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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
Dih(28)
aRb   3
N 8 minutes ago by rchokler
Source: Sylow p-subgroups
$ Dih(28)$

Need to find elements of order $ 2, 4, 7$.

$ 28= 2^2*7$

14 reflections (of order 2) and 14 rotations.

First look at $ n_7$.

$ n_{7}$ $ \equiv$ 1 (mod 7)

A unique Sylow 7-subgroup of order 7. No reflections in this subgroup (as they are of order 2).

There are 7 rotations (including identity).

So, if <x> are rotations and <y> are reflections, then in the Sylow 7-subgroup of order 7 there are only elements generated by x.

$ {1, x^7}$ are of order 2. $ x^2$ is of order 7? No elements of order 4 in in the Sylow 7-subgroup.



Looking at $ n_2$.

$ n_{2}$ $ \equiv$ 1 (mod 2)

The Sylow 2-subgroup is of order 4.

as we have $ 2^2$, does this mean that there are no elements of order 2 in the Sylow-2 subgroup, but only elements of order 4.

I need to find:

(1) elements of order $ 2, 4, 7$ in Dih(28)
(2) list the Sylow 2-subgroups and the Sylow 7-subgroups.

Not sure if I am going in the right direction with this...

Any help would be appreciated!
3 replies
aRb
Dec 30, 2009
rchokler
8 minutes ago
An Integral Inequality from the Chinese Internet
Blast_S1   3
N 13 minutes ago by Alphaamss
Source: Xiaohongshu
Let $f(x)\in C[0,3]$ satisfy $f(x) \ge 0$ for all $x$ and
$$\int_0^3 \frac{1}{1 + f(x)}\,dx = 1.$$Show that
$$\int_0^3\frac{f(x)}{2 + f(x)^2}\,dx \le 1.$$
3 replies
Blast_S1
Yesterday at 2:39 AM
Alphaamss
13 minutes ago
A cyclic inequality
KhuongTrang   1
N an hour ago by Nguyenhuyen_AG
Source: Nguyen Van Hoa@Facebook.
Problem. Let $a,b,c$ be positive real variables. Prove that$$\frac{a^2}{b}+\frac{b^2}{c}+\frac{c^2}{a}+\frac{9abc}{a^2+b^2+c^2}\ge 2(a+b+c).$$
1 reply
KhuongTrang
2 hours ago
Nguyenhuyen_AG
an hour ago
weird looking system of equations
Valentin Vornicu   37
N an hour ago by deduck
Source: USAMO 2005, problem 2, Razvan Gelca
Prove that the system \begin{align*}
x^6+x^3+x^3y+y & = 147^{157} \\
x^3+x^3y+y^2+y+z^9 & = 157^{147}
\end{align*} has no solutions in integers $x$, $y$, and $z$.
37 replies
Valentin Vornicu
Apr 21, 2005
deduck
an hour ago
Cono Sur Olympiad 2011, Problem 6
Leicich   22
N an hour ago by cosinesine
Let $Q$ be a $(2n+1) \times (2n+1)$ board. Some of its cells are colored black in such a way that every $2 \times 2$ board of $Q$ has at most $2$ black cells. Find the maximum amount of black cells that the board may have.
22 replies
Leicich
Aug 23, 2014
cosinesine
an hour ago
Perpendicular following tangent circles
buzzychaoz   19
N an hour ago by cursed_tangent1434
Source: China Team Selection Test 2016 Test 2 Day 2 Q6
The diagonals of a cyclic quadrilateral $ABCD$ intersect at $P$, and there exist a circle $\Gamma$ tangent to the extensions of $AB,BC,AD,DC$ at $X,Y,Z,T$ respectively. Circle $\Omega$ passes through points $A,B$, and is externally tangent to circle $\Gamma$ at $S$. Prove that $SP\perp ST$.
19 replies
buzzychaoz
Mar 21, 2016
cursed_tangent1434
an hour ago
A projectional vision in IGO
Shayan-TayefehIR   15
N 2 hours ago by mcmp
Source: IGO 2024 Advanced Level - Problem 3
In the triangle $\bigtriangleup ABC$ let $D$ be the foot of the altitude from $A$ to the side $BC$ and $I$, $I_A$, $I_C$ be the incenter, $A$-excenter, and $C$-excenter, respectively. Denote by $P\neq B$ and $Q\neq D$ the other intersection points of the circle $\bigtriangleup BDI_C$ with the lines $BI$ and $DI_A$, respectively. Prove that $AP=AQ$.

