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a My Retirement & New Leadership at AoPS
rrusczyk   1534
N a few seconds ago by LingtheTerrificMouse
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
1534 replies
+12 w
rrusczyk
Mar 24, 2025
LingtheTerrificMouse
a few seconds ago
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
IMO 2018 Problem 5
orthocentre   75
N 7 minutes ago by VideoCake
Source: IMO 2018
Let $a_1$, $a_2$, $\ldots$ be an infinite sequence of positive integers. Suppose that there is an integer $N > 1$ such that, for each $n \geq N$, the number
$$\frac{a_1}{a_2} + \frac{a_2}{a_3} + \cdots + \frac{a_{n-1}}{a_n} + \frac{a_n}{a_1}$$is an integer. Prove that there is a positive integer $M$ such that $a_m = a_{m+1}$ for all $m \geq M$.

Proposed by Bayarmagnai Gombodorj, Mongolia
75 replies
orthocentre
Jul 10, 2018
VideoCake
7 minutes ago
Ornaments and Christmas trees
Morskow   29
N 42 minutes ago by gladIasked
Source: Slovenia IMO TST 2018, Day 1, Problem 1
Let $n$ be a positive integer. On the table, we have $n^2$ ornaments in $n$ different colours, not necessarily $n$ of each colour. Prove that we can hang the ornaments on $n$ Christmas trees in such a way that there are exactly $n$ ornaments on each tree and the ornaments on every tree are of at most $2$ different colours.
29 replies
Morskow
Dec 17, 2017
gladIasked
42 minutes ago
Another square grid :D
MathLuis   42
N 42 minutes ago by gladIasked
Source: USEMO 2021 P1
Let $n$ be a fixed positive integer and consider an $n\times n$ grid of real numbers. Determine the greatest possible number of cells $c$ in the grid such that the entry in $c$ is both strictly greater than the average of $c$'s column and strictly less than the average of $c$'s row.

Proposed by Holden Mui
42 replies
MathLuis
Oct 30, 2021
gladIasked
42 minutes ago
Cauchy-Schwarz 2
prtoi   2
N an hour ago by mpcnotnpc
Source: Handout by Samin Riasat
if $a^2+b^2+c^2+d^2=4$, prove that:
$\frac{a^2}{b}+\frac{b^2}{c}+\frac{c^2}{d}+\frac{d^2}{a}\ge4$
2 replies
prtoi
5 hours ago
mpcnotnpc
an hour ago
Differentiation Marathon!
LawofCosine   190
N 6 hours ago by rchokler
Hello, everybody!

This is a differentiation marathon. It is just like an ordinary marathon, where you can post problems and provide solutions to the problem posted by the previous user. You can only post differentiation problems (not including integration and differential equations) and please don't make it too hard!

Have fun!

