Olympiad problems

2019 ISI Entrance Examination, 5

A subset $\bf{S}$ of the plane is called [i]convex[/i] if given any two points $x$ and $y$ in $\bf{S}$, the line segment joining $x$ and $y$ is contained in $\bf{S}$. A quadrilateral is called [i]convex[/i] if the region enclosed by the edges of the quadrilateral is a convex set. Show that given a convex quadrilateral $Q$ of area $1$, there is a rectangle $R$ of area $2$ such that $Q$ can be drawn inside $R$.

2022 ISI Entrance Examination, 9

Tags: isi , Indian Statistical Institute , complex numbers , 2022 , algebra

Find the smallest positive real number $k$ such that the following inequality holds $$\left|z_{1}+\ldots+z_{n}\right| \geqslant \frac{1}{k}\big(\left|z_{1}\right|+\ldots+\left|z_{n}\right|\big) .$$ for every positive integer $n \geqslant 2$ and every choice $z_{1}, \ldots, z_{n}$ of complex numbers with non-negative real and imaginary parts. [Hint: First find $k$ that works for $n=2$. Then show that the same $k$ works for any $n \geqslant 2$.]

2022 ISI Entrance Examination, 3

Tags: isi , Indian Statistical Institute , coordinate geometry , 2022

Consider the parabola $C: y^{2}=4 x$ and the straight line $L: y=x+2$. Let $P$ be a variable point on $L$. Draw the two tangents from $P$ to $C$ and let $Q_{1}$ and $Q_{2}$ denote the two points of contact on $C$. Let $Q$ be the mid-point of the line segment joining $Q_{1}$ and $Q_{2}$. Find the locus of $Q$ as $P$ moves along $L$.

2022 ISI Entrance Examination, 6

Tags: isi , Indian Statistical Institute , 2022 , Sequence , limit , real analysis

Consider a sequence $P_{1}, P_{2}, \ldots$ of points in the plane such that $P_{1}, P_{2}, P_{3}$ are non-collinear and for every $n \geq 4, P_{n}$ is the midpoint of the line segment joining $P_{n-2}$ and $P_{n-3}$. Let $L$ denote the line segment joining $P_{1}$ and $P_{5}$. Prove the following: [list=a] [*] The area of the triangle formed by the points $P_{n}, P_{n-1}, P_{n-2}$ converges to zero as $n$ goes to infinity. [*] The point $P_{9}$ lies on $L$. [/list]

2022 ISI Entrance Examination, 5

Tags: isi , Indian Statistical Institute , number theory , 2022

For any positive integer $n$, and $i=1,2$, let $f_{i}(n)$ denote the number of divisors of $n$ of the form $3 k+i$ (including $1$ and $n$ ). Define, for any positive integer $n$, $$f(n)=f_{1}(n)-f_{2}(n)$$ Find the value of $f\left(5^{2022}\right)$ and $f\left(21^{2022}\right)$.

2022 ISI Entrance Examination, 1

Tags: isi , Indian Statistical Institute , 2022 , combinatorics

Consider a board having 2 rows and $n$ columns. Thus there are $2n$ cells in the board. Each cell is to be filled in by $0$ or $1$ . [list=a] [*] In how many ways can this be done such that each row sum and each column sum is even? [*] In how many ways can this be done such that each row sum and each column sum is odd? [/list]

2018 ISI Entrance Examination, 4

Tags: isi , 2018 , Indian Statistical Institute , calculus

Let $f:(0,\infty)\to\mathbb{R}$ be a continuous function such that for all $x\in(0,\infty)$, $$f(2x)=f(x)$$ Show that the function $g$ defined by the equation $$g(x)=\int_{x}^{2x} f(t)\frac{dt}{t}~~\text{for}~x>0$$ is a constant function.

2019 ISI Entrance Examination, 2

Tags: isi , Indian Statistical Institute , 2019 , calculus

Let $f:(0,\infty)\to\mathbb{R}$ be defined by $$f(x)=\lim_{n\to\infty}\cos^n\bigg(\frac{1}{n^x}\bigg)$$ [b](a)[/b] Show that $f$ has exactly one point of discontinuity. [b](b)[/b] Evaluate $f$ at its point of discontinuity.