Proposed Michal Jan'ik - Czech Republic
15 replies
Shayan-TayefehIR
Nov 14, 2024
mcmp
2 hours ago
An alien statement I came across
GreekIdiot   2
N 2 hours ago by DVDthe1st
Source: Some article I read a while ago, cannot find it...
Let $\mathbb{P} \subset \mathbb{N}$ be a set that intersects all non-finite integer arithmetic progressions, $\mathbb {A}$ be the set of prime divisors of $a^n-1$ and $\mathbb {B}$ be the set of prime divisors of $b^n-1$. Suppose $\mathbb {B} \subset \mathbb {A} \hspace{2 mm} \forall \hspace{2mm} n \in \mathbb{P}$. Prove that $b=a^k$, $k \in \mathbb {N}$
2 replies
GreekIdiot
Feb 15, 2025
DVDthe1st
2 hours ago
Circles tangent to BC at B and C
MarkBcc168   9
N 2 hours ago by channing421
Source: ELMO Shortlist 2024 G3
Let $ABC$ be a triangle, and let $\omega_1,\omega_2$ be centered at $O_1$, $O_2$ and tangent to line $BC$ at $B$, $C$ respectively. Let line $AB$ intersect $\omega_1$ again at $X$ and let line $AC$ intersect $\omega_2$ again at $Y$. If $Q$ is the other intersection of the circumcircles of triangles $ABC$ and $AXY$, then prove that lines $AQ$, $BC$, and $O_1O_2$ either concur or are all parallel.

Advaith Avadhanam
9 replies
MarkBcc168
Jun 22, 2024
channing421
2 hours ago
Limit serie
Moubinool   1
N 2 hours ago by paxtonw
Source: Oral examination Ecole Polytechnique France
A(n) is a sequence given by
$$A(n)=\frac{1}{n} \sum_{ k , integer, \sqrt{2}< k/n < \sqrt{2} +1} \frac{1}{\sqrt{k/n - \sqrt{2}}}$$Find limit of A(n) when n tend to +oo
1 reply
Moubinool
6 hours ago
paxtonw
2 hours ago
Iran TST 2009-Day3-P3
khashi70   66
N 2 hours ago by ihategeo_1969
In triangle $ABC$, $D$, $E$ and $F$ are the points of tangency of incircle with the center of $I$ to $BC$, $CA$ and $AB$ respectively. Let $M$ be the foot of the perpendicular from $D$ to $EF$. $P$ is on $DM$ such that $DP = MP$. If $H$ is the orthocenter of $BIC$, prove that $PH$ bisects $ EF$.
66 replies
khashi70
May 16, 2009
ihategeo_1969
2 hours ago
BAMO Geo
jsdd_   19
N 2 hours ago by LeYohan
Source: BAMO 1999/p2
Let $O = (0,0), A = (0,a), and B = (0,b)$, where $0<b<a$ are reals. Let $\Gamma$ be a circle with diameter $\overline{AB}$ and let $P$ be any other point on $\Gamma$. Line $PA$ meets the x-axis again at $Q$. Prove that angle $\angle BQP = \angle BOP$.
19 replies
jsdd_
Aug 11, 2019
LeYohan
2 hours ago
Problem 07 OIMU
KyloRen   3
N 3 hours ago by emi3.141592
Source: OIMU 2024
Show that the equacion $x^{3}+2y^{3}+3z^{3}=4$ has infinitely many solutions with $x,y,z$ rational numbers.
3 replies
KyloRen
Dec 21, 2024
emi3.141592
3 hours ago
complex bash oops
megahertz13   2
N 3 hours ago by lpieleanu
Source: PUMaC Finals 2016 A3
On a cyclic quadrilateral $ABCD$, let $M$ and $N$ denote the midpoints of $\overline{AB}$ and $\overline{CD}$. Let $E$ be the projection of $C$ onto $\overline{AB}$ and let $F$ be the reflection of $N$ over the midpoint of $\overline{DE}$. Assume $F$ lies in the interior of quadrilateral $ABCD$. Prove that $\angle BMF = \angle CBD$.
2 replies
megahertz13
Nov 5, 2024
lpieleanu
3 hours ago
Matrix problem
hef4875   6
N Yesterday at 1:02 AM by Etkan
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.
6 replies
hef4875
Mar 26, 2025
Etkan
Yesterday at 1:02 AM
Matrix problem
G H J
G H BBookmark kLocked kLocked NReply
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hef4875
131 posts
#1
Y by
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.
This post has been edited 2 times. Last edited by hef4875, Mar 26, 2025, 9:51 AM
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Filipjack
827 posts
#4
Y by
It's this problem.
Z K Y
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loup blanc
3560 posts
#5 • 1 Y
Y by MS_asdfgzxcvb
Thanks @ Filipjack.
$\textbf{Proposition.}$ If $I+A=B+C$ and $(I+A)^2=B^2+C^2$, then $B=I+A,C=0$ or $B=0,C=I+A$.
$\textbf{Proof.}$ $I+A=B+C$, $(I+A)^2=B^2+C^2=B^2+C^2+BC+CB$;
then $BC+CB=0$. Since $C=I+A-B$, we deduce that
(*) $2B-2B^2+AB+BA=0$.
(*) is a Riccati equation; we associate the $2p\times 2p$ pseudo-Hamiltonian
$M=\begin{pmatrix}-A&2I_p\\0_p&2I_p+A\end{pmatrix}\in M_{2p}(\mathbb{C})$. There is a one to one correspondence between
the set of solutions of (*) and the set of $p$-dimensional $M$-invariant subspaces $E$ s.t.
(1) $E\oplus span(e_{p+1},\cdots,e_{2p})=span(e_1,\cdots,e_{2p})$.
The Jordan form of $M$ -in the new basis $(f_1,\cdots,f_{2p})$- is $diag(J_p[2],J_p[0])$, where
$J_p[\lambda]=\lambda I_p+J_p$ and $J_p$ is the nilpotent Jordan block of dimension $p$.
$E$ is in one of those $p+1$ forms $span(f_1,\cdots f_q,f_{p+1},\cdots,f_{2p-q}),q=0,\cdots,p$.
Only the following $2$ spaces verify condition (1):
$\ker(M^p)=span(e_1,\cdots,e_p)$ and $\ker((M-2I_p)^p)$.
$\bullet$ It's complicated to write a proof of the previous line and I don't have any nice proof.
Thus (*) has $2$ solutions. Luckily, we have two obvious solutions: $B=0$ and
$B=I+A$. $\square$
This post has been edited 3 times. Last edited by loup blanc, Mar 27, 2025, 8:32 PM
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Etkan
1551 posts
#6
Y by
loup blanc wrote:
I've read some very poorly written posts before, but yours is exceptional.

