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Contests & Programs AMC and other contests, summer programs, etc.
AMC and other contests, summer programs, etc.
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Contests & Programs AMC and other contests, summer programs, etc.
AMC and other contests, summer programs, etc.
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k a March Highlights and 2025 AoPS Online Class Information
jlacosta   0
Mar 2, 2025
March is the month for State MATHCOUNTS competitions! Kudos to everyone who participated in their local chapter competitions and best of luck to all going to State! Join us on March 11th for a Math Jam devoted to our favorite Chapter competition problems! Are you interested in training for MATHCOUNTS? Be sure to check out our AMC 8/MATHCOUNTS Basics and Advanced courses.

Are you ready to level up with Olympiad training? Registration is open with early bird pricing available for our WOOT programs: MathWOOT (Levels 1 and 2), CodeWOOT, PhysicsWOOT, and ChemWOOT. What is WOOT? WOOT stands for Worldwide Online Olympiad Training and is a 7-month high school math Olympiad preparation and testing program that brings together many of the best students from around the world to learn Olympiad problem solving skills. Classes begin in September!

Do you have plans this summer? There are so many options to fit your schedule and goals whether attending a summer camp or taking online classes, it can be a great break from the routine of the school year. Check out our summer courses at AoPS Online, or if you want a math or language arts class that doesn’t have homework, but is an enriching summer experience, our AoPS Virtual Campus summer camps may be just the ticket! We are expanding our locations for our AoPS Academies across the country with 15 locations so far and new campuses opening in Saratoga CA, Johns Creek GA, and the Upper West Side NY. Check out this page for summer camp information.

Be sure to mark your calendars for the following events:
[list][*]March 5th (Wednesday), 4:30pm PT/7:30pm ET, HCSSiM Math Jam 2025. Amber Verser, Assistant Director of the Hampshire College Summer Studies in Mathematics, will host an information session about HCSSiM, a summer program for high school students.
[*]March 6th (Thursday), 4:00pm PT/7:00pm ET, Free Webinar on Math Competitions from elementary through high school. Join us for an enlightening session that demystifies the world of math competitions and helps you make informed decisions about your contest journey.
[*]March 11th (Tuesday), 4:30pm PT/7:30pm ET, 2025 MATHCOUNTS Chapter Discussion MATH JAM. AoPS instructors will discuss some of their favorite problems from the MATHCOUNTS Chapter Competition. All are welcome!
[*]March 13th (Thursday), 4:00pm PT/7:00pm ET, Free Webinar about Summer Camps at the Virtual Campus. Transform your summer into an unforgettable learning adventure! From elementary through high school, we offer dynamic summer camps featuring topics in mathematics, language arts, and competition preparation - all designed to fit your schedule and ignite your passion for learning.[/list]
Our full course list for upcoming classes is below:
All classes run 7:30pm-8:45pm ET/4:30pm - 5:45pm PT unless otherwise noted.

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MATHCOUNTS/AMC 8 Basics
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0 replies
jlacosta
Mar 2, 2025
0 replies
k i Peer-to-Peer Programs Forum
jwelsh   157
N Dec 11, 2023 by cw357
Many of our AoPS Community members share their knowledge with their peers in a variety of ways, ranging from creating mock contests to creating real contests to writing handouts to hosting sessions as part of our partnership with schoolhouse.world.

To facilitate students in these efforts, we have created a new Peer-to-Peer Programs forum. With the creation of this forum, we are starting a new process for those of you who want to advertise your efforts. These advertisements and ensuing discussions have been cluttering up some of the forums that were meant for other purposes, so we’re gathering these topics in one place. This also allows students to find new peer-to-peer learning opportunities without having to poke around all the other forums.

To announce your program, or to invite others to work with you on it, here’s what to do:

1) Post a new topic in the Peer-to-Peer Programs forum. This will be the discussion thread for your program.

2) Post a single brief post in this thread that links the discussion thread of your program in the Peer-to-Peer Programs forum.

Please note that we’ll move or delete any future advertisement posts that are outside the Peer-to-Peer Programs forum, as well as any posts in this topic that are not brief announcements of new opportunities. In particular, this topic should not be used to discuss specific programs; those discussions should occur in topics in the Peer-to-Peer Programs forum.

Your post in this thread should have what you're sharing (class, session, tutoring, handout, math or coding game/other program) and a link to the thread in the Peer-to-Peer Programs forum, which should have more information (like where to find what you're sharing).
157 replies
jwelsh
Mar 15, 2021
cw357
Dec 11, 2023
k i C&P posting recs by mods
v_Enhance   0
Jun 12, 2020
The purpose of this post is to lay out a few suggestions about what kind of posts work well for the C&P forum. Except in a few cases these are mostly meant to be "suggestions based on historical trends" rather than firm hard rules; we may eventually replace this with an actual list of firm rules but that requires admin approval :) That said, if you post something in the "discouraged" category, you should not be totally surprised if it gets locked; they are discouraged exactly because past experience shows they tend to go badly.
-----------------------------
1. Program discussion: Allowed
If you have questions about specific camps or programs (e.g. which classes are good at X camp?), these questions fit well here. Many camps/programs have specific sub-forums too but we understand a lot of them are not active.
-----------------------------
2. Results discussion: Allowed
You can make threads about e.g. how you did on contests (including AMC), though on AMC day when there is a lot of discussion. Moderators and administrators may do a lot of thread-merging / forum-wrangling to keep things in one place.
-----------------------------
3. Reposting solutions or questions to past AMC/AIME/USAMO problems: Allowed
This forum contains a post for nearly every problem from AMC8, AMC10, AMC12, AIME, USAJMO, USAMO (and these links give you an index of all these posts). It is always permitted to post a full solution to any problem in its own thread (linked above), regardless of how old the problem is, and even if this solution is similar to one that has already been posted. We encourage this type of posting because it is helpful for the user to explain their solution in full to an audience, and for future users who want to see multiple approaches to a problem or even just the frequency distribution of common approaches. We do ask for some explanation; if you just post "the answer is (B); ez" then you are not adding anything useful.

You are also encouraged to post questions about a specific problem in the specific thread for that problem, or about previous user's solutions. It's almost always better to use the existing thread than to start a new one, to keep all the discussion in one place easily searchable for future visitors.
-----------------------------
4. Advice posts: Allowed, but read below first
You can use this forum to ask for advice about how to prepare for math competitions in general. But you should be aware that this question has been asked many many times. Before making a post, you are encouraged to look at the following:
[list]
[*] Stop looking for the right training: A generic post about advice that keeps getting stickied :)
[*] There is an enormous list of links on the Wiki of books / problems / etc for all levels.
[/list]
When you do post, we really encourage you to be as specific as possible in your question. Tell us about your background, what you've tried already, etc.

