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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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0 replies
jlacosta
May 1, 2025
0 replies
Something weird with this one FE in integers (probably challenging, maybe not)
Gaunter_O_Dim_of_math   1
N 12 minutes ago by Rayanelba
Source: Pang-Cheng-Wu, FE, problem number 52.
During FE problems' solving I found a very specific one:

Find all such f that f: Z -> Z and for all integers a, b, c
f(a^3 + b^3 + c^3) = f(a)^3 + f(b)^3 + f(c)^3.

Everything what I've got is that f is odd, f(n) = n or -n or 0
for all n from 0 to 11 (just bash it), but it is very simple and do not give the main idea.
I actually have spent not so much time on this problem, but definitely have no clue. As far as I see, number theory here or classical FE solving or advanced methods, which I know, do not work at all.
Is here a normal solution (I mean, without bashing and something with a huge number of ugly and weird inequalities)?
Or this is kind of rubbish, which was put just for bash?
1 reply
Gaunter_O_Dim_of_math
2 hours ago
Rayanelba
12 minutes ago
USAMO 1985 #2
Mrdavid445   6
N 19 minutes ago by anticodon
Determine each real root of \[x^4-(2\cdot10^{10}+1)x^2-x+10^{20}+10^{10}-1=0\]correct to four decimal places.
6 replies
Mrdavid445
Jul 26, 2011
anticodon
19 minutes ago
Balkan MO 2022/1 is reborn
Assassino9931   7
N an hour ago by Rayvhs
Source: Bulgaria EGMO TST 2023 Day 1, Problem 1
Let $ABC$ be a triangle with circumcircle $k$. The tangents at $A$ and $C$ intersect at $T$. The circumcircle of triangle $ABT$ intersects the line $CT$ at $X$ and $Y$ is the midpoint of $CX$. Prove that the lines $AX$ and $BY$ intersect on $k$.
7 replies
Assassino9931
Feb 7, 2023
Rayvhs
an hour ago
Inequality with rational function
MathMystic33   3
N an hour ago by ariopro1387
Source: Macedonian Mathematical Olympiad 2025 Problem 2
Let \( n > 2 \) be an integer, \( k > 1 \) a real number, and \( x_1, x_2, \ldots, x_n \) be positive real numbers such that \( x_1 \cdot x_2 \cdots x_n = 1 \). Prove that:

\[
\frac{1 + x_1^k}{1 + x_2} + \frac{1 + x_2^k}{1 + x_3} + \cdots + \frac{1 + x_n^k}{1 + x_1} \geq n.
\]
When does equality hold?
3 replies
MathMystic33
4 hours ago
ariopro1387
an hour ago
No more topics!
All prime factors under 8
qwedsazxc   23
N Apr 22, 2025 by Giant_PT
Source: 2023 KMO Final Round Day 2 Problem 4
Find all positive integers $n$ satisfying the following.
$$2^n-1 \text{ doesn't have a prime factor larger than } 7$$
23 replies
qwedsazxc
Mar 26, 2023
Giant_PT
Apr 22, 2025
All prime factors under 8
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G H BBookmark kLocked kLocked NReply
Source: 2023 KMO Final Round Day 2 Problem 4
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qwedsazxc
167 posts
#1 • 1 Y
Y by DEKT
Find all positive integers $n$ satisfying the following.
$$2^n-1 \text{ doesn't have a prime factor larger than } 7$$
This post has been edited 1 time. Last edited by qwedsazxc, Mar 26, 2023, 6:56 AM
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seojun8978
73 posts
#2
Y by
I took the test and I solved this problem. It needs some long calculations but they are not that hard. The answer seems to be 1,2,3,4,6
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Tintarn
9042 posts
#3 • 4 Y
Y by seojun8978, rightways, ljwn357, Assassino9931
Solution
This post has been edited 1 time. Last edited by Tintarn, Mar 26, 2023, 7:00 AM
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seojun8978
73 posts
#4 • 1 Y
Y by Tintarn
Tintarn wrote:
Solution
Nice Solution!! It's like 20 times shorter than my solution.
But.. Do you mean except?(expect)
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qwedsazxc
167 posts
#5
Y by
This was the easiest one on the test, probably everyone solved this.
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seojun8978
73 posts
#6 • 1 Y
Y by GuvercinciHoca
qwedsazxc wrote:
This was the easiest one on the test, probably everyone solved this.

