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k a April Highlights and 2025 AoPS Online Class Information
jlacosta   0
Apr 2, 2025
Spring is in full swing and summer is right around the corner, what are your plans? At AoPS Online our schedule has new classes starting now through July, so be sure to keep your skills sharp and be prepared for the Fall school year! Check out the schedule of upcoming classes below.

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April 9th (Webinar), 4:00pm PT/7:00pm ET, Learn about Video-based Summer Camps at the Virtual Campus
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[*]April 22nd (Webinar), 4:00pm PT/7:00pm ET, Competitive Programming at AoPS (USACO).[/list]
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0 replies
jlacosta
Apr 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
Integral inequality with differentiable function
Ciobi_   3
N 39 minutes ago by Levieee
Source: Romania NMO 2025 12.2
Let $f \colon [0,1] \to \mathbb{R} $ be a differentiable function such that its derivative is an integrable function on $[0,1]$, and $f(1)=0$. Prove that \[ \int_0^1 (xf'(x))^2 dx \geq 12 \cdot \left( \int_0^1 xf(x) dx\right)^2 \]
3 replies
2 viewing
Ciobi_
Apr 2, 2025
Levieee
39 minutes ago
Scanner on squarefree integers
Assassino9931   2
N an hour ago by Assassino9931
Source: Bulgaria National Olympiad 2025, Day 2, Problem 5
Let $n$ be a positive integer. Prove that there exists a positive integer $a$ such that exactly $\left \lfloor \frac{n}{4} \right \rfloor$ of the integers $a + 1, a + 2, \ldots, a + n$ are squarefree.
2 replies
1 viewing
Assassino9931
Yesterday at 1:54 PM
Assassino9931
an hour ago
Romania NMO 2023 Grade 11 P1
DanDumitrescu   9
N an hour ago by Fibonacci_math
Source: Romania National Olympiad 2023
Determine twice differentiable functions $f: \mathbb{R} \rightarrow \mathbb{R}$ which verify relation

\[
    \left( f'(x) \right)^2 + f''(x) \leq 0, \forall x \in \mathbb{R}.
    \]
9 replies
DanDumitrescu
Apr 14, 2023
Fibonacci_math
an hour ago
Poly with sequence give infinitely many prime divisors
Assassino9931   5
N an hour ago by Assassino9931
Source: Bulgaria National Olympiad 2025, Day 1, Problem 3
Let $P(x)$ be a non-constant monic polynomial with integer coefficients and let $a_1, a_2, \ldots$ be an infinite sequence. Prove that there are infinitely many primes, each of which divides at least one term of the sequence $b_n = P(n)^{a_n} + 1$.
5 replies
1 viewing
Assassino9931
Yesterday at 1:51 PM
Assassino9931
an hour ago
Putnam 2005 B3
Kent Merryfield   20
N an hour ago by Levieee
Find all differentiable functions $f: (0,\infty)\mapsto (0,\infty)$ for which there is a positive real number $a$ such that
\[ f'\left(\frac ax\right)=\frac x{f(x)} \]
for all $x>0.$
20 replies
Kent Merryfield
Dec 5, 2005
Levieee
an hour ago
Connecting chaos in a grid
Assassino9931   2
N 2 hours ago by Assassino9931
Source: Bulgaria National Olympiad 2025, Day 1, Problem 2
Exactly \( n \) cells of an \( n \times n \) square grid are colored black, and the remaining cells are white. The cost of such a coloring is the minimum number of white cells that need to be recolored black so that from any black cell \( c_0 \), one can reach any other black cell \( c_k \) through a sequence \( c_0, c_1, \ldots, c_k \) of black cells where each consecutive pair \( c_i, c_{i+1} \) are adjacent (sharing a common side) for every \( i = 0, 1, \ldots, k-1 \). Let \( f(n) \) denote the maximum possible cost over all initial colorings with exactly \( n \) black cells. Determine a constant $\alpha$ such that
\[
\frac{1}{3}n^{\alpha} \leq f(n) \leq 3n^{\alpha}
\]for any $n\geq 100$.
2 replies
+1 w
Assassino9931
Yesterday at 1:50 PM
Assassino9931
2 hours ago
Dot product with equilateral triangle
buratinogigle   2
N 2 hours ago by ericdimc
Source: Own, syllabus for 10th Grade Geometry at HSGS 2024
Let $H$ be the orthocenter of triangle $ABC$. Let $R$ be the circumradius of $ABC$. Prove that triangle $ABC$ is equilateral iff
$$\overrightarrow{HA}\cdot\overrightarrow{HB}+\overrightarrow{HB}\cdot\overrightarrow{HC}+\overrightarrow{HC}\cdot\overrightarrow{HA}=-\frac{3R^2}{2}.$$
2 replies
buratinogigle
Dec 2, 2024
ericdimc
2 hours ago
locus of foot of perpendiculars has no axes of symmetry othen than AB
parmenides51   1
N 2 hours ago by vanstraelen
Source: 2006 Germany R4 10.3 https://artofproblemsolving.com/community/c3208025_
Let $k$ be a circle, $\overline{AB}$ be a diameter of the circle and for each point $C$ let $D_C$ be the foot of the perpendicular from $C$ on $AB$ and $E_C$ the base of the perpendicular from $DC$ on $AC$. Let $X$ be the geometric locus of all points $E_C$ if $C$ passes through all points on the circle $k$. Prove that $X$ actually has no axes of symmetry other than $AB$, as shown in the picture.
IMAGE
1 reply
parmenides51
Sep 28, 2024
vanstraelen
2 hours ago
Maximum Sum in a Grid
Mathdreams   0
2 hours ago
Source: 2025 Nepal Mock TST Day 3 Problem 1
Let $m$ and $n$ be positive integers. In an $m \times n$ grid, two cells are considered neighboring if they share a common edge. Kritesh performs the following actions:

