This website contains problems from math contests. Problems and corresponding tags were obtained from the Art of Problem Solving website.

Tags were heavily modified to better represent problems.

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Found problems: 29

2021 Thailand TST, 3
Tags: algebra , IMO Shortlist , IMO Shortlist 2020 , polynomial , algorithm , lagrange s interpolation , Gerhard Woeginger
A magician intends to perform the following trick. She announces a positive integer $n$, along with $2n$ real numbers $x_1 < \dots < x_{2n}$, to the audience. A member of the audience then secretly chooses a polynomial $P(x)$ of degree $n$ with real coefficients, computes the $2n$ values $P(x_1), \dots , P(x_{2n})$, and writes down these $2n$ values on the blackboard in non-decreasing order. After that the magician announces the secret polynomial to the audience. Can the magician find a strategy to perform such a trick?

2014 IMO, 5
Tags: IMO 2014 , IMO , IMO Shortlist , Gerhard Woeginger , combinatorics , optimization
For each positive integer $n$, the Bank of Cape Town issues coins of denomination $\frac1n$. Given a finite collection of such coins (of not necessarily different denominations) with total value at most most $99+\frac12$, prove that it is possible to split this collection into $100$ or fewer groups, such that each group has total value at most $1$.

2020 IMO Shortlist, C2
Tags: IMO Shortlist , combinatorics , IMO Shortlist 2020 , quadrilateral , colorings , partition , Gerhard Woeginger
In a regular 100-gon, 41 vertices are colored black and the remaining 59 vertices are colored white. Prove that there exist 24 convex quadrilaterals $Q_{1}, \ldots, Q_{24}$ whose corners are vertices of the 100-gon, so that [list] [*] the quadrilaterals $Q_{1}, \ldots, Q_{24}$ are pairwise disjoint, and [*] every quadrilateral $Q_{i}$ has three corners of one color and one corner of the other color. [/list]

2009 IMO Shortlist, 5
Tags: combinatorics , game , IMO Shortlist , invariant , Gerhard Woeginger
Five identical empty buckets of $2$-liter capacity stand at the vertices of a regular pentagon. Cinderella and her wicked Stepmother go through a sequence of rounds: At the beginning of every round, the Stepmother takes one liter of water from the nearby river and distributes it arbitrarily over the five buckets. Then Cinderella chooses a pair of neighbouring buckets, empties them to the river and puts them back. Then the next round begins. The Stepmother goal's is to make one of these buckets overflow. Cinderella's goal is to prevent this. Can the wicked Stepmother enforce a bucket overflow? [i]Proposed by Gerhard Woeginger, Netherlands[/i]

2007 IMO, 6
Tags: algebra , 3D geometry , nullstellensatz , IMO , IMO 2007 , IMO Shortlist , Gerhard Woeginger
Let $ n$ be a positive integer. Consider \[ S \equal{} \left\{ (x,y,z) \mid x,y,z \in \{ 0, 1, \ldots, n\}, x \plus{} y \plus{} z > 0 \right \} \] as a set of $ (n \plus{} 1)^{3} \minus{} 1$ points in the three-dimensional space. Determine the smallest possible number of planes, the union of which contains $ S$ but does not include $ (0,0,0)$. [i]Author: Gerhard Wöginger, Netherlands [/i]

2020 IMO Shortlist, C8
Tags: IMO Shortlist , combinatorics , IMO Shortlist 2020 , game , Combinatorial games , Extremal combinatorics , Gerhard Woeginger
Players $A$ and $B$ play a game on a blackboard that initially contains 2020 copies of the number 1 . In every round, player $A$ erases two numbers $x$ and $y$ from the blackboard, and then player $B$ writes one of the numbers $x+y$ and $|x-y|$ on the blackboard. The game terminates as soon as, at the end of some round, one of the following holds: [list] [*] $(1)$ one of the numbers on the blackboard is larger than the sum of all other numbers; [*] $(2)$ there are only zeros on the blackboard. [/list] Player $B$ must then give as many cookies to player $A$ as there are numbers on the blackboard. Player $A$ wants to get as many cookies as possible, whereas player $B$ wants to give as few as possible. Determine the number of cookies that $A$ receives if both players play optimally.

