Olympiad problems

1967 IMO Longlists, 51

A subset $S$ of the set of integers 0 - 99 is said to have property $A$ if it is impossible to fill a crossword-puzzle with 2 rows and 2 columns with numbers in $S$ (0 is written as 00, 1 as 01, and so on). Determine the maximal number of elements in the set $S$ with the property $A.$

2017 Baltic Way, 3

Tags: algebra , Fibonacci , Additive Number Theory , Extremal combinatorics

Positive integers $x_1,...,x_m$ (not necessarily distinct) are written on a blackboard. It is known that each of the numbers $F_1,...,F_{2018}$ can be represented as a sum of one or more of the numbers on the blackboard. What is the smallest possible value of $m$? (Here $F_1,...,F_{2018}$ are the first $2018$ Fibonacci numbers: $F_1=F_2=1, F_{k+1}=F_k+F_{k-1}$ for $k>1$.)

2006 IMO, 2

Tags: combinatorics , polygon , Extremal combinatorics , IMO , IMO 2006 , IMO Shortlist , Dusan Djukic

Let $P$ be a regular $2006$-gon. A diagonal is called [i]good[/i] if its endpoints divide the boundary of $P$ into two parts, each composed of an odd number of sides of $P$. The sides of $P$ are also called [i]good[/i]. Suppose $P$ has been dissected into triangles by $2003$ diagonals, no two of which have a common point in the interior of $P$. Find the maximum number of isosceles triangles having two good sides that could appear in such a configuration.

2005 Moldova Team Selection Test, 3

Tags: linear algebra , matrix , combinatorics , Extremal combinatorics , IMO Shortlist

For an ${n\times n}$ matrix $A$, let $X_{i}$ be the set of entries in row $i$, and $Y_{j}$ the set of entries in column $j$, ${1\leq i,j\leq n}$. We say that $A$ is [i]golden[/i] if ${X_{1},\dots ,X_{n},Y_{1},\dots ,Y_{n}}$ are distinct sets. Find the least integer $n$ such that there exists a ${2004\times 2004}$ golden matrix with entries in the set ${\{1,2,\dots ,n\}}$.

1997 IMO Shortlist, 3

Tags: vector , combinatorics , combinatorial geometry , IMO Shortlist , Extremal combinatorics , geometry

For each finite set $ U$ of nonzero vectors in the plane we define $ l(U)$ to be the length of the vector that is the sum of all vectors in $ U.$ Given a finite set $ V$ of nonzero vectors in the plane, a subset $ B$ of $ V$ is said to be maximal if $ l(B)$ is greater than or equal to $ l(A)$ for each nonempty subset $ A$ of $ V.$ (a) Construct sets of 4 and 5 vectors that have 8 and 10 maximal subsets respectively. (b) Show that, for any set $ V$ consisting of $ n \geq 1$ vectors the number of maximal subsets is less than or equal to $ 2n.$

2007 IMO Shortlist, 8

Tags: combinatorics , combinatorial geometry , polygon , Extremal combinatorics , IMO Shortlist

Given is a convex polygon $ P$ with $ n$ vertices. Triangle whose vertices lie on vertices of $ P$ is called [i]good [/i] if all its sides are unit length. Prove that there are at most $ \frac {2n}{3}$ [i]good[/i] triangles. [i]Author: Vyacheslav Yasinskiy, Ukraine[/i]

2006 China Team Selection Test, 2

Tags: algebra , reciprocal sum , Extremal combinatorics , maximization

Given positive integer $n$, find the biggest real number $C$ which satisfy the condition that if the sum of the reciprocals of a set of integers (They can be the same.) that are greater than $1$ is less than $C$, then we can divide the set of numbers into no more than $n$ groups so that the sum of reciprocals of every group is less than $1$.

2006 ISI B.Math Entrance Exam, 1

Tags: combinatorics , Chessboard , Extremal combinatorics

Bishops on a chessboard move along the diagonals ( that is , on lines parallel to the two main diagonals ) . Prove that the maximum number of non-attacking bishops on an $n*n$ chessboard is $2n-2$. (Two bishops are said to be attacking if they are on a common diagonal).