Actually, the absolute best way to get a helpful response is to take a few examples of problems that you tried to solve but couldn't, and explain what you tried on them / why you couldn't solve them. Here is a great example of a specific question.
-----------------------------
5. Publicity: use P2P forum instead
See https://artofproblemsolving.com/community/c5h2489297_peertopeer_programs_forum.
Some exceptions have been allowed in the past, but these require approval from administrators. (I am not totally sure what the criteria is. I am not an administrator.)
-----------------------------
6. Mock contests: use Mock Contests forum instead
Mock contests should be posted in the dedicated forum instead:
https://artofproblemsolving.com/community/c594864_aops_mock_contests
-----------------------------
7. AMC procedural questions: suggest to contact the AMC HQ instead
If you have a question like "how do I submit a change of venue form for the AIME" or "why is my name not on the qualifiers list even though I have a 300 index", you would be better off calling or emailing the AMC program to ask, they are the ones who can help you :)
-----------------------------
8. Discussion of random math problems: suggest to use MSM/HSM/HSO instead
If you are discussing a specific math problem that isn't from the AMC/AIME/USAMO, it's better to post these in Middle School Math, High School Math, High School Olympiads instead.
-----------------------------
9. Politics: suggest to use Round Table instead
There are important conversations to be had about things like gender diversity in math contests, etc., for sure. However, from experience we think that C&P is historically not a good place to have these conversations, as they go off the rails very quickly. We encourage you to use the Round Table instead, where it is much more clear that all posts need to be serious.
-----------------------------
10. MAA complaints: discouraged
We don't want to pretend that the MAA is perfect or that we agree with everything they do. However, we chose to discourage this sort of behavior because in practice most of the comments we see are not useful and some are frankly offensive.
[list] [*] If you just want to blow off steam, do it on your blog instead.
[*] When you have criticism, it should be reasoned, well-thought and constructive. What we mean by this is, for example, when the AOIME was announced, there was great outrage about potential cheating. Well, do you really think that this is something the organizers didn't think about too? Simply posting that "people will cheat and steal my USAMOO qualification, the MAA are idiots!" is not helpful as it is not bringing any new information to the table.
[*] Even if you do have reasoned, well-thought, constructive criticism, we think it is actually better to email it the MAA instead, rather than post it here. Experience shows that even polite, well-meaning suggestions posted in C&P are often derailed by less mature users who insist on complaining about everything.
[/list]
-----------------------------
11. Memes and joke posts: discouraged
It's fine to make jokes or lighthearted posts every so often. But it should be done with discretion. Ideally, jokes should be done within a longer post that has other content. For example, in my response to one user's question about olympiad combinatorics, I used a silly picture of Sogiita Gunha, but it was done within a context of a much longer post where it was meant to actually make a point.

On the other hand, there are many threads which consist largely of posts whose only content is an attached meme with the word "MAA" in it. When done in excess like this, the jokes reflect poorly on the community, so we explicitly discourage them.
-----------------------------
12. Questions that no one can answer: discouraged
Examples of this: "will MIT ask for AOIME scores?", "what will the AIME 2021 cutoffs be (asked in 2020)", etc. Basically, if you ask a question on this forum, it's better if the question is something that a user can plausibly answer :)
-----------------------------
13. Blind speculation: discouraged
Along these lines, if you do see a question that you don't have an answer to, we discourage "blindly guessing" as it leads to spreading of baseless rumors. For example, if you see some user posting "why are there fewer qualifiers than usual this year?", you should not reply "the MAA must have been worried about online cheating so they took fewer people!!". Was sich überhaupt sagen lässt, lässt sich klar sagen; und wovon man nicht reden kann, darüber muss man schweigen.
-----------------------------
14. Discussion of cheating: strongly discouraged
If you have evidence or reasonable suspicion of cheating, please report this to your Competition Manager or to the AMC HQ; these forums cannot help you.
Otherwise, please avoid public discussion of cheating. That is: no discussion of methods of cheating, no speculation about how cheating affects cutoffs, and so on --- it is not helpful to anyone, and it creates a sour atmosphere. A longer explanation is given in Seriously, please stop discussing how to cheat.
-----------------------------
15. Cutoff jokes: never allowed
Whenever the cutoffs for any major contest are released, it is very obvious when they are official. In the past, this has been achieved by the numbers being posted on the official AMC website (here) or through a post from the AMCDirector account.

You must never post fake cutoffs, even as a joke. You should also refrain from posting cutoffs that you've heard of via email, etc., because it is better to wait for the obvious official announcement. A longer explanation is given in A Treatise on Cutoff Trolling.
-----------------------------
16. Meanness: never allowed
Being mean is worse than being immature and unproductive. If another user does something which you think is inappropriate, use the Report button to bring the post to moderator attention, or if you really must reply, do so in a way that is tactful and constructive rather than inflammatory.
-----------------------------

Finally, we remind you all to sit back and enjoy the problems. :D

-----------------------------
(EDIT 2024-09-13: AoPS has asked to me to add the following item.)

Advertising paid program or service: never allowed

Per the AoPS Terms of Service (rule 5h), general advertisements are not allowed.

While we do allow advertisements of official contests (at the MAA and MATHCOUNTS level) and those run by college students with at least one successful year, any and all advertisements of a paid service or program is not allowed and will be deleted.
0 replies
v_Enhance
Jun 12, 2020
0 replies
k i Stop looking for the "right" training
v_Enhance   50
N Oct 16, 2017 by blawho12
Source: Contest advice
EDIT 2019-02-01: https://blog.evanchen.cc/2019/01/31/math-contest-platitudes-v3/ is the updated version of this.

EDIT 2021-06-09: see also https://web.evanchen.cc/faq-contest.html.

Original 2013 post
50 replies
v_Enhance
Feb 15, 2013
blawho12
Oct 16, 2017
BOMBARDIRO CROCODILO VS TRALALERO TRALALA
LostDreams   53
N 2 minutes ago by hashbrown2009
Source: USAJMO 2025/4
Let $n$ be a positive integer, and let $a_0,\,a_1,\dots,\,a_n$ be nonnegative integers such that $a_0\ge a_1\ge \dots\ge a_n.$ Prove that
\[
\sum_{i=0}^n i\binom{a_i}{2}\le\frac{1}{2}\binom{a_0+a_1+\dots+a_n}{2}.
\]Note: $\binom{k}{2}=\frac{k(k-1)}{2}$ for all nonnegative integers $k$.
53 replies
+2 w
LostDreams
Yesterday at 12:11 PM
hashbrown2009
2 minutes ago
MATHCOUNTS halp
AndrewZhong2012   18
N 3 minutes ago by MathematicGenius
I know this post has been made before, but I personally can't find it. I qualified for mathcounts through wildcard in PA, and I can't figure out how to do those last handful of states sprint problems that seem to be one trick ponies(2024 P28 and P29 are examples) They seem very prevalent recently. Does anyone have advice on how to figure out problems like these in the moment?
18 replies
AndrewZhong2012
Mar 5, 2025
MathematicGenius
3 minutes ago
F-ma exam and math
MathNerdRabbit103   5
N 21 minutes ago by MathNerdRabbit103
Hi guys,
Do I need to know calculus to take the F-ma exam? I am only on the intro to algebra book. Also, I want to do good on the USAPHO exam. So can I skip the waves section of HRK?
Thanks
5 replies
1 viewing
MathNerdRabbit103
Yesterday at 10:05 PM
MathNerdRabbit103
21 minutes ago
usamOOK geometry
KevinYang2.71   69
N 37 minutes ago by giratina3
Source: USAMO 2025/4, USAJMO 2025/5
Let $H$ be the orthocenter of acute triangle $ABC$, let $F$ be the foot of the altitude from $C$ to $AB$, and let $P$ be the reflection of $H$ across $BC$. Suppose that the circumcircle of triangle $AFP$ intersects line $BC$ at two distinct points $X$ and $Y$. Prove that $C$ is the midpoint of $XY$.
69 replies
KevinYang2.71
Yesterday at 12:00 PM
giratina3
37 minutes ago
Tennessee Math Tournament (TMT) Online 2025
TennesseeMathTournament   37
N an hour ago by athreyay
Hello everyone! We are excited to announce a new competition, the Tennessee Math Tournament, created by the Tennessee Math Coalition! Anyone can participate in the virtual competition for free.

The testing window is from March 22nd to April 5th, 2025. Virtual competitors may participate in the competition at any time during that window.

The virtual competition consists of three rounds: Individual, Bullet, and Team. The Individual Round is 60 minutes long and consists of 30 questions (AMC 10 level). The Bullet Round is 20 minutes long and consists of 80 questions (Mathcounts Chapter level). The Team Round is 30 minutes long and consists of 16 questions (AMC 12 level). Virtual competitors may compete in teams of four, or choose to not participate in the team round.

To register and see more information, click here!