2010 Ukraine Team Selection Test, 9
Tags: combinatorics , game , IMO Shortlist , invariant , Gerhard Woeginger
Five identical empty buckets of $2$-liter capacity stand at the vertices of a regular pentagon. Cinderella and her wicked Stepmother go through a sequence of rounds: At the beginning of every round, the Stepmother takes one liter of water from the nearby river and distributes it arbitrarily over the five buckets. Then Cinderella chooses a pair of neighbouring buckets, empties them to the river and puts them back. Then the next round begins. The Stepmother goal's is to make one of these buckets overflow. Cinderella's goal is to prevent this. Can the wicked Stepmother enforce a bucket overflow? [i]Proposed by Gerhard Woeginger, Netherlands[/i]

2021 Thailand TST, 1
Tags: IMO Shortlist , combinatorics , IMO Shortlist 2020 , quadrilateral , colorings , partition , Gerhard Woeginger
In a regular 100-gon, 41 vertices are colored black and the remaining 59 vertices are colored white. Prove that there exist 24 convex quadrilaterals $Q_{1}, \ldots, Q_{24}$ whose corners are vertices of the 100-gon, so that [list] [*] the quadrilaterals $Q_{1}, \ldots, Q_{24}$ are pairwise disjoint, and [*] every quadrilateral $Q_{i}$ has three corners of one color and one corner of the other color. [/list]

2021 Germany Team Selection Test, 1
Tags: IMO Shortlist , combinatorics , IMO Shortlist 2020 , quadrilateral , colorings , partition , Gerhard Woeginger
In a regular 100-gon, 41 vertices are colored black and the remaining 59 vertices are colored white. Prove that there exist 24 convex quadrilaterals $Q_{1}, \ldots, Q_{24}$ whose corners are vertices of the 100-gon, so that [list] [*] the quadrilaterals $Q_{1}, \ldots, Q_{24}$ are pairwise disjoint, and [*] every quadrilateral $Q_{i}$ has three corners of one color and one corner of the other color. [/list]

2014 IMO Shortlist, C5
Tags: probability , combinatorics , IMO 2014 , IMO , geometry , IMO Shortlist , Gerhard Woeginger
A set of lines in the plane is in [i]general position[/i] if no two are parallel and no three pass through the same point. A set of lines in general position cuts the plane into regions, some of which have finite area; we call these its [i]finite regions[/i]. Prove that for all sufficiently large $n$, in any set of $n$ lines in general position it is possible to colour at least $\sqrt{n}$ lines blue in such a way that none of its finite regions has a completely blue boundary. [i]Note[/i]: Results with $\sqrt{n}$ replaced by $c\sqrt{n}$ will be awarded points depending on the value of the constant $c$.

2021 Germany Team Selection Test, 1
Tags: IMO Shortlist , combinatorics , IMO Shortlist 2020 , quadrilateral , colorings , partition , Gerhard Woeginger
In a regular 100-gon, 41 vertices are colored black and the remaining 59 vertices are colored white. Prove that there exist 24 convex quadrilaterals $Q_{1}, \ldots, Q_{24}$ whose corners are vertices of the 100-gon, so that [list] [*] the quadrilaterals $Q_{1}, \ldots, Q_{24}$ are pairwise disjoint, and [*] every quadrilateral $Q_{i}$ has three corners of one color and one corner of the other color. [/list]

2008 Mediterranean Mathematics Olympiad, 2
Tags: geometry unsolved , geometry , Gerhard Woeginger
Determine whether there exist two infinite point sequences $ A_1,A_2,\ldots$ and $ B_1,B_2,\ldots$ in the plane, such that for all $i,j,k$ with $ 1\le i < j < k$, (i) $ B_k$ is on the line that passes through $ A_i$ and $ A_j$ if and only if $ k=i+j$. (ii) $ A_k$ is on the line that passes through $ B_i$ and $ B_j$ if and only if $ k=i+j$. [i](Proposed by Gerhard Woeginger, Austria)[/i]