(Sorry about the bad english)
190 replies
LawofCosine
Feb 1, 2025
rchokler
6 hours ago
An interesting question about series
Ayoubgg   2
N Today at 1:56 PM by solyaris
Calculate $\sum_{n=1}^{+\infty} \frac{(-1)^n}{F_n F_{n+2}}$ where $(F_n)$ denotes the Fibonacci sequence.**
2 replies
Ayoubgg
Mar 23, 2025
solyaris
Today at 1:56 PM
Matrix problem
hef4875   2
N Today at 1:02 PM by Filipjack
The matrix \( A = (a_{ij}) \in Mat_p(\mathbb{C}) \) is defined by the conditions
\( a_{12} = a_{23} = \dots = a_{(p-1)p} = 1 \) and \( a_{ij} = 0 \) for a set of indices \( (i,j) \).
Prove that there do not exist nonzero matrices \( B, C \in Mat_p(\mathbb{C}) \) satisfying the equation
\[
(I_p + A)^n = B^n + C^n.
\]$\forall$ $n$ is a postive integer.
2 replies
hef4875
Today at 9:49 AM
Filipjack
Today at 1:02 PM
Prove f(x) >= 0
shangyang   3
N Today at 12:36 PM by solyaris
Let \( f \) be a function that is at least twice differentiable on an open interval containing \( [0, 2\pi] \). Given that
\[
f(0) = f(2\pi) = f'(0) = f'(2\pi) = 0
\]and
\[
f(x) + f''(x) \geq 0, \quad \forall x \in [0,2\pi].
\]Prove that \( f(x) \geq 0 \) for all \( x \in [0,2\pi] \).
3 replies
shangyang
Today at 5:47 AM
solyaris
Today at 12:36 PM
Gaussian integral
soruz   3
N Today at 8:25 AM by Mathzeus1024
Exist a method of calculation for $ \int e^{-x^2}\,dx $, with help of $ e^{i \phi}=cos \phi  + i sin \phi $ and Moivre's formula.
3 replies
soruz
Oct 20, 2013
Mathzeus1024
Today at 8:25 AM
Limit conundrum
MetaphysicalWukong   4
N Today at 7:42 AM by MetaphysicalWukong
Source: UNSW
Why is the last statement not true? And how do we know the selected option is true?
4 replies
MetaphysicalWukong
Yesterday at 8:00 AM
MetaphysicalWukong
Today at 7:42 AM
Finding supremum of a weird function
pokoknyaakuimut   4
N Today at 6:56 AM by MihaiT
Find $\text{sup}\{2^{2x}+2^{\frac{1}{2x}}:x\in\mathbb{R}, x<0\}$. Easy to guess that the answer is $1$, but I haven't found the reason yet. :(
4 replies
pokoknyaakuimut
Feb 14, 2025
MihaiT
Today at 6:56 AM
real analysis
ay19bme   3
N Yesterday at 8:46 PM by ay19bme
...........................
3 replies
ay19bme
Yesterday at 4:19 PM
ay19bme
Yesterday at 8:46 PM
Integration Bee Kaizo
Calcul8er   50
N Yesterday at 7:10 PM by Shikhar_
Hey integration fans. I decided to collate some of my favourite and most evil integrals I've written into one big integration bee problem set. I've been entering integration bees since 2017 and I've been really getting hands on with the writing side of things over the last couple of years. I hope you'll enjoy!
50 replies
Calcul8er
Mar 2, 2025
Shikhar_
Yesterday at 7:10 PM
Putnam 1950 B1
centslordm   2
N Yesterday at 6:19 PM by KAME06
In each of $n$ houses on a straight street are one or more boys. At what point should all the boys meet so that the sum of the distances that they walk is as small as possible?
2 replies
centslordm
May 25, 2022
KAME06
Yesterday at 6:19 PM
The Inclusion Exclusion Principle Screw problem
Ahmsef   17
N Mar 24, 2025 by MihaiT
Our teacher asked this problem: (i translated it from turkish)
Reyyan's car tire bursts on the road. When Reyyan changes the tire, she sees that there are 5 screws in the tire. How many times is there a situation where none of the screws fit into their place?

I directly understood that it is about inclusion exclusion principle but i couldnt understand what means Screw1 ∩ Screw2 etc. means exactly. Can anybody help?
17 replies
Ahmsef
Oct 17, 2024
MihaiT
Mar 24, 2025
The Inclusion Exclusion Principle Screw problem
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Ahmsef
6 posts
#1
Y by
Our teacher asked this problem: (i translated it from turkish)
Reyyan's car tire bursts on the road. When Reyyan changes the tire, she sees that there are 5 screws in the tire. How many times is there a situation where none of the screws fit into their place?