1. He begins by writing $0$ in any cell of the grid.
2. He then fills each remaining cell with a non-negative integer such that the absolute difference between the numbers in any two neighboring cells is exactly $1$.

Kritesh aims to fill the grid in a way that maximizes the sum of the numbers written in all the cells. Determine the maximum possible sum that Kritesh can achieve in terms of $m$ and $n$.

(Kritesh Dhakal, Nepal)
0 replies
Mathdreams
2 hours ago
0 replies
Hard Functional Equation
yaybanana   1
N 2 hours ago by Rayanelba
Source: own
Find all functions $f:\mathbb{R} \rightarrow \mathbb{R}$ , s.t :

$f(y^2+x)+f(x+yf(x))=f(y)f(y+x)+f(2x)$

for all $x,y \in \mathbb{R}$
1 reply
yaybanana
Today at 3:35 PM
Rayanelba
2 hours ago
Don't bite me for this straightforward sequence
Assassino9931   6
N 2 hours ago by Assassino9931
Source: Bulgaria National Olympiad 2025, Day 1, Problem 1
Determine all infinite sequences $a_1, a_2, \ldots$ of real numbers such that
\[ a_{m^2 + m + n} = a_{m}^2 + a_m + a_n\]for all positive integers $m$ and $n$.
6 replies
Assassino9931
Yesterday at 1:47 PM
Assassino9931
2 hours ago
Sets With a Given Property
oVlad   2
N 2 hours ago by nbasrl
Source: Romania TST 2025 Day 1 P4
Determine the sets $S{}$ of positive integers satisfying the following two conditions:
[list=a]
[*]For any positive integers $a, b, c{}$, if $ab + bc + ca{}$ is in $S$, then so are $a + b + c{}$ and $abc$; and
[*]The set $S{}$ contains an integer $N \geqslant 160$ such that $N-2$ is not divisible by $4$.
[/list]
Bogdan Blaga, United Kingdom
2 replies
oVlad
Today at 2:32 PM
nbasrl
2 hours ago
mod 16
Iris Aliaj   4
N 2 hours ago by Levieee
Source: JBMO 1998
Do there exist 16 three digit numbers, using only three different digits in all, so that the all numbers give different residues when divided by 16?

