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k a My Retirement & New Leadership at AoPS
rrusczyk   1571
N Mar 26, 2025 by SmartGroot
I write today to announce my retirement as CEO from Art of Problem Solving. When I founded AoPS 22 years ago, I never imagined that we would reach so many students and families, or that we would find so many channels through which we discover, inspire, and train the great problem solvers of the next generation. I am very proud of all we have accomplished and I’m thankful for the many supporters who provided inspiration and encouragement along the way. I'm particularly grateful to all of the wonderful members of the AoPS Community!

I’m delighted to introduce our new leaders - Ben Kornell and Andrew Sutherland. Ben has extensive experience in education and edtech prior to joining AoPS as my successor as CEO, including starting like I did as a classroom teacher. He has a deep understanding of the value of our work because he’s an AoPS parent! Meanwhile, Andrew and I have common roots as founders of education companies; he launched Quizlet at age 15! His journey from founder to MIT to technology and product leader as our Chief Product Officer traces a pathway many of our students will follow in the years to come.

Thank you again for your support for Art of Problem Solving and we look forward to working with millions more wonderful problem solvers in the years to come.

And special thanks to all of the amazing AoPS team members who have helped build AoPS. We’ve come a long way from here:IMAGE
1571 replies
rrusczyk
Mar 24, 2025
SmartGroot
Mar 26, 2025
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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0 replies
jlacosta
Mar 2, 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
Train yourself on folklore NT FE ideas
Assassino9931   1
N 2 minutes ago by bin_sherlo
Source: Bulgaria Spring Mathematical Competition 2025 9.4
Determine all functions $f: \mathbb{Z}_{>0} \to \mathbb{Z}_{>0}$ such that $f(a) + 2ab + 2f(b)$ divides $f(a)^2 + 4f(b)^2$ for any positive integers $a$ and $b$.
1 reply
+1 w
Assassino9931
an hour ago
bin_sherlo
2 minutes ago
FE f(x)f(y)+1=f(x+y)+f(xy)+xy(x+y-2)
steven_zhang123   4
N 16 minutes ago by steven_zhang123
Find all functions $f: \mathbb{R} \rightarrow \mathbb{R}$ such that for all $x,y \in \mathbb{R}$, we have $f(x)f(y)+1=f(x+y)+f(xy)+xy(x+y-2)$.
4 replies
steven_zhang123
Yesterday at 11:27 PM
steven_zhang123
16 minutes ago
Heavy config geo involving the mixtilinear
Assassino9931   0
22 minutes ago
Source: Bulgaria Spring Mathematical Competition 2025 12.4
Let $ABC$ be an acute-angled triangle \( ABC \) with \( AC > BC \) and incenter \( I \). Let \( \omega \) be the mixtilinear circle at vertex \( C \), i.e. the circle internally tangent to the circumcircle of \( \triangle ABC \) and also tangent to lines \( AC \) and \( BC \). A circle \( \Gamma \) passes through points \( A \) and \( B \) and is tangent to \( \omega \) at point \( T \), with \( C \notin \Gamma \) and \( I \) being inside \( \triangle ATB \). Prove that:
$$\angle CTB + \angle ATI = 180^\circ + \angle BAI - \angle ABI.$$
0 replies
Assassino9931
22 minutes ago
0 replies
Put this on a new Jane Street T-shirt
Assassino9931   0
25 minutes ago
Source: Bulgaria Spring Mathematical Competition 2025 12.3
Given integers \( m, n \geq 2 \), the points \( A_1, A_2, \dots, A_n \) are chosen independently and uniformly at random on a circle of circumference \( 1 \). That is, for each \( i = 1, \dots, n \), for any \( x \in (0,1) \), and for any arc \( \mathcal{C} \) of length \( x \) on the circle, we have $\mathbb{P}(A_i \in \mathcal{C}) = x$. What is the probability that there exists an arc of length \( \frac{1}{m} \) on the circle that contains all the points \( A_1, A_2, \dots, A_n \)?
0 replies
Assassino9931
25 minutes ago
0 replies
Easy problem
Hip1zzzil   0
26 minutes ago
$(C,M,S)$ is a pair of real numbers such that