I directly understood that it is about inclusion exclusion principle but i couldnt understand what means Screw1 ∩ Screw2 etc. means exactly. Can anybody help?
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ehuseyinyigit
790 posts
#2
Y by
İndirgemeli dizi ile de çözebilirsin :)
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Ahmsef
6 posts
#3
Y by
İndirgemeli dizi ile bu sorunun ne alakası var yahu? Anlamadım demek istediğini.
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sansgankrsngupta
128 posts
#4
Y by
OG! IF EACH SCREW HAS A DESIGNATED PLACE THEN THE ANSWER IS DERANGEMNT NUMBER 5= 44, DERANGEMENT IS ESSENTIANLY INCLUSION EXCLUSION PRINCIPLESO IF YOU DON'T KNOW IT, USE PIE
This post has been edited 1 time. Last edited by sansgankrsngupta, Oct 28, 2024, 5:17 AM
Reason: -
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ehuseyinyigit
790 posts
#5
Y by
Kanka burda içerme dışarma yaparsın da birinci aşamada diyelim ki daha büyük bir sayıda sordu, sandalyelere oturturuyor işte insanları, asıl oturduğu yere oturmayacak şekilde. Bu da indirgemeli ile çözülebiliyor ve büyük sayıda içerme dışarma zor.

Bunun 6 mektuplu hali Ömer Gürlünün kitapta vardı.
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sansgankrsngupta
128 posts
#6
Y by
@above no onewould ask it for large values if even because then you would need to use the calculator essentially for n screws the answer is $D_n$, which is derangement number $n$, for more details refer https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Derangement
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ehuseyinyigit
790 posts
#7
Y by
Yes, there is a recursion expression for $D_n$ proven by Euler at his time.
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sansgankrsngupta
128 posts
#8
Y by
Yeah there is a recursion why not? $D_{n}=n(D_{n-1}+D_{n-2}
)$
This post has been edited 2 times. Last edited by sansgankrsngupta, Oct 24, 2024, 1:46 PM
Reason: -
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ehuseyinyigit
790 posts
#9
Y by
That's true but actually, there is a recursion of $D_n$ independent from $D_{n-1}$ and $D_{n-2}$. It was in terms of $n$ of course.
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sansgankrsngupta
128 posts
#10
Y by
Bruh! Recursion means that a term is dependent on the previous term and what you mean by $D_n$ in terms of $n$ is a formula not recursion. And I already mantioned that in my above posts. You should browse the internet for more info.
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ehuseyinyigit
790 posts
#11
Y by
It's called characteristic polynomial lmao. Dependency of previous terms is equilavent to dependency to $n$.
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sansgankrsngupta
128 posts
#12
Y by
@above a charecterstic polynomial exists if and only if the recursion is homogenous. Here it is not.
This post has been edited 2 times. Last edited by sansgankrsngupta, Oct 28, 2024, 2:18 AM
Reason: -
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ehuseyinyigit
790 posts
#13 • 1 Y
Y by MihaiT
You can transform non-homogenous recursions to homogenous recursions easily (via subsitution etc.) Thus, there exists a characteristic polynomial of $D_n$.
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sansgankrsngupta
128 posts
#14
Y by
@above are you sure? Because I don't think so. The only formula that I know for derangement in terms of $n$ is
$D_n = n!( \frac{1}{0!}-\frac{1}{1!}+\frac{1}{2!}-\frac{1}{3!} + \cdots + (-1)^n(\frac{1}{n!}))$
This post has been edited 2 times. Last edited by sansgankrsngupta, Oct 28, 2024, 5:16 AM
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ehuseyinyigit
790 posts
#15
Y by
We also have
$$D_n=n\cdot D_{n-1}+(-1)^n$$
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sansgankrsngupta
128 posts
#16
Y by
ehuseyinyigit wrote:
We also have
$$D_n=n\cdot D_{n-1}+(-1)^n$$

are you serious?
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sansgankrsngupta
128 posts
#17
Y by
sansgankrsngupta wrote:
Yeah there is a recursion why not? $D_{n}=n(D_{n-1}+D_{n-2}
)$

We have this
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MihaiT
742 posts
#18
Y by
ehuseyinyigit wrote:
You can transform non-homogenous recursions to homogenous recursions easily (via subsitution etc.) Thus, there exists a characteristic polynomial of $D_n$.

YES! I FIND
THANKS!
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