Found problems: 163
2004 IMC, 1
Let $A$ be a real $4\times 2$ matrix and $B$ be a real $2\times 4$ matrix such that
\[ AB = \left(%
\begin{array}{cccc}
1 & 0 & -1 & 0 \\
0 & 1 & 0 & -1 \\
-1 & 0 & 1 & 0 \\
0 & -1 & 0 & 1 \\
\end{array}%
\right). \]
Find $BA$.
2014 IMC, 1
Determine all pairs $(a, b)$ of real numbers for which there exists a unique symmetric $2\times 2$ matrix $M$ with real entries satisfying $\mathrm{trace}(M)=a$ and $\mathrm{det}(M)=b$.
(Proposed by Stephan Wagner, Stellenbosch University)
2014 IMC, 2
Consider the following sequence
$$(a_n)_{n=1}^{\infty}=(1,1,2,1,2,3,1,2,3,4,1,2,3,4,5,1,\dots)$$
Find all pairs $(\alpha, \beta)$ of positive real numbers such that $\lim_{n\to \infty}\frac{\displaystyle\sum_{k=1}^n a_k}{n^{\alpha}}=\beta$.
(Proposed by Tomas Barta, Charles University, Prague)
2004 IMC, 5
Prove that
\[ \int^1_0 \int^1_0 \frac { dx \ dy }{ \frac 1x + |\log y| -1 } \leq 1 . \]
2017 IMC, 9
Define the sequence $f_1,f_2,\ldots :[0,1)\to \mathbb{R}$ of continuously differentiable functions by the following recurrence: $$ f_1=1; \qquad \quad f_{n+1}'=f_nf_{n+1} \quad\text{on $(0,1)$}, \quad \text{and}\quad f_{n+1}(0)=1. $$
Show that $\lim\limits_{n\to \infty}f_n(x)$ exists for every $x\in [0,1)$ and determine the limit function.
2014 IMC, 3
Let $n$ be a positive integer. Show that there are positive real numbers $a_0, a_1, \dots, a_n$ such that for each choice of signs the polynomial
$$\pm a_nx^n\pm a_{n-1}x^{n-1} \pm \dots \pm a_1x \pm a_0$$
has $n$ distinct real roots.
(Proposed by Stephan Neupert, TUM, München)
2002 IMC, 8
200 students participated in a math contest. They had 6 problems to solve. Each problem was correctly solved by at least 120 participants. Prove that there must be 2 participants such that every problem was solved by at least one of these two students.
2004 IMC, 2
Let $f,g:[a,b]\to [0,\infty)$ be two continuous and non-decreasing functions such that each $x\in [a,b]$ we have
\[ \int^x_a \sqrt { f(t) }\ dt \leq \int^x_a \sqrt { g(t) }\ dt \ \ \textrm{and}\ \int^b_a \sqrt {f(t)}\ dt = \int^b_a \sqrt { g(t)}\ dt. \]
Prove that
\[ \int^b_a \sqrt { 1+ f(t) }\ dt \geq \int^b_a \sqrt { 1 + g(t) }\ dt. \]
2019 IMC, 7
Let $C=\{4,6,8,9,10,\ldots\}$ be the set of composite positive integers. For each $n\in C$ let $a_n$ be the smallest positive integer $k$ such that $k!$ is divisible by $n$. Determine whether the following series converges:
$$\sum_{n\in C}\left(\frac{a_n}{n}\right)^n.$$
[i]Proposed by Orif Ibrogimov, ETH Zurich and National University of Uzbekistan[/i]
2014 Contests, 1
Determine all pairs $(a, b)$ of real numbers for which there exists a unique symmetric $2\times 2$ matrix $M$ with real entries satisfying $\mathrm{trace}(M)=a$ and $\mathrm{det}(M)=b$.
(Proposed by Stephan Wagner, Stellenbosch University)
2007 IMC, 6
Let $ f \ne 0$ be a polynomial with real coefficients. Define the sequence $ f_{0}, f_{1}, f_{2}, \ldots$ of polynomials by $ f_{0}= f$ and $ f_{n+1}= f_{n}+f_{n}'$ for every $ n \ge 0$. Prove that there exists a number $ N$ such that for every $ n \ge N$, all roots of $ f_{n}$ are real.
2007 IMC, 1
Let $ f$ be a polynomial of degree 2 with integer coefficients. Suppose that $ f(k)$ is divisible by 5 for every integer $ k$. Prove that all coefficients of $ f$ are divisible by 5.
2016 IMC, 2
Let $k$ and $n$ be positive integers. A sequence $\left( A_1, \dots , A_k \right)$ of $n\times n$ real matrices is [i]preferred[/i] by Ivan the Confessor if $A_i^2\neq 0$ for $1\le i\le k$, but $A_iA_j=0$ for $1\le i$, $j\le k$ with $i\neq j$. Show that $k\le n$ in all preferred sequences, and give an example of a preferred sequence with $k=n$ for each $n$.