$2C+M+S-2C^{2}-2CM-2MS-2SC=0$
$C+2M+S-3M^{2}-3CM-3MS-3SC=0$
$C+M+2S-4S^{2}-4CM-4MS-4SC=0$

Find $2C+3M+4S$.
0 replies
Hip1zzzil
26 minutes ago
0 replies
When is this well known sequence periodic?
Assassino9931   0
28 minutes ago
Source: Bulgaria Spring Mathematical Competition 2025 12.2
Determine all values of $a_0$ for which the sequence of real numbers with $a_{n+1}=3a_n - 4a_n^3$ for all $n\geq 0$ is periodic from the beginning.
0 replies
Assassino9931
28 minutes ago
0 replies
Minimize this in any way you like
Assassino9931   0
29 minutes ago
Source: Bulgaria Spring Mathematical Competition 2025 12.1
In terms of the real numbers $a$ and $b$ determine the minimum value of $$ \sqrt{(x+a)^2+1}+\sqrt{(x+1-a)^2+1}+\sqrt{(x+b)^2+1}+\sqrt{(x+1-b)^2+1}$$as well as all values of $x$ which attain it.
0 replies
Assassino9931
29 minutes ago
0 replies
Polynomials and their shift with all real roots and in common
Assassino9931   0
32 minutes ago
Source: Bulgaria Spring Mathematical Competition 2025 11.4
We call two non-constant polynomials friendly if each of them has only real roots, and every root of one polynomial is also a root of the other. For two friendly polynomials \( P(x), Q(x) \) and a constant \( C \in \mathbb{R}, C \neq 0 \), it is given that \( P(x) + C \) and \( Q(x) + C \) are also friendly polynomials. Prove that \( P(x) \equiv Q(x) \).
0 replies
Assassino9931
32 minutes ago
0 replies
They copied their problem!
pokmui9909   8
N 34 minutes ago by Hip1zzzil
Source: FKMO 2025 P1
Sequence $a_1, a_2, a_3, \cdots$ satisfies the following condition.

(Condition) For all positive integer $n$, $\sum_{k=1}^{n}\frac{1}{2}\left(1 - (-1)^{\left[\frac{n}{k}\right]}\right)a_k=1$ holds.

For a positive integer $m = 1001 \cdot 2^{2025}$, compute $a_m$.
8 replies
pokmui9909
Yesterday at 10:03 AM
Hip1zzzil
34 minutes ago
Inspired by Ruji2018252
sqing   0
36 minutes ago
Source: Own
Let $ a,b,c,d $ be reals such that $  a^2+b^2=4,c^2+d^2=9 $ and $ ad+bc\ge  6.$ Prove that
$$ 0\leq abcd \leq 9$$$$-\frac{13}{2}\leq  ab+cd \leq \frac{13}{2}$$$$-5\leq a+bc+d  \leq \frac{169}{24}$$$$7 \leq a+b^2+c^2+d^2 \leq \frac{53}{4}$$$$6 \leq  a^2+bc+d^2   \leq 13$$$$ 9-2\sqrt 2 \leq a+b +c^2+d^2  \leq 9+2\sqrt 2$$
0 replies
sqing
36 minutes ago
0 replies
Merlin freezing Morgana in a grid
Assassino9931   0
36 minutes ago
Source: Bulgaria Spring Mathematical Competition 2025 11.3
The evil sorceress Morgana lives in a square-shaped palace divided into a \(101 \times 101\) grid of rooms, each initially at a temperature of \(20^\circ\)C. Merlin attempts to freeze Morgana by casting a spell that permanently sets the central cell's temperature to \(0^\circ\)C.