If you have any questions, please email connect@tnmathcoalition.org or reply to this thread!

Thank you to our lead sponsor, Jane Street!

IMAGE
37 replies
TennesseeMathTournament
Mar 9, 2025
athreyay
an hour ago
2025 USA(J)MO Cutoff Predictions
KevinChen_Yay   90
N an hour ago by a_smart_alecks
What do y'all think JMO winner and MOP cuts will be?

(Also, to satisfy the USAMO takers; what about the bronze, silver, gold, green mop, blue mop, black mop?)
90 replies
+2 w
KevinChen_Yay
Yesterday at 12:33 PM
a_smart_alecks
an hour ago
high tech FE as J1?!
imagien_bad   57
N an hour ago by williamxiao
Source: USAJMO 2025/1
Let $\mathbb Z$ be the set of integers, and let $f\colon \mathbb Z \to \mathbb Z$ be a function. Prove that there are infinitely many integers $c$ such that the function $g\colon \mathbb Z \to \mathbb Z$ defined by $g(x) = f(x) + cx$ is not bijective.
Note: A function $g\colon \mathbb Z \to \mathbb Z$ is bijective if for every integer $b$, there exists exactly one integer $a$ such that $g(a) = b$.
57 replies
imagien_bad
Mar 20, 2025
williamxiao
an hour ago
lil trip to ancient egypt
ChuMath   11
N an hour ago by Craftybutterfly
Source: 2025 AMC 8 Problem #2
The table below shows the ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs that were used to represent different numbers.

(need asymptote)

For example, the number 32 was represented by (need again). What number was represented by the following combination of hieroglyphs?

(and once again)

$\textbf{(A) } 1,423\qquad\textbf{(B) } 10,423\qquad\textbf{(C) } 14,023\qquad\textbf{(D) } 14,203\qquad\textbf{(E) } 14,230$

my bad @sillysharky
11 replies
ChuMath
Jan 30, 2025
Craftybutterfly
an hour ago
USAJMO #5 - points on a circle
hrithikguy   205
N 2 hours ago by cappucher
Points $A,B,C,D,E$ lie on a circle $\omega$ and point $P$ lies outside the circle. The given points are such that (i) lines $PB$ and $PD$ are tangent to $\omega$, (ii) $P, A, C$ are collinear, and (iii) $DE \parallel AC$. Prove that $BE$ bisects $AC$.
205 replies
1 viewing
hrithikguy
Apr 28, 2011
cappucher
2 hours ago
Tidal wave jumpscare
centslordm   28
N 2 hours ago by aimestew
Source: 2024 AMC 12A #20
Points $P$ and $Q$ are chosen uniformly and independently at random on sides $\overline {AB}$ and $\overline{AC},$ respectively, of equilateral triangle $\triangle ABC.$ Which of the following intervals contains the probability that the area of $\triangle APQ$ is less than half the area of $\triangle ABC?$

$\textbf{(A) } \left[\frac 38, \frac 12\right] \qquad \textbf{(B) } \left(\frac 12, \frac 23\right] \qquad \textbf{(C) } \left(\frac 23, \frac 34\right] \qquad \textbf{(D) } \left(\frac 34, \frac 78\right] \qquad \textbf{(E) } \left(\frac 78, 1\right]$
28 replies
centslordm
Nov 7, 2024
aimestew
2 hours ago
AMC 10.........
BAM10   17
N 3 hours ago by jkim0656
I'm in 8th grade and have never taken the AMC 10. I am currently in alg2. I have scored 20 on AMC 8 this year and 34 on the chapter math counts last year. Can I qualify for AIME. Also what should I practice AMC 10 next year?
17 replies
BAM10
Mar 2, 2025
jkim0656
3 hours ago
Scary Binomial Coefficient Sum
EpicBird08   32
N 3 hours ago by plang2008
Source: USAMO 2025/5
Determine, with proof, all positive integers $k$ such that $$\frac{1}{n+1} \sum_{i=0}^n \binom{n}{i}^k$$is an integer for every positive integer $n.$
32 replies
EpicBird08
Yesterday at 11:59 AM
plang2008
3 hours ago
0 on jmo
Rong0625   42
N 3 hours ago by llddmmtt1
How many people actually get a flat 0/42 on jmo? I took it for the first time this year and I had never done oly math before so I really only had 2 weeks to figure it out since I didn’t think I would qual. I went in not expecting much but I didn’t think I wouldn’t be able to get ANYTHING. So I’m pretty sure I got 0/42 (unless i get pity points for writing incorrect solutions). Is that bad, am I sped, and should I be embarrassed? Or do other people actually also get 0?
42 replies
Rong0625
Yesterday at 12:14 PM
llddmmtt1
3 hours ago
funny title placeholder
pikapika007   50
N 3 hours ago by llddmmtt1
Source: USAJMO 2025/6
Let $S$ be a set of integers with the following properties:
[list]
[*] $\{ 1, 2, \dots, 2025 \} \subseteq S$.
[*] If $a, b \in S$ and $\gcd(a, b) = 1$, then $ab \in S$.
[*] If for some $s \in S$, $s + 1$ is composite, then all positive divisors of $s + 1$ are in $S$.
[/list]
Prove that $S$ contains all positive integers.
50 replies
pikapika007
Yesterday at 12:10 PM
llddmmtt1
3 hours ago
Base 2n of n^k
KevinYang2.71   40
N Today at 12:13 AM by awesomeming327.
Source: USAMO 2025/1, USAJMO 2025/2
Let $k$ and $d$ be positive integers. Prove that there exists a positive integer $N$ such that for every odd integer $n>N$, the digits in the base-$2n$ representation of $n^k$ are all greater than $d$.
40 replies
KevinYang2.71
Mar 20, 2025
awesomeming327.
Today at 12:13 AM
Base 2n of n^k
G H J
G H BBookmark kLocked kLocked NReply
Source: USAMO 2025/1, USAJMO 2025/2
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KevinYang2.71
407 posts
#1 • 2 Y
Y by MathRook7817, LostDreams
Let $k$ and $d$ be positive integers. Prove that there exists a positive integer $N$ such that for every odd integer $n>N$, the digits in the base-$2n$ representation of $n^k$ are all greater than $d$.
Z K Y
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bjump
986 posts
#2 • 2 Y
Y by Soccerstar9, DouDragon
Finished my write up with 20 seconds to spare :gleam:
This post has been edited 1 time. Last edited by bjump, Mar 20, 2025, 12:01 PM
Z K Y
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rhydon516
536 posts
#3
Y by
too easy for a p2...?

We claim one such $N$ is $\boxed{N=2^{k-1}(d+1)}$. Begin by letting $a_i$ be the digit at the $i$th position from the right (0-indexed) of $n^k$ in base $2n$; i.e., $a_0$ is the units digit. Obviously, $a_i=0$ for all $i\ge k$, since $n^k<(2n)^k$. We WTS $a_i>d$ for each $i=0,1,\dots,k-1$, and observe the following:
\[ a_i=\left\lfloor\frac{n^k}{(2n)^i}\right\rfloor\text{ mod }2n=\left\lfloor\frac{n^{k-i}}{2^i}\right\rfloor\text{ mod }2n=\left\lfloor\frac{n^{k-i}\text{ mod }2^{i+1}n}{2^i}\right\rfloor. \]Note that the numerator is a positive multiple of $n$, since 1) $k-i>0\implies n\mid\gcd(n^{k-i},2^{i+1}n)$ and 2)
($n$ is odd) $2^{i+1}n\nmid n^{k-i}$. Thus,
\[ a_i=\left\lfloor\frac{n^{k-i}\text{ mod }2^{i+1}n}{2^i}\right\rfloor>d \quad\iff\quad n^{k-i}\text{ mod }2^{i+1}n\ge n\ge2^i(d+1), \]which is true since $n>N=2^{k-1}(d+1)$ and $k-1\ge i$. $\square$
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BS2012
932 posts
#4
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Just take n^k mod powers of 2
Also if my solution referenced "sufficiently large n" is that ok
This post has been edited 1 time. Last edited by BS2012, Mar 20, 2025, 12:03 PM
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KevinYang2.71
407 posts
#5 • 2 Y
Y by bjump, Mathandski
We claim that $\boxed{N=d2^k}$ works.