Yes it's true. This would have been easier than geometry if there was one.
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Seungjun_Lee
526 posts
#7
Y by
seojun8978 wrote:
qwedsazxc wrote:
This was the easiest one on the test, probably everyone solved this.

Yes it's true. This would have been easier than geometry if there was one.

I think the geometry problem was as easy as this and maybe a little easier(on day 1)
This post has been edited 2 times. Last edited by Seungjun_Lee, Mar 26, 2023, 1:51 PM
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pokmui9909
185 posts
#8
Y by
I'm very curious about the prize cut. I heard there are a lot of participants who solved $4, 5$ problems.
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Seungjun_Lee
526 posts
#9
Y by
pokmui9909 wrote:
I'm very curious about the prize cut. I heard there are a lot of participants who solved $4, 5$ problems.

I did not take the test but it seems that 2 problems are given
Maybe really perfect 2problems or just 3problems will be honorable mention award
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IAmTheHazard
5001 posts
#10 • 2 Y
Y by megarnie, centslordm
Trivial by Zsigmondy
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Tintarn
9042 posts
#11
Y by
IAmTheHazard wrote:
Trivial by Zsigmondy
I agree that the problem is trivial and my first thought when I saw the problem was also Zsigmondy, but now I am quite certain that there is no detailed solution with Zsigmondy that is shorter than my elementary one in #3. (After all, there is no way around checking the small cases.)
This post has been edited 1 time. Last edited by Tintarn, Mar 26, 2023, 5:14 PM
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rightways
868 posts
#12
Y by
$Lemma:$

If $n>1$, then the greatest prime divisor of $2^n-1$ is greater than the greatest prime divisor of $n$.

Proof:

Let $p|n$ is greatest prime divisor of $n$, then for some prime $q$:
$q|2^p-1|2^n-1$, then $q>p$ because $p=ord_2(q)$. But $q$ is also a divisor of $2^n-1$, so it is not greater than gpd of $2^n-1$.

Now, in problem, by lemma we have that $7$ is greater than any prime divisor of $n$ , so we can write $n=2^a3^b5^c$ and we can easily finish problem by proving this $c<1$ and $b<2$ and $a<3$
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rightways
868 posts
#13
Y by
Can you post KJMO day 2 problems?
qwedsazxc wrote:
Find all positive integers $n$ satisfying the following.
$$2^n-1 \text{ doesn't have a prime factor larger than } 7$$
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qwedsazxc
167 posts
#14
Y by
rightways wrote:
Can you post KJMO day 2 problems?
qwedsazxc wrote:
Find all positive integers $n$ satisfying the following.
$$2^n-1 \text{ doesn't have a prime factor larger than } 7$$

There isn't a KJMO day 2. Final KMO contestants are picked from the people who excelled KMO 2nd round or KJMO 2nd round. I had the chance to take the Final KMO because I got a silver award from the KJMO I took on November 2022.
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hectorleo123
344 posts
#15
Y by
qwedsazxc wrote:
Find all positive integers $n$ satisfying the following.
$$2^n-1 \text{ doesn't have a prime factor larger than } 7$$
$2^2-1=2$
$2^3-1=7$
$2^4-1=3\times 5$
$gcd(2,1)=1$
By Zsigmondy's Theorem:
$\Rightarrow \exists$ prime $p \neq 2,3,5,7 / p|2^n-1, \forall n>4$
$\Rightarrow n\le 4$
But there is an exception $n=6$
$\Rightarrow n=1,2,3,4$ and $6$ are the only values that satisfy the condition $_\blacksquare$
This post has been edited 1 time. Last edited by hectorleo123, May 19, 2023, 1:48 AM
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Aiden-1089
293 posts
#16
Y by
It is easy to check that $n=1,2,3,4,6$ works. We claim that these are the only solutions.
Clearly $2 \nmid 2^n-1$. By Zsigmondy's theorem, any other $n$ would lead to $2^n-1$ having a prime divisor $p$ where $p \neq 3$ (because $3 \mid 2^2-1$), $5$ (because $5 \mid 2^4-1$), $7$ (because $7 \mid 2^3-1$). Since $p>7$, $n$ does not satisfy the condition.
This post has been edited 1 time. Last edited by Aiden-1089, Mar 26, 2024, 4:32 AM
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cursed_tangent1434
634 posts
#17 • 1 Y
Y by GeoKing
Me when this actually appeared on our National Olympiad. We claim that the only answers are $2,3,4$ and $6$. It is easy to see that these solutions indeed work. Now, we show that there are no other solutions.