At each subsequent nanosecond, the following steps occur in order:
1. For every cell except the central one, the new temperature is computed as the arithmetic mean of the temperatures of its adjacent cells (those sharing a side).
2. All new temperatures (except the central cell) are updated simultaneously to the calculated values.

Morgana can freely move between rooms but will freeze if all room temperatures drop below \(10^{-2025}\) degrees. The ice spell lasts for \(10^{75}\) nanoseconds, after which temperatures revert to their initial values.

Will Merlin succeed in freezing Morgana?
0 replies
Assassino9931
36 minutes ago
0 replies
Hard number theory
Hip1zzzil   14
N 37 minutes ago by Hip1zzzil
Source: FKMO 2025 P6
Positive integers $a, b$ satisfy both of the following conditions.
For a positive integer $m$, if $m^2 \mid ab$, then $m = 1$.
There exist integers $x, y, z, w$ that satisfies the equation $ax^2 + by^2 = z^2 + w^2$ and $z^2 + w^2 > 0$.
Prove that there exist integers $x, y, z, w$ that satisfies the equation $ax^2 + by^2 + n = z^2 + w^2$, for each integer $n$.
14 replies
Hip1zzzil
Today at 5:08 AM
Hip1zzzil
37 minutes ago
Product of cosines subject to product of sines
Assassino9931   0
39 minutes ago
Source: Bulgaria Spring Mathematical Competition 2025 11.2
Let $\alpha, \beta$ be real numbers such that $\sin\alpha\sin\beta=\frac{1}{3}$. Prove that the set of possible values of $\cos \alpha \cos \beta$ is the interval $\left[-\frac{2}{3}, \frac{2}{3}\right]$.
0 replies
Assassino9931
39 minutes ago
0 replies
Two-sided optimization of vertices of odd degree
Assassino9931   0
41 minutes ago
Source: Bulgaria Spring Mathematical Competition 2025 10.4
Initially $A$ selects a graph with \( 2221 \) vertices such that each vertex is incident to at least one edge. Then $B$ deletes some of the edges (possibly none) from the chosen graph. Finally, $A$ pays $B$ one lev for each vertex that is incident to an odd number of edges. What is the maximum amount that $B$ can guarantee to earn?
0 replies
Assassino9931
41 minutes ago
0 replies
Inequality
Learti123   14
N Apr 16, 2018 by ythomashu
Source: Not sure.
If $a, b, c$ are positive real numbers such that $abc=1$, then prove the following:

$\frac{1}{a^6 + b^6 +1} + \frac{1}{b^6 + c^6 +1} + \frac{1}{c^6 + a^6 +1} \leq 1$
14 replies
Learti123
Apr 15, 2018
ythomashu
Apr 16, 2018
Inequality
G H J
G H BBookmark kLocked kLocked NReply
Source: Not sure.
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Learti123
4 posts
#1 • 2 Y
Y by Adventure10, Mango247
If $a, b, c$ are positive real numbers such that $abc=1$, then prove the following:

$\frac{1}{a^6 + b^6 +1} + \frac{1}{b^6 + c^6 +1} + \frac{1}{c^6 + a^6 +1} \leq 1$
Z K Y
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georgeado17
547 posts
#2 • 2 Y
Y by Adventure10, Mango247
By C-S $(a^6+b^6+1)(\frac{1}{a^2}+\frac{1}{b^2}+c^4)\ge(\sum a^2)^2$ $\implies$ we should prove $\frac{2\sum a^2b^2+\sum a^4}{(\sum a^2)^2}\le1$ which is obvious
Z K Y
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WolfusA
1900 posts
#3 • 2 Y
Y by Adventure10, Mango247
Actually the last inequality is always an equality.
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achen29
561 posts
#4 • 2 Y
Y by Adventure10, Mango247
I find the substitution $x=a^6$ very useful; it reduces the problem to an easier case!
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Learti123
4 posts
#5 • 1 Y
Y by Adventure10
achen29 wrote:
I find the substitution $x=a^6$ very useful; it reduces the problem to an easier case!