2008 Peru Iberoamerican Team Selection Test, P3

Tags: geometry , IMO Shortlist , combinatorics , Extremal combinatorics , point set , pigenhole principle , bezout s identity

In the coordinate plane consider the set $ S$ of all points with integer coordinates. For a positive integer $ k$, two distinct points $A$, $ B\in S$ will be called $ k$-[i]friends[/i] if there is a point $ C\in S$ such that the area of the triangle $ ABC$ is equal to $ k$. A set $ T\subset S$ will be called $ k$-[i]clique[/i] if every two points in $ T$ are $ k$-friends. Find the least positive integer $ k$ for which there exits a $ k$-clique with more than 200 elements. [i]Proposed by Jorge Tipe, Peru[/i]

1978 IMO Shortlist, 10

Tags: graph theory , Ramsey Theory , combinatorics , Extremal Graph Theory , Extremal combinatorics , IMO , IMO 1978

An international society has its members from six different countries. The list of members contain $1978$ names, numbered $1, 2, \dots, 1978$. Prove that there is at least one member whose number is the sum of the numbers of two members from his own country, or twice as large as the number of one member from his own country.

1995 IMO Shortlist, 5

Tags: combinatorics , graph theory , Extremal combinatorics , IMO Shortlist

At a meeting of $ 12k$ people, each person exchanges greetings with exactly $ 3k\plus{}6$ others. For any two people, the number who exchange greetings with both is the same. How many people are at the meeting?

2006 Germany Team Selection Test, 1

Tags: function , IMO Shortlist , graph theory , combinatorics , Extremal combinatorics

Let $n\geq 3$ be a fixed integer. Each side and each diagonal of a regular $n$-gon is labelled with a number from the set $\left\{1;\;2;\;...;\;r\right\}$ in a way such that the following two conditions are fulfilled: [b]1.[/b] Each number from the set $\left\{1;\;2;\;...;\;r\right\}$ occurs at least once as a label. [b]2.[/b] In each triangle formed by three vertices of the $n$-gon, two of the sides are labelled with the same number, and this number is greater than the label of the third side. [b](a)[/b] Find the maximal $r$ for which such a labelling is possible. [b](b)[/b] [i]Harder version (IMO Shortlist 2005):[/i] For this maximal value of $r$, how many such labellings are there? [hide="Easier version (5th German TST 2006) - contains answer to the harder version"] [i]Easier version (5th German TST 2006):[/i] Show that, for this maximal value of $r$, there are exactly $\frac{n!\left(n-1\right)!}{2^{n-1}}$ possible labellings.[/hide] [i]Proposed by Federico Ardila, Colombia[/i]

2014 Contests, 3

Tags: induction , inequalities , combinatorics proposed , combinatorics , graph theory , Extremal combinatorics

Let $n$ be an even positive integer, and let $G$ be an $n$-vertex graph with exactly $\tfrac{n^2}{4}$ edges, where there are no loops or multiple edges (each unordered pair of distinct vertices is joined by either 0 or 1 edge). An unordered pair of distinct vertices $\{x,y\}$ is said to be [i]amicable[/i] if they have a common neighbor (there is a vertex $z$ such that $xz$ and $yz$ are both edges). Prove that $G$ has at least $2\textstyle\binom{n/2}{2}$ pairs of vertices which are amicable. [i]Zoltán Füredi (suggested by Po-Shen Loh)[/i]

2000 IMO Shortlist, 4

Tags: combinatorics , Extremal combinatorics , IMO Shortlist , graph theory , Chessboard

Let $ n$ and $ k$ be positive integers such that $ \frac{1}{2} n < k \leq \frac{2}{3} n.$ Find the least number $ m$ for which it is possible to place $ m$ pawns on $ m$ squares of an $ n \times n$ chessboard so that no column or row contains a block of $ k$ adjacent unoccupied squares.

1988 IMO Longlists, 54

Tags: combinatorics , partition , Coloring , Extremal combinatorics , Ramsey Theory , IMO Shortlist

Find the least natural number $ n$ such that, if the set $ \{1,2, \ldots, n\}$ is arbitrarily divided into two non-intersecting subsets, then one of the subsets contains 3 distinct numbers such that the product of two of them equals the third.

2002 All-Russian Olympiad, 4

Tags: combinatorics , Extremal combinatorics

A hydra consists of several heads and several necks, where each neck joins two heads. When a hydra's head $A$ is hit by a sword, all the necks from head $A$ disappear, but new necks grow up to connect head $A$ to all the heads which weren't connected to $A$. Heracle defeats a hydra by cutting it into two parts which are no joined. Find the minimum $N$ for which Heracle can defeat any hydra with $100$ necks by no more than $N$ hits.