Let $n>N$ be an odd integer and let $m$ be the number of digits of $n^k$ when written in base $2n$. Clearly we have $m\leq k$. For $1\leq i\leq m$, tet integer $0\leq r_i<(2n)^i$ be such that $n^k\equiv r_i\pmod{(2n)^i}$. Let $s_i:=\frac{r_{i+1}-r_i}{(2n)^i}$ for $1\leq i<m$ and let $s_0:=r_1$. Note that $s_i$ is an integer because $r_{i+1}\equiv r_i\pmod{(2n)^i}$. Also, $s_i$ is the $(i+1)$th digit (counting from the right) of $n^k$ when written in base $2n$, because $0\leq s_i<\frac{(2n)^{i+1}}{(2n)^i}=2n$ and
\[
\sum_{i=0}^{m-1}s_i(2n)^i=r_1+\sum_{i=1}^{m-1}(r_{i+1}-r_i)=r_m=n^k.
\]It suffices to prove that $s_i>d$ for all $i$.

Note that $s_0=r_1=n$ since $n$ is odd. Hence $r_i>0$ for all $i$. Fix $1\leq i\leq m-1$. Since $\frac{n^k-r_{i+1}}{(2n)^i}\equiv 0\pmod{2n}$ it follows that
\[
s_i\equiv\frac{r_{i+1}-r_i}{(2n)^i}+\frac{n^k-r_{i+1}}{(2n)^i}\equiv\frac{n^k-r_i}{(2n)^i}\pmod{2n}.
\]Then $n^{i+1}\mid n^k-r_i-s_i(2n)^i$ so $n^{i+1}\leq r_i+s_i(2n)^i<(2n)^i+s_i(2n)^i$ since $r_i+s_i(2n)^i\geq r_i$ is positive. Thus $s_i>\frac{n}{2^i}-1\geq 2d-1\geq d$, as desired. $\square$
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Pengu14
435 posts
#7
Y by
BS2012 wrote:
Also if my solution referenced "sufficiently large n" is that ok

I'm pretty sure that's okay.
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BS2012
932 posts
#9
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But I never actually gave an example of such N I just said in my solution "because for sufficiently large n, the result is true, such an N exists" is that a dock?
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vutukuri
79 posts
#10
Y by
If we only looked at k=1 and k=2, is that partials at least?
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Pengu14
435 posts
#11
Y by
vutukuri wrote:
If we only looked at k=1 and k=2, is that partials at least?

I doubt it.
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hashbrown2009
113 posts
#12
Y by
is it just me or were #1 and #2 kinda trivial for USAJMO?
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greenAB08
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#13
Y by
I proved that the amount of digits is $\leq k$, but annoyingly I said that $N=d\times(2^{k-1})$, which is incorrect, and that probably messed up the rest of my proof that used floors and whatever. How many points would that be?
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BS2012
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#14
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greenAB08 wrote:
I proved that the amount of digits is $\leq k$, but annoyingly I said that $N=d\times(2^{k-1})$, which is incorrect, and that probably messed up the rest of my proof that used floors and whatever. How many points would that be?

If the rest of your proof is fine, probably around 5ish

If not, then 0+
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greenAB08
14 posts
#15
Y by
Yeah the rest is fine, I just threw lol
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bjump
986 posts
#16
Y by
BS2012 wrote:
greenAB08 wrote:
I proved that the amount of digits is $\leq k$, but annoyingly I said that $N=d\times(2^{k-1})$, which is incorrect, and that probably messed up the rest of my proof that used floors and whatever. How many points would that be?

If the rest of your proof is fine, probably around 5ish

If not, then 0+

I used $N=d\cdot 2^k \cdot 1434^{1434}$ in my solution
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scannose
982 posts
#17
Y by
BS2012 wrote:
greenAB08 wrote:
I proved that the amount of digits is $\leq k$, but annoyingly I said that $N=d\times(2^{k-1})$, which is incorrect, and that probably messed up the rest of my proof that used floors and whatever. How many points would that be?

If the rest of your proof is fine, probably around 5ish

If not, then 0+

did the same thing and if i get docked to a 2 for this im going to cry
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KevinChen_Yay
203 posts
#18
Y by
rhydon516 wrote:
too easy for a p2...?

We claim one such $N$ is $\boxed{N=2^{k-1}(d+1)}$. Begin by letting $a_i$ be the digit at the $i$th position from the right (0-indexed) of $n^k$ in base $2n$; i.e., $a_0$ is the units digit. Obviously, $a_i=0$ for all $i\ge k$, since $n^k<(2n)^k$. We WTS $a_i>d$ for each $i=0,1,\dots,k-1$, and observe the following:
\[ a_i=\left\lfloor\frac{n^k}{(2n)^i}\right\rfloor\text{ mod }2n=\left\lfloor\frac{n^{k-i}}{2^i}\right\rfloor\text{ mod }2n=\left\lfloor\frac{n^{k-i}\text{ mod }2^{i+1}n}{2^i}\right\rfloor. \]Note that the numerator is a positive multiple of $n$, since 1) $k-i>0\implies n\mid\gcd(n^{k-i},2^{i+1}n)$ and 2)
($n$ is odd) $2^{i+1}n\nmid n^{k-i}$. Thus,
\[ a_i=\left\lfloor\frac{n^{k-i}\text{ mod }2^{i+1}n}{2^i}\right\rfloor>d \quad\iff\quad n^{k-i}\text{ mod }2^{i+1}n\ge n\ge2^i(d+1), \]which is true since $n>N=2^{k-1}(d+1)$ and $k-1\ge i$. $\square$

how many points if i had the same exact sol but...
1. did the same thing as BS2012 (my solution referenced the bound for n instead of saying for N), but did write in the conclusion sentence that "N obviously existed", and
2. in the conclusion sentence also wrote that considering $a_i=0$ for each $i$ would still show that $N$ exists even tho the sol was already sufficient assuming that $a_i>d$ anyway? (for this one, in other words, do the graders actually care about an unnecessary/slightly off sentence I wrote after a solution that would've probably gotten a 7?)
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plang2008
327 posts
#19 • 1 Y
Y by Mathandski
Fix $k$. Define $r_k = 1$ and $r_{i-1}$ to be the remainder when $nr_i$ is divided by $2^{i-1}$. Notice that $r_1 = 0$ and $r_i$ is odd for $i \neq 1$. Then, we claim that \[n^k = \sum_{i=1}^k \left(\frac{r_i n - r_{i-1}}{2^{i-1}}\right) \cdot (2n)^{i-1}.\]Indeed, notice that this sum equals $\sum_{i=1}^k (r_i n^i - r_{i-1} n^{i-1}) = r_k n^k = n^k$ since it telescopes. Now notice by definition of $(r_i)$, each coefficient of $(2n)^{i-1}$ is an integer. Also, since $r_i < 2(2^{i-1})$, each coefficient is between $0$ and $2n - 1$. Thus, the above sum is simply a base-$2n$ representation of $n^k$.