How do you solve it after the substitutions?
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Muradjl
486 posts
#6 • 2 Y
Y by Adventure10, Mango247
better is $x=a^2$ then use $x^3+y^3  \geq xy(x+y)$
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georgeado17
547 posts
#7 • 2 Y
Y by Adventure10, Mango247
Alternate solution using denotions
$a^6=\frac{1}{x}$... gives $\frac{1}{a^6+b^6+1}=\frac{1}{\frac{1}{x}+\frac{1}{y}+1}=\frac{xy}{x+y+xy}=\frac{xyz}{xz+yz+xyz}$ then again by C-S $(xz+yz+1)(xz+yz+x^2y^2)\ge(\sum xy)^2$ which follows we should prove $\frac{2\sum xy+\sum x^2y^2}{(\sum xy)^2}\le1$ where we have equality so done
This post has been edited 1 time. Last edited by georgeado17, Apr 15, 2018, 7:19 PM
Reason: typo
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Muradjl
486 posts
#8 • 2 Y
Y by Adventure10, Mango247
georgeado17 wrote:
$\frac{xy}{x+y+xy}=\frac{xyz}{xz+yz+xy}$
check this !
This post has been edited 1 time. Last edited by Muradjl, Apr 15, 2018, 7:15 PM
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georgeado17
547 posts
#9 • 2 Y
Y by Adventure10, Mango247
We could also use another substitutions like $a^6=\frac{x}{y}$...anyway it follows to use C-S
These substitutions give that $\frac{1}{a^6+b^6+1}=\frac{1}{\frac{x}{y}+\frac{y}{z}+1}$ and by C-S $(\frac{x}{y}+\frac{y}{z}+1)(xy+yz+z^2)\ge(\sum x)^2$ $\implies$ need to prove that $\frac{2\sum xy+\sum x^2}{(\sum x)^2}\le1$ where again we have equality and again it's done!
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georgeado17
547 posts
#10 • 2 Y
Y by Adventure10, Mango247
MuradjI's idea is also perfect cause such kind of a substitution gives $\sum\frac{z}{x+y+z}\le1$ which is obvious and which doesn't use C-S but also there exists solution using C-S and cute just denote $a^3=x$...it gives
$\frac{1}{a^6+b^6+1}=\frac{1}{x^2+y^2+1}\le\frac{z^2+2}{(x+y+z)^2}$ whis one follows that we need to prove $xy+yz+xz\ge3$ which is obvious by AM-GM in case $xyz=1$
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georgeado17
547 posts
#11 • 2 Y
Y by Adventure10, Mango247
In last provement it's not required to denote $a^3$ finally we will get $\sum a^3b^3\ge3$ which is obvious sorry :)
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achen29
561 posts
#12 • 2 Y
Y by Adventure10, Mango247
Muradjl wrote:
better is $x=a^2$ then use $x^3+y^3  \geq xy(x+y)$

lol I came to this conclusion but is it too late to saaaaay change the substitution ?
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tr2512
60 posts
#13 • 2 Y
Y by Adventure10, Mango247
USAMO 1997
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Evenprime123
104 posts
#14 • 2 Y
Y by Adventure10, Mango247
georgeado17 wrote:
we should prove $\frac{2\sum a^2b^2+\sum a^4}{(\sum a^2)^2}\le1$ which is obvious

Can anyone explain how to proceed from here?
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ythomashu
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#15 • 2 Y
Y by Adventure10, Mango247
Evenprime123 wrote:
georgeado17 wrote:
we should prove $\frac{2\sum a^2b^2+\sum a^4}{(\sum a^2)^2}\le1$ which is obvious

Can anyone explain how to proceed from here?
WolfusA wrote:
Actually the last inequality is always an equality.
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