q$ be on segment $BC$ of an acute triangle $ABC$ such that $\angle PAB=\angle BCA$ and $\angle CAQ=\angle ABC$. Let $M$ and $N$ be the points on $AP$ and $AQ$, respectively, such that $P$ is the midpoint of $AM$ and $Q$ is the midpoint of $AN$. Prove that the intersection of $BM$ and $CN$ is on the circumference of triangle $ABC$.

Proposed by Giorgi Arabidze, Georgia.
170 replies
ipaper
Jul 9, 2014
lpieleanu
3 hours ago
Nasty Floor Sum with Omega Function
Kezer   10
N Apr 25, 2025 by Ilikeminecraft
Source: Bulgaria 1989, Evan Chen's Summation Handout
Let $\Omega(n)$ denote the number of prime factors of $n$, counted with multiplicity. Evaluate \[ \sum_{n=1}^{1989} (-1)^{\Omega(n)}\left\lfloor \frac{1989}{n} \right \rfloor. \]
10 replies
Kezer
Jul 15, 2017
Ilikeminecraft
Apr 25, 2025
Nasty Floor Sum with Omega Function
G H J
Source: Bulgaria 1989, Evan Chen's Summation Handout
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Kezer
986 posts
#1 • 4 Y
Y by Binomial-theorem, Adventure10, superpi, cubres
Let $\Omega(n)$ denote the number of prime factors of $n$, counted with multiplicity. Evaluate \[ \sum_{n=1}^{1989} (-1)^{\Omega(n)}\left\lfloor \frac{1989}{n} \right \rfloor. \]
This post has been edited 3 times. Last edited by Kezer, Jul 15, 2017, 12:55 PM
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Tintarn
9045 posts
#2 • 2 Y
Y by Adventure10, cubres
Do you really mean the upper summation bound of the dummy variable $n$ to be a function of the dummy variable $n$?
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Kezer
986 posts
#3 • 2 Y
Y by Adventure10, cubres
Uhm, sorry, I typo'd, it should read $1989$.

Edit: And I missed the factor $(-1)^{\Omega(n)}$, wow.
This post has been edited 1 time. Last edited by Kezer, Jul 15, 2017, 10:19 AM
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Kezer
986 posts
#4 • 3 Y
Y by Binomial-theorem, Adventure10, cubres
Nevermind, I got it, so I suppose I could post the solution real quick as well.

Note that \begin{align*} \sum_{n=1}^{1989} (-1)^{\Omega(n)}\left\lfloor \frac{1989}{n} \right \rfloor &= \sum_{n=1}^{1989} (-1)^{\Omega(n)} \sum_{\substack{m \leq 1989  \\n \mid m}} 1
\\ &= \sum_{n=1}^{1989} \sum_{\substack{m \leq 1989  \\n \mid m}} (-1)^{\Omega(n)}
\\ &= \sum_{m=1}^{1989} \sum_{n \mid m} (-1)^{\Omega(n)}
\\ &= \sum_{n=1}^{1989} \sum_{d \mid n} (-1)^{\Omega(d)}.
\end{align*}The last line only since I like these variables better, heh. Let $\lambda(n)=(-1)^{\Omega(n)}$ [which is called the Liouville Function] then we can see that $\lambda$ is multiplicative, as $\Omega(ab)=\Omega(a)+\Omega(b)$. But by Dirichlet Convolution \[ \sum_{d \mid n} \lambda(d) = \lambda \ast \textbf{1} \]we can see that $\sum_{d \mid n} \lambda(d)$ is also multiplicative. So it suffices to look at prime powers $p^e$. It's now easy to conclude that \[ \sum_{d \mid n} \lambda(d)= \begin{cases} 1 \text{, if } n \text{ is a perfect square}
\\ 0 \text{, else.} \end{cases}\]So it suffices to count the number of perfect squares smaller than $1989$ and well $44^2<1989<45^2$, hence the answer is $44$.
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Spectator
657 posts
#5 • 1 Y
Y by cubres
Note that $(-1)^{\Omega(n)}$ is multiplicative. We have that
\[\displaystyle\sum_{n=1}^{1989}{(-1)^{\Omega(n)}\lfloor\frac{1989}{n}\rfloor} = \displaystyle\sum_{n=1}^{1989}{\displaystyle\sum_{n\mid m, m\leq 1989}{(-1)^{\Omega(n)}}}\]We can switch the order of the summation to make it
\[\displaystyle\sum_{m=1}^{1989}{\displaystyle\sum_{n\mid m}{(-1)^{\Omega(n)}}} = \displaystyle\sum_{m=1}^{1989}{\textbf{1}*(-1)^{\Omega(n)}}\]Because $(-1)^{\Omega(n)}$ is multiplicative, $\textbf{1}*(-1)^{\Omega(n)}$ must also be multiplicative. For a prime power $p^{k}$, note $\textbf{1}*(-1)^{\Omega(p^{k})}$ is $1$ if $k$ is even, and $0$ if $k$ is odd. Thus, we have that $\textbf{1}*(-1)^{\Omega(n)}$ is $1$ if $n$ is a square and $0$ otherwise.
\[\displaystyle\sum_{m=1}^{1989}{\textbf{1}*(-1)^{\Omega(n)}} = \lfloor\sqrt{1989}\rfloor = \boxed{44}\]
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blueprimes
360 posts
#6 • 1 Y
Y by cubres
We have
$$\sum_{n = 1}^{1989} (-1)^{\Omega(n)} \left \lfloor \frac{1989}{n} \right \rfloor = \sum_{n = 1}^{1989} (-1)^{\Omega(n)} \sum_{n \mid k, ~ k \le 1989} 1 = \sum_{k \ge 1}^{1989} \sum_{n \mid k} (-1)^{\Omega(n)}.$$Now let $k = p_1^{e_1} p_2^{e_2} \dots p_x^{e_x}$ where $p_i$ are distinct primes and $e_i$ are positive integers. Since $(-1)^{\Omega(n)}$ is mutiplicative, we have
$$\sum_{n \mid k} (-1)^{\Omega(n)} = \left(\sum_{n \mid p_1^{e_1}} (-1)^{\Omega(n)} \right) \left(\sum_{n \mid p_2^{e_2}} (-1)^{\Omega(n)} \right) \dots \left(\sum_{n \mid p_x^{e_x}} (-1)^{\Omega(n)} \right).$$If at least one of the $e_i$ is odd, the sum is $0$. On the other hand, if all $e_i$ are even, the sum is $1$. Then the final sum counts the number of perfect squares between $1$ and $1989$ inclusive, which is $44$.
This post has been edited 1 time. Last edited by blueprimes, May 3, 2024, 11:39 AM
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dolphinday
1329 posts
#7 • 1 Y
Y by cubres
The answer is \(44\).