Finally, since $r_{i-1} < 2^{i-1}$, we have \[\frac{r_i n - r_{i-1}}{2^{i-1}} > \frac{r_i n}{2^{i-1}} - 1 \geq \frac{n}{2^{i-1}} - 1.\]Clearly, as $n$ becomes arbitrarily large, the lower bound of each digit becomes arbitrarily large as well.
This post has been edited 1 time. Last edited by plang2008, Mar 20, 2025, 4:26 PM
Reason: r_1 not r_0
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EpicBird08
1740 posts
#20
Y by
Feeling kinda dumb after reading the above solutions :blush:

Define the function $g_n (x) = 2n \{x\}.$ We start with the following:
Claim: For all $m \ge 2$ we have $$n^k = \sum_{i=1}^{m-1} (2n)^{k-i} \left\lfloor g_n^{i-1} \left(\frac{n}{2^{k-1}}\right) \right\rfloor + (2n)^{k-m+1} \left\{ g_n^{m-2} \left(\frac{n}{2^{k-1}}\right) \right\}$$
Proof: By induction on $m.$ The base case $m=2$ is because $$(2n)^{k-1} \left(\left\lfloor \frac{n}{2^{k-1}}\right\rfloor + \left\{ \frac{n}{2^{k-1}}\right\}\right) = (2n)^{k-1} \cdot \frac{n}{2^{k-1}} = n^k.$$Now for the inductive step, we have
\begin{align*}
 (2n)^{k-m+1} \left\{ g_n^{m-2} \left(\frac{n}{2^{k-1}}\right) \right\} &= (2n)^{k-m} \cdot 2n \left\{ g_n^{m-2} \left(\frac{n}{2^{k-1}}\right) \right\} \\
  &= (2n)^{k-m} g_n^{m-1} \left(\frac{n}{2^{k-1}}\right) \\
  &= (2n)^{k-m} \left\lfloor g_n^{m-1} \left(\frac{n}{2^{k-1}}\right) \right\rfloor + (2n)^{k-m} \left\{ g_n^{m-1} \left(\frac{n}{2^{k-1}}\right) \right\}.
\end{align*}Plugging this into the inductive hypothesis completes the induction.

Using $m = k+1$ in the above claim gives $$n^k = \sum_{i=1}^{k} (2n)^{k-i} \left\lfloor g_n^{i-1} \left(\frac{n}{2^{k-1}}\right) \right\rfloor + \left\{ g_n^{k-1} \left(\frac{n}{2^{k-1}}\right) \right\}.$$Every term to the left of the rightmost term is an integer, so the rightmost term is also an integer. However, since $0 \le \{x\} < 1$ for all $x \in \mathbb{R},$ it must be $0.$ This gives us $$\boxed{n^k = \sum_{i=1}^{k} (2n)^{k-i} \left\lfloor g_n^{i-1} \left(\frac{n}{2^{k-1}}\right) \right\rfloor}.$$We have $$\left\lfloor g_n^{i-1} \left(\frac{n}{2^{k-1}}\right) \right\rfloor < 2n$$since $g(x) < 2n$ for all $x.$ Thus the boxed equation gives the unique base $2n$ representation of $n^k.$

Claim: We have that $2^{k-i-1} g_n^{i} \left(\frac{n}{2^{k-1}}\right)$ is an odd integer, for all $0 \le i \le k-2.$

Proof: Again by induction, this time on $i.$ The base case $i=0$ is trivial as $n$ is odd. For the inductive step, we have $g_n^i \left(\frac{n}{2^{k-1}}\right) = \frac{z}{2^{k-i-1}}$ for some odd integer $z,$ so $$2^{k-i-2} g_n^{i+1} \left(\frac{n}{2^{k-1}}\right) = 2^{k-i-1} n \left\{\frac{z}{2^{k-i-1}}\right\} = 2^{k-i-1} n \left(\frac{z}{2^{k-i-1}} - \left\lfloor \frac{z}{2^{k-i-1}} \right\rfloor \right).$$This is $$nz - 2^{k-i-1} n \left\lfloor \frac{z}{2^{k-i-1}} \right\rfloor.$$The last term is even for $i < k-1,$ and the first term is odd since $n$ and $z$ are odd. This completes the induction.

Now, when $i = 1,$ we have $$\left\lfloor g_n^{i-1} \left(\frac{n}{2^{k-1}}\right) \right\rfloor = \left\lfloor\frac{n}{2^{k-1}}\right\rfloor,$$so assume $i \ge 2.$ Then we have
\begin{align*}
 \left\lfloor g_n^{i-1} \left(\frac{n}{2^{k-1}}\right) \right\rfloor &= \left\lfloor 2n \left\{g_n^{i-2} \left(\frac{n}{2^{k-1}}\right) \right\}\right\rfloor \\
 &\ge \left\lfloor 2n \cdot \frac{1}{2^{k-i+1}}\right\rfloor \\
 &= \left\lfloor \frac{n}{2^{k-i}} \right\rfloor
\end{align*}since any odd positive integer is at least $1.$ Therefore, the $i$th digit from the left in the base $2n$ representation of $n^k$ is at least $\left\lfloor \frac{n}{2^{k-i}}\right\rfloor.$ Taking $n > (d+1) \cdot 2^{k-1}$ finishes.
This post has been edited 1 time. Last edited by EpicBird08, Mar 20, 2025, 12:51 PM
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BS2012
932 posts
#21
Y by
How many points would this get:

Let $m=\lfloor k\log_{2n}(n)\rfloor+1$ be the number of digits in $n^k$ when expressed in base $2n.$ Note that
$$m=\left\lfloor k\left(\dfrac{\ln(n)}{\ln(n)+\ln(2)}\right)\right\rfloor+1.$$Note that $\frac{\ln(n)}{\ln(n)+\ln(2)}<1$ but $\displaystyle \lim_{n\to\infty}\frac{\ln(n)}{\ln(n)+\ln(2)}=1,$ so for sufficiently large $n$ we have that $m=k-1+1=k.$ Thus, we can just assume that going forward.

Let $a_0,a_1,\dots,a_{k-1}$ be the unique sequence of integers between $0$ and $2n-1$ inclusive such that
$$n^k=\displaystyle \sum_{i=0}^{k-1}a_{i}(2n)^{i}.$$Then, let $b_0,b_1,\dots,b_{k-1}$ be defined as
$$b_i=\displaystyle \sum_{c=0}^{i}a_{c}(2n)^{c}.$$Note that $b_{k-1}=n^k.$

Claim: $b_i\ge n^{i+1}.$ This is obviously true for $i=k-1,$ and for $0\le i<k-1,$ we have
$$b_i\equiv n^k\pmod {(2n)^{i+1}},$$so
$$b_i=n^k-r(2n)^{i+1}=n^{i+1}(n^{k-i-1}-r(2)^{i+1})$$for some integer $r.$ However, we have that $n^{k-i-1}$ is odd, $r(2)^{i+1}$ is even, and $b_i$ is nonnegative (would i get pts off for saying positive in contest?), so we have $n^{k-i-1}-r(2)^{i+1}\ge 1$ (might've accidentally said greater than here) and $b_i\ge n^{i+1}.$

Then, since $b_i$ is an $i$ digit base $2n$ number, we have that $b_i<(2n)^i.$ Then, we have for $i>0$ that
$$(2n)^i a_i=b_{i}-b_{i-1}>n^{i+1}-(2n)^i,$$so
$$a_i\ge \dfrac{n}{2^i}-1.$$For sufficiently large $n$ we have
$$a_i\ge \dfrac{n}{2^i}-1>d.$$If $i=0,$ we have for sufficiently large $n$
$$a_0=b_0\ge n>d,$$so the desired result is true for sufficiently large $n.$ Thus, such an $N$ exists, and we are done.
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Ilikeminecraft
302 posts
#23
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$N > (d+1)\cdot2^{k - 1}$ works
Claim:
For all sufficiently large $n,$ $n^k$ has exactly $k$ digits.
Proof:
Note that $N > 2^{k - 1}.$
Furthermore,
\begin{align*}
            \text{\# of digits} & = 1+\lfloor\log_{2n}(n^k)\rfloor \\
            & = 1 + \lfloor k \log_{2n}(n)\rfloor \\
            & = 1 + \lfloor k(1 - \log_{2n}(2))\rfloor 
        \end{align*}Also note that $0 < \log_{2n}(2) < \frac 1k$ from the bound $N > 2^{k - 1}.$ This finishes.