We use the well known lemma that for all $d\mid n$ for positive integers $n$,
\[a^d - b^d \mid a^n - b^n\]for all positive integers $a,b$ extensively through out this solution. We first constrict the divisors of $n$.

Claim : There exists no prime divisor $p >3$ of $n$.
Proof : Say there exists such a prime factor $p$ of $n$. Then,
\[2^p -1 \mid 2^n-1\]and since $2^n-1$ has no prime factor larger than 7, this implies that $2^p-1$ also satisfies the same property. But, it is easy to see that $2 \nmid 2^n-1$ for any $n$, $3\mid 2^n-1$ only for even $n$, $5\mid 2^n-1$ only for $4\mid n$ and $7\mid 2^n-1$ only for $3\mid n$. Since $p>3$, this means that none of these prime factors can divide $2^p-1$ implying that it has a prime factor larger than 7, which is a clear contradiction. This proves the claim.

Now, we also note that,
\[2^8-1 = 255=3 \times 5 \times 17\]so, $8 \nmid n$ (since then $17 \mid 2^n-1$), and also
\[2^9 -1 = 511 = 7 \times 73\]so $9 \nmid n$ as well. This implies that $12 \mid n$ so $n \in \{1,2,3,4,6,12\}$. Now, we can simply check all these possibilities and see that they all work except for $1$ (which we exclude for conventional reasons) and $12$ (which we exclude since $2^{12}-1= 3^2 \times 5 \times 7 \times 13$ so $13$ is a prime factor), which implies that the solution set is indeed as claimed.
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kub-inst
31 posts
#18
Y by
If $n$ satisfies the limit, then we can let $2^n-1=3^a\cdot 5^b\cdot 7^c$
Since$$3||(2^2-1),$$$$5||(2^4-1),$$$$7||(2^3-1)$$Then through LTE we can know that :
If $2|n,a=v_3(2^n-1)=v_3(\frac n2)+1\leq \log_3\frac n2+1.$
If $4|n,b=v_5(2^n-1)=v_5(\frac n4)+1\leq \log_5\frac n4+1.$
If $3|n,c=v_7(2^n-1)=v_7(\frac n3)+1\leq \log_7\frac n3+1.$
Hence, $$2^n-1=3^a\cdot 5^b\cdot 7^c\leq 3^{\log_3\frac n2+1}\cdot 5^{\log_5\frac n4+1}\cdot 7^{\log_7\frac n3+1}=\frac{85n^3}{24}$$(If $a, b$ or $c=0$, the inequality above is still ture evidently.)
Since $n\in \mathbb{N}^+,$ the inequality above requires $n\leq12$.
We can verify that the original statement is TRUE only when $n=1,2,3,4,6$ .$\square$
This post has been edited 1 time. Last edited by kub-inst, Jun 5, 2024, 6:03 AM
Reason: mistyped
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Scilyse
387 posts
#20
Y by
Zsigmondeez nuts
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Eka01
204 posts
#21
Y by
By Zsigmondy, every $n$ gives a new prime factor apart from a small few (like greater than 10 or smth, dont have the energy to recall the edge cases). Then just check the few cases by hand.
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alexanderhamilton124
397 posts
#22
Y by
7 | 2^3 - 1 ==> we done by zsigmondy
This post has been edited 1 time. Last edited by alexanderhamilton124, Jan 9, 2025, 3:34 AM
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RedFireTruck
4223 posts
#24
Y by
n=1 gives 1
n=2 gives 3
n=3 gives 7
n=4 gives 15=3*5
n=6 gives 63=3*3*7

by zsigmondy theorem, every other 2^n-1 must have a prime factor other than 3,5,7 so this is all
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Ihatecombin
60 posts
#25
Y by
L.T.E also works here, even with brain dead level bounding one only needs to check until $n=14$.
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Giant_PT
34 posts
#26
Y by
Almost trivial by Zsigmondy :(
We can see that the smallest $n$ for which $3|2^{n}-1$, $5|2^{n}-1$, and $7|2^{n}-1$ are $2$, $4$ and $3$ respectively. Also, we have the exceptional case when $n=6$, so by just checking small values of $n$, we see that $n=1,2,3,4,6$ are the only solutions.
This post has been edited 2 times. Last edited by Giant_PT, Apr 22, 2025, 3:41 PM
Reason: Typos
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