We can rewrite
\[
\sum_{n=1}^{1989} (-1)^{\Omega(n)}\left\lfloor \frac{1989}{n} \right\rfloor = \sum_{n=1}^{1989} \sum_{m \mid n} (-1)^{\Omega(m)}.
\]We will now show that
\[
\sum_{m \mid n} (-1)^{\Omega(m)} = 1
\]if \(n\) is a square and \(0\) if \(n\) is not a square. Notice that if \(n\) is not a square, it has an even number of divisors, so we can partition the divisors of \(n\) into groups \(\left(\prod_i p_i^{e_i}, p_k \prod_i p_i^{e_i}\right)\). Notice that each group has sum \(0\) because one of them has one more prime divisor than the other. If \(n\) is a square, then we can do the same thing but with \(\frac{n}{p_i}\) for some \(p_i \mid n\). Then \( (-1)^{\Omega(n)} = 1\), so the sum is \(1\). So summing from \(n = 1\) to \(1989\) is just the number of squares less than \(1989\), which is \(44\).
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ihategeo_1969
242 posts
#8 • 1 Y
Y by cubres
Ok so we have \begin{align*}
\sum_{n=1}^{1989} (-1)^{\Omega(n)} \left\lfloor \frac{1989}{n} \right\rfloor &=\sum_{n=1}^{1989} (-1)^{\Omega(n)} \sum_{\substack{n \mid m \\ m \leq 1989}} 1\\
&=\sum_{m=1}^{1989} \sum_{n \mid m} (-1)^{\Omega(n)}
\end{align*}Now see that the inner function is basically $(-1)^{\Omega} \ast \mathbf 1$ and both are multiplicative functions and hence their Dirichlet convulation is also a multiplicative function; and now we can check easily that \[\sum_{n \mid m} (-1)^{\Omega(n)}= \begin{cases} 1 \text{ if $m$ perfect square} \\ 0 \text{ otherise} \end{cases}\]This basically gives us that the answer is $ \left\lfloor1989 \right\rfloor=\boxed{44}$.
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cubres
119 posts
#9
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Solution
This post has been edited 1 time. Last edited by cubres, Apr 3, 2025, 1:54 PM
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lpieleanu
3006 posts
#10
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Solution
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Ilikeminecraft
662 posts
#11
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\begin{align*}
    \sum_{k = 1}^{1989} (-1)^{\Omega(k)}\left\lfloor\frac {1989}k\right\rfloor & = \sum_{k = 1}^{1989} \sum_{\substack{k \mid m \\ m\leq 1989}}(-1)^{\Omega(k)} \\
    & = \sum_{m = 1}^{1989} \sum_{k\mid m}(-1)^{\Omega(k)}
\end{align*}I claim that $\sum\limits_{k\mid m}(-1)^{\Omega(k)} = 0$ unless $m$ is a perfect square, which makes it 1. This can be done by pairing $d$ and $\frac md.$ Thus, we are done. The answer is $44.$
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