2021 SAFEST Olympiad, 1
Tags: IMO Shortlist , combinatorics , IMO Shortlist 2020 , quadrilateral , colorings , partition , Gerhard Woeginger
In a regular 100-gon, 41 vertices are colored black and the remaining 59 vertices are colored white. Prove that there exist 24 convex quadrilaterals $Q_{1}, \ldots, Q_{24}$ whose corners are vertices of the 100-gon, so that [list] [*] the quadrilaterals $Q_{1}, \ldots, Q_{24}$ are pairwise disjoint, and [*] every quadrilateral $Q_{i}$ has three corners of one color and one corner of the other color. [/list]

2021 Saudi Arabia IMO TST, 4
Tags: IMO Shortlist , combinatorics , IMO Shortlist 2020 , quadrilateral , colorings , partition , Gerhard Woeginger
In a regular 100-gon, 41 vertices are colored black and the remaining 59 vertices are colored white. Prove that there exist 24 convex quadrilaterals $Q_{1}, \ldots, Q_{24}$ whose corners are vertices of the 100-gon, so that [list] [*] the quadrilaterals $Q_{1}, \ldots, Q_{24}$ are pairwise disjoint, and [*] every quadrilateral $Q_{i}$ has three corners of one color and one corner of the other color. [/list]

2010 Germany Team Selection Test, 2
Tags: combinatorics , game , IMO Shortlist , invariant , Gerhard Woeginger
Five identical empty buckets of $2$-liter capacity stand at the vertices of a regular pentagon. Cinderella and her wicked Stepmother go through a sequence of rounds: At the beginning of every round, the Stepmother takes one liter of water from the nearby river and distributes it arbitrarily over the five buckets. Then Cinderella chooses a pair of neighbouring buckets, empties them to the river and puts them back. Then the next round begins. The Stepmother goal's is to make one of these buckets overflow. Cinderella's goal is to prevent this. Can the wicked Stepmother enforce a bucket overflow? [i]Proposed by Gerhard Woeginger, Netherlands[/i]

2021 Brazil Team Selection Test, 3
Tags: algebra , IMO Shortlist , IMO Shortlist 2020 , polynomial , algorithm , lagrange s interpolation , Gerhard Woeginger
A magician intends to perform the following trick. She announces a positive integer $n$, along with $2n$ real numbers $x_1 < \dots < x_{2n}$, to the audience. A member of the audience then secretly chooses a polynomial $P(x)$ of degree $n$ with real coefficients, computes the $2n$ values $P(x_1), \dots , P(x_{2n})$, and writes down these $2n$ values on the blackboard in non-decreasing order. After that the magician announces the secret polynomial to the audience. Can the magician find a strategy to perform such a trick?

2010 Germany Team Selection Test, 2
Tags: combinatorics , game , IMO Shortlist , invariant , Gerhard Woeginger
Five identical empty buckets of $2$-liter capacity stand at the vertices of a regular pentagon. Cinderella and her wicked Stepmother go through a sequence of rounds: At the beginning of every round, the Stepmother takes one liter of water from the nearby river and distributes it arbitrarily over the five buckets. Then Cinderella chooses a pair of neighbouring buckets, empties them to the river and puts them back. Then the next round begins. The Stepmother goal's is to make one of these buckets overflow. Cinderella's goal is to prevent this. Can the wicked Stepmother enforce a bucket overflow? [i]Proposed by Gerhard Woeginger, Netherlands[/i]

Russian TST 2021, P1
Tags: IMO Shortlist , combinatorics , IMO Shortlist 2020 , quadrilateral , colorings , partition , Gerhard Woeginger
In a regular 100-gon, 41 vertices are colored black and the remaining 59 vertices are colored white. Prove that there exist 24 convex quadrilaterals $Q_{1}, \ldots, Q_{24}$ whose corners are vertices of the 100-gon, so that [list] [*] the quadrilaterals $Q_{1}, \ldots, Q_{24}$ are pairwise disjoint, and [*] every quadrilateral $Q_{i}$ has three corners of one color and one corner of the other color. [/list]

2007 IMO Shortlist, 7
Tags: algebra , 3D geometry , nullstellensatz , IMO , IMO 2007 , IMO Shortlist , Gerhard Woeginger
Let $ n$ be a positive integer. Consider \[ S \equal{} \left\{ (x,y,z) \mid x,y,z \in \{ 0, 1, \ldots, n\}, x \plus{} y \plus{} z > 0 \right \} \] as a set of $ (n \plus{} 1)^{3} \minus{} 1$ points in the three-dimensional space. Determine the smallest possible number of planes, the union of which contains $ S$ but does not include $ (0,0,0)$. [i]Author: Gerhard Wöginger, Netherlands [/i]