Let $n^k = \overline{a_{k - 1}\dots a_1a_0}.$

Let $0 \leq \ell < k.$
Claim:
$a_{\ell} = \left\lfloor \frac{n^k}{(2n)^{\ell}}\right\rfloor - 2n\cdot\left\lfloor \frac{n^k}{(2n)^{\ell + 1}}\right\rfloor $
Proof:
Note that:
\begin{align*}
            \left\lfloor\frac{n^k}{(2n)^{\ell}}\right\rfloor & = \left\lfloor\frac{\sum_{j = 0}^{k - 1} a_j (2n)^{j}}{(2n)^\ell}\right\rfloor \\
            & = \left\lfloor\sum_{j = \ell}^{k - 1}a_j(2n)^{j - \ell} + \sum_{j = 0}^{\ell - 1}a_j(2n)^{j - \ell}\right\rfloor \\ 
            & = \sum_{j = \ell}^{k - 1}a_j(2n)^{j - \ell}
        \end{align*}where the last equality is since that sum is obviously an integer and the other sum is obviously less than 1.

Hence,
\begin{align*}
            a_j & = \sum_{j = \ell}^{k - 1}a_j(2n)^{j - \ell} - 2n\cdot\sum_{j = \ell + 1}^{k - 1}a_j(2n)^{j - \ell - 1} \\
            & = \left\lfloor \frac{n^k}{(2n)^{\ell}}\right\rfloor - 2n\cdot\left\lfloor \frac{n^k}{(2n)^{\ell -1}}\right\rfloor 
        \end{align*}Now, we can finish.

Next, note that $\left\{\frac{n^k}{(2n)^{\ell + 1}}\right\} = \left\{\frac{n^{k- \ell + 1}}{2^{\ell + 1}}\right\} \geq \frac1{2^{\ell+1}} \geq \frac1{2^{k}}$ where the first inequality follows from $n$ being odd, and the second follows from $\ell < k.$

Now, pick some $N > (d + 1)\cdot 2^{k - 1}.$ From the first claim, we have:
\begin{align*}
        a_\ell & = \left\lfloor \frac{n^k}{(2n)^{\ell}}\right\rfloor - 2n\cdot\left\lfloor \frac{n^k}{(2n)^{\ell+1}}\right\rfloor \\
        & = \left\lfloor \frac{n^k}{(2n)^{\ell}}-2n\cdot \left\lfloor\frac{n^k}{(2n)^{\ell+1}}\right\rfloor\right\rfloor \\
        & = \left\lfloor2n\cdot\left\{\frac{n^k}{(2n)^{\ell+1}}\right\}\right\rfloor \\
        & \geq\left\lfloor\frac{2n}{2^k}\right\rfloor \\
        & \geq d + 1
    \end{align*}
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arfekete
246 posts
#24
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Claim 1: The base $2n$ representation of $n^k$ has at most $k$ digits.
Proof: Suppose $n^k$ had at least $k + 1$ digits. Then the least value of $n^k$ would be $100000\cdots$ ($k$ $0$s) $= (2n)^k$, which would imply $n^k \geq (2n)^k \to 1 \geq 2^k$ which is absurd since $k$ is positive.
Claim 2: The $m$th digit of $n^k$ from the right in base $2n$ is greater than $\frac{n}{(2)^{m-1}} - 1$.
Proof: By claim 1, $k \geq m$. Since we are working in base $2n$, the $m$th digit from the right will be equal to $\frac{p_{m} - p_{m-1}}{(2n)^{m-1}}$, where $p_m$ is the unique positive integer $0 \leq p_m < (2n)^m$ for which $p_m \equiv n^k \pmod{(2n)^m}$. $p_{m-1}$ is defined analogously. Since $m \leq k$, we have $n^m | n^k$ so by Chinese Remainder Theorem (note that CRT is applicable since $n$ is odd so $\gcd{(2^m, n^m)} = 1$), $p_m = q_mn^m$ for some $q_m \geq 1$ ($q_m = 0$ is impossible since then $n^k$ would be even). We are given by definition that $q_{m-1} < (2n)^{m - 1}$ so: $$\frac{p_m - p_{m-1}}{(2n)^{(m-1)}} > \frac{p_m}{(2n)^{(m-1)}} - 1 = \frac{q_mn^m}{2^{m-1}n^{m-1}} - 1 \geq \frac{n^m}{2^{m-1}n^{m-1}} - 1 = \frac{n}{2^{m-1}} - 1$$as desired.
Claim 3: $N = (d+1)2^{k-1}$ is sufficient \newline
Proof: Let $b_m$ be the nth digit from the right. Since we have $b_m > \frac{n}{2^{m - 1}} - 1$ and $m \leq k$, it follows that $b_m > \frac{n}{2^{k-1}} - 1$ $\forall m \in \{1, 2, \dots, k\}$, so letting $n > N = (d + 1)2^{k - 1}$, we get that $b_m > \frac{n}{2^{k-1}} - 1 > \frac{(d+1)2^{k-1}}{2^{k-1}} - 1 = d$, as desired.

This was what I wrote originally but when I had a bit of extra time I added a forth page:

In case this is needed: Proof that $b_m = \frac{p_m-p_{m-1}}{(2n)^{m-1}}$: We have that $$n^k = \sum_{i=1}^{k}b_i \cdot2^{i-1} = \sum_{i=1}^{k}\frac{p_i-p_{i-1}}{2^{i-1}} \cdot2^{i-1} = \sum_{i=1}^{k}{p_m-p_{m-1}} = p_k-p_0$$by telescoping. \newline $p_0 = 0$ since $(2n)^{0} = 1$ and $n^k \equiv 0 \pmod{1}$. \newline $p_k = n^k$ since $(2n)^k > n^k$ and $n^k \equiv n^k \pmod {(2n)^k}$. Therefore, our formula produces the right value as desired. Since there is a unique way to write $n^k$ in base $2n$, it remains to prove that each term of this formula is an integer. Since $p_m \equiv n^k \pmod{(2n)^m}$ and $(2n)^{m-1} | (2n)^m$, we have that $p_m \equiv n^k \pmod{(2n)^{m-1}}$. $p_{m-1} \equiv n^k \pmod{(2n)^{m-1}}$ by definition, so $p_m - p_{m-1} \equiv 0 \pmod{(2n)^{m-1}}$ and $\frac{p_m - p_{m-1}}{(2n)^{(m-1)}}$ is an integer, as desired.
This post has been edited 2 times. Last edited by arfekete, Mar 20, 2025, 1:28 PM
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v_Enhance
6866 posts
#25 • 5 Y
Y by GrantStar, OronSH, MathRook7817, NaturalSelection, NicoN9
The problem actually doesn't have much to do with digits: the idea is to pick any length $\ell \le k$, and look at the rightmost $\ell$ digits of $n^k$; that is, the remainder upon division by $(2n)^\ell$. We compute it exactly:

Claim: Let $n \ge 1$ be an odd integer, and $k \ge \ell \ge 1$ integers. Then \[ n^k \bmod{(2n)^i} = c(k,\ell) \cdot n^i \]for some odd integer $1 \le c(k,\ell) \le 2^\ell-1$.
Proof. This follows directly by the Chinese remainder theorem, with $c(k,\ell)$ being the residue class of $n^{-k} \pmod{2^\ell}$ (which makes sense because $n$ was odd). $\blacksquare$
In particular, for the $\ell$th digit from the right to be greater than $d$, it would be enough that \[ c(k,\ell) \cdot n^\ell \ge (d+1) \cdot (2n)^{\ell-1}. \]But this inequality holds whenever $n \ge (d+1) \cdot 2^{\ell-1}$.
Putting this together by varying $\ell$, we find that for all odd \[ n \ge (d+1) \cdot 2^{k-1} \]we have that
  • $n^k$ has $k$ digits in base-$2n$; and
  • for each $\ell = 1, \dots, k$, the $\ell$\textsuperscript{th} digit from the right is at least $d+1$
so the problem is solved.