Bulgaria
4 replies
Iris Aliaj
Jun 22, 2004
Levieee
2 hours ago
Putnam 2020 A3
awesomemathlete   16
N 2 hours ago by programjames1
Source: 81st William Lowell Putnam Competition
Let $a_0=\pi /2$, and let $a_n=\sin (a_{n-1})$ for $n\ge 1$. Determine whether
\[ \sum_{n=1}^{\infty}a_n^2 \]converges.
16 replies
awesomemathlete
Feb 22, 2021
programjames1
2 hours ago
linear algebra
ay19bme   5
N Apr 2, 2025 by loup blanc
Does the matrix equation $X^3=mI_2$ is solvable over $M_{2}(\mathbb{Z})$ for every $m\in \mathbb{Z}$. Here $X\in M_{2}(\mathbb{Z})$, $I_2=\begin{pmatrix} 1& 0\\0 & 1\end{pmatrix}$.
5 replies
ay19bme
Apr 2, 2025
loup blanc
Apr 2, 2025
linear algebra
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G H BBookmark kLocked kLocked NReply
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ay19bme
275 posts
#1
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Does the matrix equation $X^3=mI_2$ is solvable over $M_{2}(\mathbb{Z})$ for every $m\in \mathbb{Z}$. Here $X\in M_{2}(\mathbb{Z})$, $I_2=\begin{pmatrix} 1& 0\\0 & 1\end{pmatrix}$.
This post has been edited 1 time. Last edited by ay19bme, Apr 2, 2025, 7:08 AM
Reason: ........
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alexheinis
10529 posts
#2
Y by
Take $m=2$ as an example. Each eigenvalue $t$ of $X$ is a root of $x^3-2$ which is irreducible by Eisenstein. And also because it has no rational root. Also $[Q(t):Q]\le 2$ since $F_X(t)$ has degree 2. Contradiction. Hence for $m=2$ we have no solution in $M_2(Z)$. The equation is solvable iff $m$ is the cube of an integer.
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Euler-epii10
3 posts
#3
Y by
I would say the following about this:
Based on the Cayley-Hamilton formula
${{X}^{2}}-tX+d{{I}_{2}}={{O}_{2}}$ where $t=Tr(X),d=\det (X).$
This can also be written as:
${{X}^{3}}-t{{X}^{2}}+dX={{O}_{2}}.$
After backsubstitution we get:
$({{t}^{2}}-d)X=(m+td){{I}_{2}}$
Now try to draw the conclusion from here!
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Gryphos
1702 posts
#4
Y by
Maybe a more elementary solution: The equation implies
$$(\det X)^3 = \det (X^3) = \det (m I_2)=m^2.$$Hence $m^2$, and consequently also $m$, is the cube of an integer.
The same proof works in any dimension $n$ not divisible by $3$.
If the dimension is divisible by $3$, however, the equation is always solvable.
This post has been edited 1 time. Last edited by Gryphos, Apr 2, 2025, 8:52 AM
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ay19bme
275 posts
#5 • 1 Y
Y by paxtonw
Thanks..So $m$ must be the cube of some integer.
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loup blanc
3568 posts
#6
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The sequel of the Gryphos' post #4.

i) If $3$ doesn't divide $n$, then $m=s^3$ and $X^3=s^3I_n$.

$\bullet$ If $s=0$ then $X^3=0$ and $X=Q^{-1}diag(0,\cdots,0,J_2,\cdots,J_2,J_3,\cdots,J_3)Q$, where $Q\in GL_n(\mathbb{Q})$.

But what are all the matrices $Q$ so that $X$ is an integer matrix ? (In general, the integer matrices $Q$ are not sufficient).

$\bullet$ If $s\not= 0$ then $X$ is diagonalizable over $\mathbb{C}$ and $spectrum(X)\subset\{s,sj,sj^2\}$, where $j=\exp(2i\pi/3)$.

Then $X=Q^{-1}diag(sI_p,s\begin{pmatrix}0&-1\\1&-1\end{pmatrix},\cdots,s\begin{pmatrix}0&-1\\1&-1\end{pmatrix})Q$.

But what are all the matrices $Q$ so that $X$ is an integer matrix ?

ii) If $3$ divides $n$ and $m\not= 0$, then $X^3=mI_{3p}$, $X$ is diagonalizable over $\mathbb{C}$ and $spectrum(X)\subset\{m^{1/3},m^{1/3}j,m^{1/3}j^2\}$.

If $m$ is not a cube, then $x^3-m$ is irreducible over $\mathbb{Q}$ and we can group the eigenvalues $3$ by $3$, that is, $p\times$ $(m^{1/3},m^{1/3}j,m^{1/3}j^2)$.

Then $X=Q^{-1}diag(U_1,\cdots,U_p)Q$, where $U_i=\begin{pmatrix}0&0&m\\1&0&0\\0&1&0\end{pmatrix}$.

But what are all the matrices $Q$ so that $X$ is an integer matrix ?
This post has been edited 3 times. Last edited by loup blanc, Apr 2, 2025, 6:20 PM
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