For God's holy sake! Can you for once be nice to someone? I'm not even asking for two posts, one is enough.
hef4875 wrote:
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.

This statement is perfectly understandable the way it is written, and people do not necessarily have access to English classes (nor are native English speakers) since they are kids or something like that.
You better stop being rude, or I'm going to go through all of your posts and report every single one of them in which you mistreat someone else. I have a feeling that admins and mods will not like that attitude.
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loup blanc
3560 posts
#7 • 1 Y
Y by RobertRogo
@ Etkan, I see you're threatening me; I sincerely pity you. In
https://artofproblemsolving.com/community/c7t290f7h3523769_prove_the_statement_about_matrices
you stupidly attacked @ RobertRogo because he wrote about a previous post "this is of course false".
You were lucky because Robert Rogo is a good man. I don't even argue with you.
I think we could do a collection to buy you a policeman's whistle.
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paxtonw
8 posts
#8
Y by
loup blanc wrote:
I think we could do a collection to buy you a policeman's whistle.
I think we could all be a little nicer, no?
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Etkan
1551 posts
#9
Y by
loup blanc wrote:
@ Etkan, I see you're threatening me; I sincerely pity you. In
https://artofproblemsolving.com/community/c7t290f7h3523769_prove_the_statement_about_matrices
you stupidly attacked @ RobertRogo because he wrote about a previous post "this is of course false".
You were lucky because Robert Rogo is a good man. I don't even argue with you.
I think we could do a collection to buy you a policeman's whistle.

I said I don't recommend to use a certain wording and I even apologised after in case someone felt I had spoken in an aggressive tone, explicitly saying it. Hence I don't see how it was an attack.
The "policeman's whistle" is a (relatively) original answer, but it is far from being true because I always tried to speak nicely to everyone, apologised when I didn't (for example here), and never reported people until now.
Hence I consider #3 and #7 to be unnecessarily aggressive and I will report them. Please, admins/mods, tell me if I'm wrong.
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