Russian TST 2021, P2
Tags: algebra , IMO Shortlist , IMO Shortlist 2020 , polynomial , algorithm , lagrange s interpolation , Gerhard Woeginger
A magician intends to perform the following trick. She announces a positive integer $n$, along with $2n$ real numbers $x_1 < \dots < x_{2n}$, to the audience. A member of the audience then secretly chooses a polynomial $P(x)$ of degree $n$ with real coefficients, computes the $2n$ values $P(x_1), \dots , P(x_{2n})$, and writes down these $2n$ values on the blackboard in non-decreasing order. After that the magician announces the secret polynomial to the audience. Can the magician find a strategy to perform such a trick?

2021 Taiwan TST Round 3, A
Tags: algebra , IMO Shortlist , IMO Shortlist 2020 , polynomial , algorithm , lagrange s interpolation , Gerhard Woeginger
A magician intends to perform the following trick. She announces a positive integer $n$, along with $2n$ real numbers $x_1 < \dots < x_{2n}$, to the audience. A member of the audience then secretly chooses a polynomial $P(x)$ of degree $n$ with real coefficients, computes the $2n$ values $P(x_1), \dots , P(x_{2n})$, and writes down these $2n$ values on the blackboard in non-decreasing order. After that the magician announces the secret polynomial to the audience. Can the magician find a strategy to perform such a trick?

2021 Azerbaijan IMO TST, 3
Tags: algebra , IMO Shortlist , IMO Shortlist 2020 , polynomial , algorithm , lagrange s interpolation , Gerhard Woeginger
A magician intends to perform the following trick. She announces a positive integer $n$, along with $2n$ real numbers $x_1 < \dots < x_{2n}$, to the audience. A member of the audience then secretly chooses a polynomial $P(x)$ of degree $n$ with real coefficients, computes the $2n$ values $P(x_1), \dots , P(x_{2n})$, and writes down these $2n$ values on the blackboard in non-decreasing order. After that the magician announces the secret polynomial to the audience. Can the magician find a strategy to perform such a trick?

2021 Latvia TST, 2.4
Tags: IMO Shortlist , combinatorics , IMO Shortlist 2020 , quadrilateral , colorings , partition , Gerhard Woeginger
In a regular 100-gon, 41 vertices are colored black and the remaining 59 vertices are colored white. Prove that there exist 24 convex quadrilaterals $Q_{1}, \ldots, Q_{24}$ whose corners are vertices of the 100-gon, so that [list] [*] the quadrilaterals $Q_{1}, \ldots, Q_{24}$ are pairwise disjoint, and [*] every quadrilateral $Q_{i}$ has three corners of one color and one corner of the other color. [/list]

2021 Azerbaijan IMO TST, 2
Tags: IMO Shortlist , combinatorics , IMO Shortlist 2020 , quadrilateral , colorings , partition , Gerhard Woeginger
In a regular 100-gon, 41 vertices are colored black and the remaining 59 vertices are colored white. Prove that there exist 24 convex quadrilaterals $Q_{1}, \ldots, Q_{24}$ whose corners are vertices of the 100-gon, so that [list] [*] the quadrilaterals $Q_{1}, \ldots, Q_{24}$ are pairwise disjoint, and [*] every quadrilateral $Q_{i}$ has three corners of one color and one corner of the other color. [/list]

2014 IMO, 6
Tags: probability , combinatorics , IMO 2014 , IMO , geometry , IMO Shortlist , Gerhard Woeginger
A set of lines in the plane is in [i]general position[/i] if no two are parallel and no three pass through the same point. A set of lines in general position cuts the plane into regions, some of which have finite area; we call these its [i]finite regions[/i]. Prove that for all sufficiently large $n$, in any set of $n$ lines in general position it is possible to colour at least $\sqrt{n}$ lines blue in such a way that none of its finite regions has a completely blue boundary. [i]Note[/i]: Results with $\sqrt{n}$ replaced by $c\sqrt{n}$ will be awarded points depending on the value of the constant $c$.