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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:
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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
Asymmetric FE
sman96   11
N a few seconds ago by jasperE3
Source: BdMO 2025 Higher Secondary P8
Find all functions $f: \mathbb{R} \to \mathbb{R}$ such that$$f(xf(y)-y) + f(xy-x) + f(x+y) = 2xy$$for all $x, y \in \mathbb{R}$.
11 replies
sman96
Feb 8, 2025
jasperE3
a few seconds ago
Chile TST IMO prime geo
vicentev   0
2 minutes ago
Source: TST IMO CHILE 2025
Let \( ABC \) be a triangle with \( AB < AC \). Let \( M \) be the midpoint of \( AC \), and let \( D \) be a point on segment \( AC \) such that \( DB = DC \). Let \( E \) be the point of intersection, different from \( B \), of the circumcircle of triangle \( ABM \) and line \( BD \). Define \( P \) and \( Q \) as the points of intersection of line \( BC \) with \( EM \) and \( AE \), respectively. Prove that \( P \) is the midpoint of \( BQ \).
0 replies
vicentev
2 minutes ago
0 replies
Inspired by Gheorghe Țițeica 2025
sqing   0
5 minutes ago
Source: Own
Let $ a,b>0 $ and $ a+b+ab=4. $ Prove that $$\frac{2a^2+1}{a}+\frac{2b^2+1}{b}+ \frac{a^2+b^2}{ab} -(a-b)^2\geq\frac{3(3\sqrt 5-1)}{2} $$
0 replies
1 viewing
sqing
5 minutes ago
0 replies
Modular Arithmetic and Integers
steven_zhang123   1
N 13 minutes ago by steven_zhang123
Integers \( n, a, b \in \mathbb{Z}^+ \) satisfies \( n + a + b = 30 \). If \( \alpha < b, \alpha \in \mathbb{Z^+} \), find the maximum value of $\sum_{k=1}^{\alpha} \left \lfloor \frac{kn^2 \bmod a }{b-k}  \right \rfloor $.
1 reply
steven_zhang123
Yesterday at 12:28 PM
steven_zhang123
13 minutes ago
Simple inequality
sqing   3
N 20 minutes ago by sqing
Source: 2017 Chern Cup National High School Mathematical Olympiad. China Tianjin.Problem 2
In $\triangle ABC$ with length-side $a,b,c$ , prove that$$\frac{a}{b+c-a}+\frac{b}{c+a-b}+\frac{c}{a+b-c}\ge\frac{b+c-a}{a}+\frac{c+a-b}{b}+\frac{a+b-c}{c}\ge3 .$$
3 replies
sqing
Jul 24, 2017
sqing
20 minutes ago
IMO 2018 Problem 6
m.candales   100
N an hour ago by Ritwin
Source: IMO 2018
A convex quadrilateral $ABCD$ satisfies $AB\cdot CD = BC\cdot DA$. Point $X$ lies inside $ABCD$ so that \[\angle{XAB} = \angle{XCD}\quad\,\,\text{and}\quad\,\,\angle{XBC} = \angle{XDA}.\]Prove that $\angle{BXA} + \angle{DXC} = 180^\circ$.

Proposed by Tomasz Ciesla, Poland
100 replies
+1 w
m.candales
Jul 10, 2018
Ritwin
an hour ago
f(x+f(y))=f(x+y)+y
John_Mgr   4
N an hour ago by John_Mgr
Determine with proof all functions $f: \mathbb{R} \to \mathbb{R}$ such that for all real $x,y:$
\[f(x+f(y))=f(x+y)+y\]
4 replies
John_Mgr
Yesterday at 5:14 PM
John_Mgr
an hour ago
Infinite integer sequence problem
mathlover1231   1
N an hour ago by whwlqkd
Let a_1, a_2, … be an infinite sequence of pairwise distinct positive integers and c be a real number such that 0 < c < 3/2. Prove that there exist infinitely many positive integers k such that lcm(a_k, a_{k+1}) > ck.
1 reply
mathlover1231
Yesterday at 6:04 PM
whwlqkd
an hour ago
number theory
MuradSafarli   3
N an hour ago by whwlqkd
Find all prime numbers \( p \) and \( q \) such that \( 2q \) divides \( \phi(p+q) \) and \( 2p \) divides \( \phi(p+q) \).
3 replies
MuradSafarli
Yesterday at 8:03 PM
whwlqkd
an hour ago
Maximizing the Area
steven_zhang123   0
2 hours ago
Source: China TST 2025 P21
Given a circle \( \omega \) and two points \( A \) and \( B \) outside \( \omega \), a quadrilateral \( PQRS \) is defined as "good" if \( P, Q, R, S \) are four distinct points on \( \omega \) in order, and lines \( PQ \) and \( RS \) intersect at \( A \) and lines \( PS \) and \( QR \) intersect at \( B \).