2018 India IMO Training Camp, 1

Tags: combinatorics , IMO Shortlist , Strings , sorting , distance , Extremal combinatorics , radius

Let $n$ be a positive integer. Define a chameleon to be any sequence of $3n$ letters, with exactly $n$ occurrences of each of the letters $a, b,$ and $c$. Define a swap to be the transposition of two adjacent letters in a chameleon. Prove that for any chameleon $X$ , there exists a chameleon $Y$ such that $X$ cannot be changed to $Y$ using fewer than $3n^2/2$ swaps.

1979 IMO Longlists, 31

Tags: combinatorics , Set systems , Extremal combinatorics , IMO Shortlist , IMO Longlist

Let $R$ be a set of exactly $6$ elements. A set $F$ of subsets of $R$ is called an $S$-family over $R$ if and only if it satisfies the following three conditions: (i) For no two sets $X, Y$ in $F$ is $X \subseteq Y$ ; (ii) For any three sets $X, Y,Z$ in $F$, $X \cup Y \cup Z \neq R,$ (iii) $\bigcup_{X \in F} X = R$

2006 China Team Selection Test, 2

Tags: algebra , reciprocal sum , Extremal combinatorics , maximization

Given positive integer $n$, find the biggest real number $C$ which satisfy the condition that if the sum of the reciprocals of a set of integers (They can be the same.) that are greater than $1$ is less than $C$, then we can divide the set of numbers into no more than $n$ groups so that the sum of reciprocals of every group is less than $1$.

2001 IMO Shortlist, 1

Tags: modular arithmetic , combinatorics , Extremal combinatorics , maximization , IMO Shortlist

Let $A = (a_1, a_2, \ldots, a_{2001})$ be a sequence of positive integers. Let $m$ be the number of 3-element subsequences $(a_i,a_j,a_k)$ with $1 \leq i < j < k \leq 2001$, such that $a_j = a_i + 1$ and $a_k = a_j + 1$. Considering all such sequences $A$, find the greatest value of $m$.

2006 Germany Team Selection Test, 1

Tags: function , IMO Shortlist , graph theory , combinatorics , Extremal combinatorics

Let $n\geq 3$ be a fixed integer. Each side and each diagonal of a regular $n$-gon is labelled with a number from the set $\left\{1;\;2;\;...;\;r\right\}$ in a way such that the following two conditions are fulfilled: [b]1.[/b] Each number from the set $\left\{1;\;2;\;...;\;r\right\}$ occurs at least once as a label. [b]2.[/b] In each triangle formed by three vertices of the $n$-gon, two of the sides are labelled with the same number, and this number is greater than the label of the third side. [b](a)[/b] Find the maximal $r$ for which such a labelling is possible. [b](b)[/b] [i]Harder version (IMO Shortlist 2005):[/i] For this maximal value of $r$, how many such labellings are there? [hide="Easier version (5th German TST 2006) - contains answer to the harder version"] [i]Easier version (5th German TST 2006):[/i] Show that, for this maximal value of $r$, there are exactly $\frac{n!\left(n-1\right)!}{2^{n-1}}$ possible labellings.[/hide] [i]Proposed by Federico Ardila, Colombia[/i]

1985 IMO Longlists, 84

Tags: combinatorics , combinatorial geometry , graph theory , Extremal combinatorics , Extremal Graph Theory , IMO Shortlist

Let $A$ be a set of $n$ points in the space. From the family of all segments with endpoints in $A$, $q$ segments have been selected and colored yellow. Suppose that all yellow segments are of different length. Prove that there exists a polygonal line composed of $m$ yellow segments, where $m \geq \frac{2q}{n}$, arranged in order of increasing length.

2002 IMO Shortlist, 7

Tags: combinatorics , graph theory , Extremal Graph Theory , Extremal combinatorics , IMO Shortlist

Among a group of 120 people, some pairs are friends. A [i]weak quartet[/i] is a set of four people containing exactly one pair of friends. What is the maximum possible number of weak quartets ?

2007 IMO Shortlist, 3

Tags: modular arithmetic , number theory , Divisibility , Extremal combinatorics , Additive combinatorics , IMO Shortlist

Let $ X$ be a set of 10,000 integers, none of them is divisible by 47. Prove that there exists a 2007-element subset $ Y$ of $ X$ such that $ a \minus{} b \plus{} c \minus{} d \plus{} e$ is not divisible by 47 for any $ a,b,c,d,e \in Y.$ [i]Author: Gerhard Wöginger, Netherlands[/i]

2017 Taiwan TST Round 2, 5

Tags: combinatorics , IMO Shortlist , Extremal combinatorics , Hi

Let $n \geq 3$ be a positive integer. Find the maximum number of diagonals in a regular $n$-gon one can select, so that any two of them do not intersect in the interior or they are perpendicular to each other.