(Proposed by Fedor Petrov, St. Petersburg State University)
1994 IMC, 3
Given a set $S$ of $2n-1$, $n\in \mathbb N$, different irrational numbers. Prove that there are $n$ different elements $x_1, x_2, \ldots, x_n\in S$ such that for all non-negative rational numbers $a_1, a_2, \ldots, a_n$ with $a_1+a_2+\ldots + a_n>0$ we have that $a_1x_1+a_2x_2+\cdots +a_nx_n$ is an irrational number.
1994 IMC, 6
Find
$$\lim_{N\to\infty}\frac{\ln^2 N}{N} \sum_{k=2}^{N-2} \frac{1}{\ln k \cdot \ln (N-k)}$$
2020 IMC, 1
Let $n$ be a positive integer. Compute the number of words $w$ that satisfy the following three properties.
1. $w$ consists of $n$ letters from the alphabet $\{a,b,c,d\}.$
2. $w$ contains an even number of $a$'s
3. $w$ contains an even number of $b$'s.
For example, for $n=2$ there are $6$ such words: $aa, bb, cc, dd, cd, dc.$
2012 IMC, 3
Is the set of positive integers $n$ such that $n!+1$ divides $(2012n)!$ finite or infinite?
[i]Proposed by Fedor Petrov, St. Petersburg State University.[/i]
2016 IMC, 1
Let $(x_1,x_2,\ldots)$ be a sequence of positive real numbers satisfying ${\displaystyle \sum_{n=1}^{\infty}\frac{x_n}{2n-1}=1}$. Prove that $$ \displaystyle \sum_{k=1}^{\infty} \sum_{n=1}^{k} \frac{x_n}{k^2} \le2. $$
(Proposed by Gerhard J. Woeginger, The Netherlands)
1994 IMC, 4
Let $A$ be a $n\times n$ diagonal matrix with characteristic polynomial
$$(x-c_1)^{d_1}(x-c_2)^{d_2}\ldots (x-c_k)^{d_k}$$
where $c_1, c_2, \ldots, c_k$ are distinct (which means that $c_1$ appears $d_1$ times on the diagonal, $c_2$ appears $d_2$ times on the diagonal, etc. and $d_1+d_2+\ldots + d_k=n$).
Let $V$ be the space of all $n\times n$ matrices $B$ such that $AB=BA$. Prove that the dimension of $V$ is
$$d_1^2+d_2^2+\cdots + d_k^2$$
2007 IMC, 3
Let $ C$ be a nonempty closed bounded subset of the real line and $ f: C\to C$ be a nondecreasing continuous function. Show that there exists a point $ p\in C$ such that $ f(p) \equal{} p$.
(A set is closed if its complement is a union of open intervals. A function $ g$ is nondecreasing if $ g(x)\le g(y)$ for all $ x\le y$.)
2016 IMC, 2
Today, Ivan the Confessor prefers continuous functions $f:[0,1]\to\mathbb{R}$ satisfying $f(x)+f(y)\geq |x-y|$ for all pairs $x,y\in [0,1]$. Find the minimum of $\int_0^1 f$ over all preferred functions.
(Proposed by Fedor Petrov, St. Petersburg State University)
2008 IMC, 1
Find all continuous functions $f: \mathbb{R}\to \mathbb{R}$ such that
\[ f(x)-f(y)\in \mathbb{Q}\quad \text{ for all }\quad x-y\in\mathbb{Q} \]
2013 IMC, 2
Let $\displaystyle{f:{\cal R} \to {\cal R}}$ be a twice differentiable function. Suppose $\displaystyle{f\left( 0 \right) = 0}$. Prove there exists $\displaystyle{\xi \in \left( { - \frac{\pi }{2},\frac{\pi }{2}} \right)}$ such that \[\displaystyle{f''\left( \xi \right) = f\left( \xi \right)\left( {1 + 2{{\tan }^2}\xi } \right)}.\]
[i]Proposed by Karen Keryan, Yerevan State University, Yerevan, Armenia.[/i]
2006 IMC, 3
Let $A$ be an $n$x$n$ matrix with integer entries and $b_{1},b_{2},...,b_{k}$ be integers satisfying $detA=b_{1}\cdot b_{2}\cdot ...\cdot b_{k}$. Prove that there exist $n$x$n$-matrices $B_{1},B_{2},...,B_{k}$ with integers entries such that $A=B_{1}\cdot B_{2}\cdot ...\cdot B_{k}$ and $detB_{i}=b_{i}$ for all $i=1,...,k$.
2013 IMC, 1
Let $\displaystyle{z}$ be a complex number with $\displaystyle{\left| {z + 1} \right| > 2}$. Prove that $\displaystyle{\left| {{z^3} + 1} \right| > 1}$.
[i]Proposed by Walther Janous and Gerhard Kirchner, Innsbruck.[/i]