For a quadrilateral \( T \), let \( S_T \) denote its area. If there exists a good quadrilateral, prove that there exists good quadrilateral \( T \) such that for any good quadrilateral $T_1 (T_1 \neq T)$, \( S_{T_1} < S_T \).
0 replies
steven_zhang123
2 hours ago
0 replies
Modular Matching Pairs
steven_zhang123   0
2 hours ago
Source: China TST 2025 P20
Let \( n \) be an odd integer, \( m = \frac{n+1}{2} \). Consider \( 2m \) integers \( a_1, a_2, \ldots, a_m, b_1, b_2, \ldots, b_m \) such that for any \( 1 \leq i < j \leq m \), \( a_i \not\equiv a_j \pmod{n} \) and \( b_i \not\equiv b_j \pmod{n} \). Prove that the number of \( k \in \{0, 1, \ldots, n-1\} \) for which satisfy \( a_i + b_j \equiv k \pmod{n} \) for some \( i \neq j \), $i, j \in \left \{ 1,2,\cdots,m \right \} $ is greater than \( n - \sqrt{n} - \frac{1}{2} \).
0 replies
steven_zhang123
2 hours ago
0 replies
An almost identity polynomial
nAalniaOMliO   3
N 2 hours ago by jasperE3
Source: Belarusian National Olympiad 2025
Let $n$ be a positive integer and $P(x)$ be a polynomial with integer coefficients such that $P(1)=1,P(2)=2,\ldots,P(n)=n$.
Prove that $P(0)$ is divisible $2 \cdot 3 \cdot \ldots \cdot n$.
3 replies
nAalniaOMliO
Yesterday at 8:28 PM
jasperE3
2 hours ago
Harmonic Series and Infinite Sequences
steven_zhang123   0
2 hours ago
Source: China TST 2025 P19
Let $\left \{ x_n \right \} _{n\ge 1}$ and $\left \{ y_n \right \} _{n\ge 1}$ be two infinite sequences of integers. Prove that there exists an infinite sequence of integers $\left \{ z_n \right \} _{n\ge 1}$ such that for any positive integer \( n \), the following holds:

\[
\sum_{k|n} k \cdot z_k^{\frac{n}{k}} = \left( \sum_{k|n} k \cdot x_k^{\frac{n}{k}} \right) \cdot \left( \sum_{k|n} k \cdot y_k^{\frac{n}{k}} \right).
\]
0 replies
steven_zhang123
2 hours ago
0 replies
A lot of numbers and statements
nAalniaOMliO   1
N 2 hours ago by RagvaloD
Source: Belarusian National Olympiad 2025
101 numbers are written in a circle. Near the first number the statement "This number is bigger than the next one" is written, near the second "This number is bigger that the next two" and etc, near the 100th "This number is bigger than the next 100 numbers".
What is the maximum possible amount of the statements that can be true?
1 reply
nAalniaOMliO
Yesterday at 8:20 PM
RagvaloD
2 hours ago
Sums Of Polynomials
oVlad   16
N Mar 19, 2025 by N3bula
Source: IZhO 2022 Day 2 Problem 5
A polynomial $f(x)$ with real coefficients of degree greater than $1$ is given. Prove that there are infinitely many positive integers which cannot be represented in the form \[f(n+1)+f(n+2)+\cdots+f(n+k)\]where $n$ and $k$ are positive integers.
16 replies
oVlad
Feb 18, 2022
N3bula
Mar 19, 2025
Sums Of Polynomials
G H J
G H BBookmark kLocked kLocked NReply
Source: IZhO 2022 Day 2 Problem 5
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oVlad
1721 posts
#1 • 1 Y
Y by rightways
A polynomial $f(x)$ with real coefficients of degree greater than $1$ is given. Prove that there are infinitely many positive integers which cannot be represented in the form \[f(n+1)+f(n+2)+\cdots+f(n+k)\]where $n$ and $k$ are positive integers.
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Tintarn
9029 posts
#2 • 4 Y
Y by test20, Assassino9931, hyx, veirab
Reposting my solution from yesterday:
Suppose that $f$ has degree $d \ge 2$. Clearly, we may assume that the leading coefficient of $f$ is positive. In that case $f(n)+C \gg n^d$ for all $n$ where $C$ is a suitable constant depending only on $f$ and hence
\[f(n+1)+\dots+f(n+k) +Ck \gg (n+1)^d+\dots+(n+k)^d \gg (n+1)^2+\dots+(n+k)^2 \gg kn^2+k^3.\]So if we want to represent an integer $m \le M$, we need $kn^2+k^3 \ll M+k$ and hence $k \ll M^{1/3}$ and $n \ll M^{1/2}$.
Hence, the number of choices of $(k,n)$ is only $\mathcal{O}(M^{5/6})$ so that almost all the integers up to $M$ are not represented, if $M$ is very large, in particular, there are infinitely many such numbers.
(One can actually prove that the number of represented integers up to $M$ is $\mathcal{O}(M^{2/3})$ by counting slightly more carefully, but this is irrelevant here.)
This post has been edited 1 time. Last edited by Tintarn, Feb 18, 2022, 2:01 PM
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dgrozev
2459 posts
#3 • 1 Y
Y by veirab
Ok, in order to make this rigorous there are some annoying obstacles, so I prefer it as follows