Remark: Note it doesn't really mater that $c(k,i)$ is odd per se; we only need that $c(k,i) \ge 1$.
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OronSH
1727 posts
#26 • 3 Y
Y by GrantStar, ihatemath123, Sleepy_Head
We claim $N=2^{k-1}(d+1)$ works. Suppose the $r$th digit from the right is $\le d$, where clearly $r\le k$. Then \[\frac{d+1}{2n}>\left\{\frac{n^k}{(2n)^r}\right\}=\left\{\frac{n^{k-r}}{2^r}\right\}\ge\frac1{2^r}\ge\frac1{2^k},\]failing at $n>N$ as desired.
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S.Das93
706 posts
#27
Y by
I messed it up and got $2^{k-1}*d+1$ does this still work or not
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ihatemath123
3439 posts
#29 • 1 Y
Y by OronSH
@above although i think that N is going to fail, it should be a 0 pt deduction bc of how close it is?

Here's a more 'conceptual' solution. We take $\boxed{N = (d+1) \cdot 2^{k-1}}$.

Dividing $n^k$ by $(2n)^k$ shifts it $k$ digits right, leaving us with $(\tfrac{1}{2})^k$. It suffices to show that the first $k$ digits after the decimal point are all greater than $d$.

Claim: For any number $x$, consider a digit $d$ in its base $2n$ representation. When we halve $x$, the digit $d$ is replaced by either $d \to \lfloor \tfrac{d}{2} \rfloor$ or $d \to \lfloor \tfrac{d}{2} \rfloor + n$.
Proof: This is apparent from interpreting half of $x$ as $x \cdot 0.b_{\text{base } 2b}$, and carrying out the column multiplication. In particular, note that since $0 \leq d \leq 2n-1$, $\lfloor \tfrac{d}{2} \rfloor + n$ is also at most $2n-1$.

When we repeatedly divide by $2$ for $k$ iterations, each of the first $k$ digits after the decimal point, while initially $0$, will become $n$ in one of the iterations. For each digit, after $0 \to n$, there are at most $k-1$ iterations remaining. Any digit is at least (the floor of) half of its previous value in one iteration, as established in the claim, so after all the iterations, the value of the digit is at least
\[\left \lfloor \frac{n}{2^{k-1}} \right \rfloor \geq \left \lfloor \frac{N}{2^{k-1}} \right \rfloor > d.\]remark
This post has been edited 1 time. Last edited by ihatemath123, Mar 20, 2025, 1:45 PM
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cushie27
11 posts
#30
Y by
greenAB08 wrote:
I proved that the amount of digits is $\leq k$, but annoyingly I said that $N=d\times(2^{k-1})$, which is incorrect, and that probably messed up the rest of my proof that used floors and whatever. How many points would that be?

I think that’s very insignificant because it’s not really a part of the main step for the floor solution, at least for the way I did it. (maybe -1 at max)

For me, I used floor and remainders as well but I did not know how to phrase it properly in the language of induction… so I just said “we have the same problem with index shifted one down, so repeat the same process.” Does anyone know if this will be a big issue?
This post has been edited 2 times. Last edited by cushie27, Mar 20, 2025, 2:16 PM
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BS2012
932 posts
#32
Y by
Ok so I used $b_i$ as $n^k$ mod $(2n)^{i+1}$ (not exactly, but i proved that for my definition of $b_i$ that this is true) and i accidentally said that $b_i$ is positive instead of nonnegative. This does not impact the other steps in my solution.

Also, I got it down to $b_i=n^{i+1}(n^{k-i-1}-r(2)^{i+1})$ and it is clear that $n^{k-i-1}$ is odd and $r(2)^{i+1}$ is even, so I concluded that since $b_i$ is "positive" (nonnegative), that $n^{k-i-1}-r(2)^{i+1}\ge 1.$ Unfortunately, I may have said greater than instead of greater than or equal to. However, this also does not impact my claim since I had intended to do $\ge.$

How many points would be deducted?

EDIT: $b_i$ is in fact positive, and my solution kind of made it clear why by doing $b_i\equiv n^k\pmod{(2n)^{i+1}}.$ It should be obvious from this... right?
This post has been edited 3 times. Last edited by BS2012, Mar 20, 2025, 2:20 PM
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scannose
982 posts
#33
Y by
@above none possibly
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MathJams
3228 posts
#34
Y by
Does this work?
Let $N=2^k(d+1)$, so $(2n)^{k-1}<n^k<(2n)^k$. Then, the base $2n$ representation of $n^k$ is in the form $c_{k-1}c_{k-2}\dots c_0$. Assume FTSOC that $c_j\leq d$. Then, $$n^k=\sum_{j+1}^{k-1} c_i(2n)^i + c_j(2n)^j + \sum_{0}^{j-1} c_i(2n)^i.$$Taking both sides mod $n^{j+1}$, we have $0\equiv c_j(2n)^j +  \sum_{0}^{j-1} c_i(2n)^i$. However, $$c_j(2n)^j +  \sum_{0}^{j-1} c_i(2n)^i\leq d(2n)^j+(2n)^j-1 < (d+1)(2n)^j.$$This means, $$(d+1)(2n)^j = n^j(2^j\cdot (d+1))< n^{j+1}.$$Thus, we must have $c_j(2n)^j + \sum_{0}^{j-1} c_i(2n)^i = 0$. Then, $n^k=\sum_{j+1}^{k-1} c_i(2n)^i$. Taking both sides mod $2$ gives a contradiction as desired.
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Mathandski
720 posts
#35 • 2 Y
Y by ihatemath123, dolphinday
Really short solution (omitted some details):

We claim each digit of $n^k$ is at least $\lfloor \frac{n}{2^{k-1}}  \rfloor$. We do this by induction on $k$.

When we multiply each digit $d$ by $n$. The amount that carries over $\lfloor \frac{nd}{2n}  \rfloor = \lfloor \frac{d}{2}  \rfloor$ while the amount that stays is $n$ or $0$. Note that $\lfloor \frac{n}{2^{k}}  \rfloor \le \lfloor \frac{d}{2}  \rfloor < n$ Therefore, the digits after multiplying $n^{k}$ with $n$ are less than $2n$ and at least $\lfloor \frac{n}{2^{k}} \rfloor$ as desired.

Taking $N = (d+1) 2^{k-1}$ suffices.
This post has been edited 3 times. Last edited by Mathandski, Mar 20, 2025, 2:38 PM
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mop
4053 posts
#36
Y by
do i lose points if i said that n>2^(k-1)d+2^(k-1)-1
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eg4334
614 posts
#37
Y by
sketch:
-n^k has k digits sufficiently large n
-the leading digit is floor(n/2^k-1)
-induct on k and show that the remaining digits take the form n^(k-1) * n mod 2^k-1 or somethiing like that
-use induct hypothesis to win
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greenAB08
14 posts
#38
Y by
cushie27 wrote:

I think that’s very insignificant because it’s not really a part of the main step for the floor solution, at least for the way I did it. (maybe -1 at max)

For me, I used floor and remainders as well but I did not know how to phrase it properly in the language of induction… so I just said “we have the same problem with index shifted one down, so repeat the same process.” Does anyone know if this will be a big issue?