The senior coefficient of $f$ is positive. Let $N$ be sufficiently large positive integer. The plan is to count the possible integers in the interval $[N,2N]$ that can be represented as required. Note that
$$f(n) \ge c_1n^2\qquad (1)$$for sufficiently large integers $n$, where $c_1$ is a positive constant, that may depend on $f$. By $(1)$ it follows
$$\#\{n\in\mathbb{N}: f(n)\le 2N \}\le c_2\sqrt{N}$$where $c_2$ is a positive constant (possibly depending on $f$)
Let us fix some $m\in \mathbb{N}$. The number of integers in $[N,2N$ that can be represented as sum of at most $m$ consecutive values of $f$ is at most $c_2m\sqrt{N}$. Let now estimate the number $N_m$ of integers $r\in[N,2N] $representable as
$$r=f(n)+f(n+1)+\dots+ f(n+m-1)$$It means $r\ge c_1mn^2$, thus $c_1mn^2\le 2N$ or
$$n\le c_3\frac{\sqrt{N}}{\sqrt{m}}$$$$n+m-1\le c_3\frac{\sqrt{N}}{\sqrt{m}}+m-1\le c_4\frac{\sqrt{N}}{\sqrt{m}}$$which holds if $N$ is sufficiently large $N$. Further
$$N_m\le \frac{c_4^2}{2}\left(\frac{\sqrt{N}}{\sqrt{m}}\right)^2=\frac{c_4^2}{2}\frac{N}{m}$$Hence the number of integers in $[N,2N]$ that can be represented as required is at most
$$c_2m\sqrt{N}+\frac{c_4^2}{2}\frac{N}{m}$$which is less than $N$ for sufficiently large $m$ (and depending $N>m$).
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Tintarn
9029 posts
#4
Y by
In case you are referring to my leisure treatment of small values of $n$, I edited my solution slightly to address that.
Otherwise, I don't see how it is not rigorous.
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dgrozev
2459 posts
#5 • 1 Y
Y by PRMOisTheHardestExam
You have no problem with me! But note that many students do not even know even what "$\ll$" means.
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Assassino9931
1199 posts
#6
Y by
The same method as the above ones can show that there are infinitely many primes not of the desired form, right? (Just replace $M$ by $M/\log M$, everywhere, having in mind the Prime Number Theorem, seems enough?) Is there are way to prove this in a purely number-theoretic fashion? (I have a good approach but with an awful gap, may post later.)
This post has been edited 1 time. Last edited by Assassino9931, Feb 18, 2022, 2:47 PM
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CANBANKAN
1301 posts
#7
Y by
Let $g(x)=\sum\limits_{j=1}^x f(j)$. Note $g(x)$ is a polynomial of degree $\deg f+1$. Let $d=\deg f$

Say for sufficiently large $x$, $1-\epsilon < \frac{f(x)}{cx^d} < 1+\epsilon$, then $1-\epsilon < \frac{g(x)}{\frac{cx^{d+1}}{d+1}} < 1+\epsilon$

Notation. $a(x)=O(b(x))$ then$$|\lim_{x\to\infty} \frac{a(x)}{b(x)}|$$is bounded. If $a(x)=o(b(x))$ this limit is 0.

We group solutions into 2 exclusive groups that cover all possibilities:

Group I: $g(a)<cn^{\frac{d+1}{d}-\delta}$ for a suitable $\delta<\frac{1}{d^2}$. This means $a,b=O(n^{\frac{1}{d}-\frac{\delta}{d+1}})$ so this produces $o(n^{\frac 2d})=o(n)$ solutions.

Group II: $g(a)>cn^{\frac{d+1}{d}-\delta}$, then $f(a)>cn^{1-\frac{d \delta}{d+1}}$ so $a-b=O(n^{\frac{d \delta}{d+1}})$. For each choice of $a-b$, we are dealing with a polynomial $h(x)=g(x)-g(x-k)$, and each of them covers $O(n^{\frac 1d})$ numbers in $[1,n]$ so they cover at most $\frac 1c \cdot n^{\frac{d \delta}{d+1} + \frac 1d} = o(n)$ numbers.

Adding two groups, the conclusion follows.
This post has been edited 1 time. Last edited by CANBANKAN, Sep 10, 2023, 3:58 AM
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elcinmusazade
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In the contest, I have reduced the question to the case of degree 2. Do you have any other specific solution for f, which has degree 2, in a straightforward way, without mentioning the aforementioned claims?
This post has been edited 1 time. Last edited by elcinmusazade, Feb 19, 2022, 11:20 AM
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a_507_bc
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Is there any number-theoretical solution for the case when $f$ has integer coefficients?
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Assassino9931
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Here is a short proof for $\deg f \geq 3$. We may assume that $f(x)$ has positive leading coefficient (otherwise it is bounded from above for $x>0$), thus $f(x) \to \infty$ as $x\to\infty$ and so the sets ${M\leq f(x)}$, $x=1,2,\ldots$ cover the positive integers. Now, for a fixed $x$, the number of solutions to $n+k \leq x$ (and hence the number of choices for $n$ and $k$) is at most $cx^2$ for some constant $c$; but $f(x) - cx^2 \to \infty$ for $\deg f \geq 3$ and so we are done.
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Iora
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I don't understand the symbols $O, \mathcal{O} and \ll$, what are they exactly? Can someone elaborate please? I couldn't find a solution sadly
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v_Enhance
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#13 • 5 Y
Y by GodOfTheRings, Iora, HamstPan38825, Mango247, Mango247
I don't understand the symbols $O, \mathcal{O} and \ll$, what are they exactly? Can someone elaborate please? I couldn't find a solution sadly

All three are all synonyms for Big O notation.
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laikhanhhoang_3011
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#17
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s
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Nurdaulet1607
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#18 • 1 Y
Y by PRMOisTheHardestExam
Suppose not, that is, suppose that there are only finitely many positive integers which cannot be represented in the form $f(n+1)+f(n+2)+\cdots+f(n+k)$ for some positive integers $n$ and $k$.

Let $S$ be the set of positive integers which cannot be represented in this form. Since $S$ is finite, there exists a positive integer $N$ such that $S\subseteq{1,2,\ldots,N}$.

Consider the polynomial $g(x)=f(x+1)-f(x)$. Since $f$ has degree greater than 1, $g$ has degree at least 1. Thus, by the integer root theorem, there exists an integer $m$ such that $g(m)\neq 0$.

Now consider the sum
\begin{align*}
\sum_{i=n+1}^{n+k}g(i)&=\sum_{i=n+1}^{n+k}[f(i+1)-f(i)] \
&=f(n+k+1)-f(n+1).
\end{align*}
Thus, the set of possible values of $f(n+1)+f(n+2)+\cdots+f(n+k)$ is precisely the set of possible values of $f(n+1)+f(n+2)+\cdots+f(n+k+1)-f(n+1)$.

Since $g(m)\neq 0$, there exist positive integers $n$ and $k$ such that $g(n+1)+g(n+2)+\cdots+g(n+k)\neq 0$. Then, the set of possible values of $f(n+1)+f(n+2)+\cdots+f(n+k)$ contains all the positive integers greater than or equal to $f(n+1)-\max{f(n+2),f(n+3),\ldots,f(n+k+1)}$.

In particular, for any $i\in{1,2,\ldots,N}$, there exist positive integers $n$ and $k$ such that $f(n+1)+f(n+2)+\cdots+f(n+k)=i$. Thus, $i\notin S$, which contradicts the assumption that $S\subseteq{1,2,\ldots,N}$. Therefore, there must be infinitely many positive integers which cannot be represented in the form $f(n+1)+f(n+2)+\cdots+f(n+k)$ for any positive integers $n$ and $k$.
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IAmTheHazard
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#19 • 1 Y
Y by centslordm
Assume the leading coefficient of $f$ is positive. Let $f_k(n)=f(n)+\cdots+f(n+k-1)$, so we want to show that there are infinitely many positive integers not representable as $f_k(n)$ for some $(k,n)$.