Honestly it might be, I found that that was the crux of the proof. My induction was a little sketchy as well
This post has been edited 1 time. Last edited by greenAB08, Mar 20, 2025, 3:08 PM
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cursed_tangent1434
552 posts
#39
Y by
Very sus solution here. We prove the result on induction on $k$ (for all $d$). When $k=1$, $n_{2n}=n$ so for all $d \in \mathbb{N}$ there exists sufficiently large $N$ such that for all $n>N$ the digits of $n$ are greater than $d$.

Now, say the digits of $n^k$ in base $2n$ are,
\[n^k_{2n} = \overline{a_1a_2\dots a_r}\]Then,
\[2n^{k+1}_{2n} = \overline{a_1a_2\dots a_r0}\]
Now, we show the following pretty obvious claim.

Claim : If all digits of the positive integer $X$ are greater than $2z$ then all digits of $\lfloor\frac{X}{2}\rfloor$ (excluding possibly the last digit) are at least $z$.

Proof : We simply consider dividing $X$ by $2$. If a digit is even, its halve will be written which must be greater than $z$. If a digit is odd, its halve is written and a carry over of 1 is taken to the next place. Then, the halve of $2n+a$ will be written in the next place where $a$ is the number in this place which is clearly at least $z$ if $a>2z$. This process continues until the division is complete and it follows that all digits (except possibly the last if the final digit of $X$ is odd) will be at least $z$.

Now, applying this to $2n^{k+1}$, if we pick sufficiently large $n$ such that all digits of $n^k_{2n}$ are greater than $2d$ and $n>d$, then all the digits of $n^{k+1}$ will be greater than $d$ (the final digit must be $n$ since $n^{k}$ is odd (as $n$ is odd)). Thus, the induction is complete and the result follows.
This post has been edited 1 time. Last edited by cursed_tangent1434, Mar 20, 2025, 3:45 PM
Reason: minor details
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Bole
574 posts
#41
Y by
cursed_tangent1434 wrote:
Very sus solution here. We prove the result on induction on $k$ (for all $d$). When $k=1$, $n_{2n}=n$ so for all $d \in \mathbb{N}$ there exists sufficiently large $N$ such that for all $n>N$ the digits of $n$ are greater than $d$.

Now, say the digits of $n^k$ in base $2n$ are,
\[n^k_{2n} = \overline{a_1a_2\dots a_r}\]Then,
\[2n^{k+1}_{2n} = \overline{a_1a_2\dots a_r0}\]
Now, we show the following pretty obvious claim.

Claim : If all digits of the positive integer $X$ are greater than $2z$ then all digits of $\lfloor\frac{X}{2}\rfloor$ (excluding possibly the last digit) are at least $z$.

Proof : We simply consider dividing $X$ by $2$. If a digit is even, its halve will be written which must be greater than $z$. If a digit is odd, its halve is written and a carry over of 1 is taken to the next place. Then, the halve of $2n+a$ will be written in the next place where $a$ is the number in this place which is clearly at least $z$ if $a>2z$. This process continues until the division is complete and it follows that all digits (except possibly the last if the final digit of $X$ is odd) will be at least $z$.

Now, applying this to $2n^{k+1}$, if we pick sufficiently large $n$ such that all digits of $n^k_{2n}$ are greater than $2d$ and $n>d$, then all the digits of $n^{k+1}$ will be greater than $d$ (the final digit must be $n$ since $n^{k}$ is odd (as $n$ is odd)). Thus, the induction is complete and the result follows.

This is basically identical to what I did in contest :coolspeak:
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YaoAOPS
1497 posts
#42
Y by
Solution in contest was basically fix $n \equiv e \pmod{2^k}$, then write
\[
n^k = \frac{f_{k-1}}{2^{k-1}} (2n)^{k-1} + \dots + \frac{f_1}{2} \cdot (2n) + f_0
\]where $f_i$ are nonconstant linear integer polynomials such that $2^k \mid f_i(e)$ with $f_i(n) < 2^{i+1} \cdot n$ for large $n$.
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deduck
171 posts
#44
Y by
Notice the digits (except units digit which is $n$ and first digit is $\lfloor \frac{n}{2^{k-1}} \rfloor$) are of the form
$$\frac{an-b}{2^x},$$where $1 \le x \le k-2$, $1 \le a \le 2^x$, and $1 \le b \le 2^{x-1}$. ($a,b$ change on the choice of $x$)

Then $2^{k-1}(d+1)$ wins.


stupid problem gets me confused between $>$ and $\ge$
This post has been edited 4 times. Last edited by deduck, Thursday at 10:58 PM
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MathLuis
1460 posts
#45 • 3 Y
Y by KevinYang2.71, OronSH, megarnie
We claim that $N=2^{k-1}(d+1)$ just works because if the rightmost digit $r \le k$ happend to be $\le d$ then:
\[ \frac{d+1}{2n}> \left\{ \frac{n^k}{(2n)^r} \right\}=\left\{\frac{n^{k-r}}{2^r} \right\}>\frac{1}{2^r} \ge \frac{1}{2^k} \]Which happens only when $(d+1)2^{k-1}>n$ and thus we are done :cool:.
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DouDragon
1731 posts
#46 • 1 Y
Y by ihatemath123
ihatemath123 wrote:
@above although i think that N is going to fail, it should be a 0 pt deduction bc of how close it is?

Here's a more 'conceptual' solution. ...

This was basically my solution, except I spent 4 pages formalizing details. :skull: I really need to cut down
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sepehr2010
102 posts
#47
Y by
Denote $a_{v,k}$ as the first $v$ digits of $n^k$ base $2n$. Notice that the $s$th digit of $n^k$ base $2n$ is simply $\frac{n^k \mod (2n)^s - a_{s-1,k}}{(2n)^{s-1}}$.

By basic mod properties, $n^k \mod (2n)^s = n^s (n^{k-s} \mod 2^s)$, which has a minimum value of $n^s$ as $n$ is odd.

Claim: It is sufficient for $N = 2^{k-1}(d+1)$.

Proof: Notice that at $s = k$, $\frac{n^k \mod (2n)^k - a_{k-1,k}}{(2n)^{k-1}}$, and for our hypothesis to be true, $\frac{n^k \mod (2n)^k - a_{k-1,k}}{(2n)^{k-1}} > d$. Since the left hand side is integer, it is minimized when it is equal to $d+1$. After some minimal computation, we find this to be true.

Notice that this is also trivially the most harsh bound.
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awesomeming327.
1669 posts
#48 • 2 Y
Y by VicKmath7, KevinYang2.71
We will prove an even stronger form of the problem: let $n^k$ have base-$2n$ representation of
\[n^k=d_{k-1}(2n)^{k-1}+d_{k-2}(2n)^{k-2}+\ldots+d_1(2n)+d_0\]where $0\le d_i\le 2n-1$ for all $i$. We'll show that there exists a positive integer $N$ such that for all $n\ge N$, $d_{i}>d$ for all $i$. In short, we are adding possible leading zeroes to the base-$2n$ representation.

Let $N=(d+1)2^{k-1}$. Let $r_a(b)$, read the reduction of $b \pmod {a}$ denote the integer in $0\le c\le b-1$ such that $b\equiv c\pmod a$. Then the digit $d_i$ of $n^k$ will largely decided by $r_{(2n)^{i+1}}(n^k)$. Since $n^k\equiv 0\pmod {n^{i+1}}$, $n^{i+1}\mid r_{(2n)^{i+1}}(n^k)$. Since $n$ is odd, the reduction is not zero, so it is at least $n^{i+1}$.

We have
\[n^{i+1}\le d_i(2n)^i+d_{i-1}(2n)^{i-1}+\dots+d_1(2n)+d_0<(d_i+1)(2n)^i=(d_i+1)2^in^i\]which rearranges to $d_i>n/2^i-1\ge (d+1)-1=d$. We are done.
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