Consider some large interval $[1,N]$ and suppose $f_k(n) \in [1,N]$. This clearly implies that $n$ is $O(N^{0.5})$. Furthermore, we can check (by estimating with an integral, for instance) that if $k~N^{0.4}$, then $f(1)~N^{1.2}$, hence $k$ must be $O(N^{0.4})$, so there are $O(N^{0.9})$ pairs $(k,n)$ that could possibly work. $\blacksquare$
This post has been edited 1 time. Last edited by IAmTheHazard, Sep 12, 2023, 7:39 PM
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Assassino9931
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#20
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Suppose that $f$ has degree $d \geq 2$. We may assume that the leading coefficient $a$ of $f$ is positive, otherwise $f(x)$ is bounded from above for $x>0$ and we are done. Let $C$ be a constant such that $f(x) \geq \frac{a}{2}x^d$ for all $x>C$. There are finitely many integers in the desired form with $n < C$ and $k < C$, so it suffices to show that there are finitely many with $n\geq C$ or $k \geq C$. Consider all integers in the interval $[1,M]$. In order for an integer in this interval to be representable in the desired form with corresponding $n$ and $k$, we must have $f(n+1) + f(n+2) + \cdots + f(n+k) \leq M$. On the other hand
\[f(n+1)+\cdots+f(n+k) \geq \frac{a}{2}\left((n+1)^d+\cdots+(n+k)^d\right) \geq \frac{a}{2}\left((n+1)^2+\dots+(n+k)^2\right)\]and hence $M \geq \frac{a}{2} \cdot kn^2$ and $M \geq \frac{a}{2} \cdot \frac{k^3}{3}$ (as $1^2 + 2^2 + \cdots + k^2 = \frac{k(k+1)(2k+1)}{6} > \frac{k^3}{3}$).
So if we want to represent an integer $m \leq M$, we need $k \leq AM^{1/3}$ and $n \leq AM^{1/2}$ for some constant $A$. Hence, the number of choices of $(k,n)$ is at most $A^2M^{5/6}$ and so at least $M - A^2M^{5/6} = M^{5/6}(M^{1/6} - A^2)$ integers are not representable in the desired form. As $M$ becomes very large, the latter expression grows arbitrarily large, so we are done.
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N3bula
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#21
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Clearly $f$ has degree $\geq 2$. Now I will count the number of values $\leq n$ that we can obtain. We can clearly assume the leading coefficient of $f$ is positive. Let the leading term of $f$ be $cx^n$. Clearly we have that $\frac{f(x)}{cx^n} \to 1$. If $\deg(f)>2$ as we have the number of values we can obtain from the first $n$ values is $\frac{n(n+1)}{2}$ we get that for large enough $N$ we can make $f(N)-\frac{N(N+1)}{2}$ arbitrarily large which suffices. Now suppose that $\deg(f)=2$. Let $g(N, k)$ be the number of contiguous substrings $i+1$, $i+2$, $\dots$, $i+k$ of $1$, $2$, $\dots$, $N$ such that $f(i+1)+f(i+2)+\dots+f(i+k)\leq f(N)$. As $\frac{f(x)}{cx^n} \to 1$, we get that for sufficiently large values of $N$ $\frac{g(N, k)}{\frac{N}{\sqrt(k)}}\to 1$ as when $N$ is large we get that relation when $f=cx^n$ and as $\frac{f(x)}{cx^n} \to 1$ this means we get $\frac{g(N, k)}{\frac{N}{\sqrt(k)}}\to 1$ as $N$ gets large. Also note that $g(N, k) \leq g(N, k+1)$. If we let $h(N)$ be the number of values that we can obtain that are $\leq n$. Clearly we have that $h(N) \leq \sum_{i=1}^{N} g(N, i)$. Thus as $\frac{g(N, k)}{\frac{N}{\sqrt(k)}}\to 1$ and for all $k$ $g(N, k)\leq N$. If we take a very large value of $N$ we can make $f(N)-h(N)$ arbitrarily large as $\frac{h(N)}{N\sum_{i=1}^{N}\frac{1}{\sqrt{i}}} \to 1$.
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