2022 ISI Entrance Examination, 7

Tags: isi , Indian Statistical Institute , 2022 , polynomial , limit

Let $$P(x)=1+2 x+7 x^{2}+13 x^{3}~,\qquad x \in \mathbb{R} .$$ Calculate for all $x \in \mathbb{R},$ $$\lim _{n \rightarrow \infty}\left(P\left(\frac{x}{n}\right)\right)^{n}$$

2018 ISI Entrance Examination, 1

Tags: isi , 2018 , Indian Statistical Institute

Find all pairs $(x,y)$ with $x,y$ real, satisfying the equations $$\sin\bigg(\frac{x+y}{2}\bigg)=0~,~\vert x\vert+\vert y\vert=1$$

2023 ISI Entrance UGB, 7

Tags: algebra , polynomial , isi , Indian Statistical Institute

(a) Let $n \geq 1$ be an integer. Prove that $X^n+Y^n+Z^n$ can be written as a polynomial with integer coefficients in the variables $\alpha=X+Y+Z$, $\beta= XY+YZ+ZX$ and $\gamma = XYZ$. (b) Let $G_n=x^n \sin(nA)+y^n \sin(nB)+z^n \sin(nC)$, where $x,y,z, A,B,C$ are real numbers such that $A+B+C$ is an integral multiple of $\pi$. Using (a) or otherwise show that if $G_1=G_2=0$, then $G_n=0$ for all positive integers $n$.

2019 ISI Entrance Examination, 8

Tags: isi , Indian Statistical Institute , 2019 , distance , coordinate geometry , real analysis

Consider the following subsets of the plane:$$C_1=\Big\{(x,y)~:~x>0~,~y=\frac1x\Big\} $$ and $$C_2=\Big\{(x,y)~:~x<0~,~y=-1+\frac1x\Big\}$$ Given any two points $P=(x,y)$ and $Q=(u,v)$ of the plane, their distance $d(P,Q)$ is defined by $$d(P,Q)=\sqrt{(x-u)^2+(y-v)^2}$$ Show that there exists a unique choice of points $P_0\in C_1$ and $Q_0\in C_2$ such that $$d(P_0,Q_0)\leqslant d(P,Q)\quad\forall ~P\in C_1~\text{and}~Q\in C_2.$$

2022 ISI Entrance Examination, 4

Tags: isi , Indian Statistical Institute , polynomial

Let $P(x)$ be an odd degree polynomial in $x$ with real coefficients. Show that the equation $P(P(x))=0$ has at least as many distinct real roots as the equation $P(x)=0$.

2018 ISI Entrance Examination, 3

Tags: isi , Indian Statistical Institute , function , calculus , continuous

Let $f:\mathbb{R}\to\mathbb{R}$ be a continuous function such that for all $x\in\mathbb{R}$ and for all $t\geqslant 0$, $$f(x)=f(e^tx)$$ Show that $f$ is a constant function.

2019 ISI Entrance Examination, 7

Tags: isi , Indian Statistical Institute , 2019 , polynomial , Integer Polynomial , algebra

Let $f$ be a polynomial with integer coefficients. Define $$a_1 = f(0)~,~a_2 = f(a_1) = f(f(0))~,$$ and $~a_n = f(a_{n-1})$ for $n \geqslant 3$. If there exists a natural number $k \geqslant 3$ such that $a_k = 0$, then prove that either $a_1=0$ or $a_2=0$.

2018 ISI Entrance Examination, 5

Tags: isi , 2018 , Indian Statistical Institute , calculus

Let $f:\mathbb{R}\to\mathbb{R}$ be a differentiable function such that its derivative $f'$ is a continuous function. Moreover, assume that for all $x\in\mathbb{R}$, $$0\leqslant \vert f'(x)\vert\leqslant \frac{1}{2}$$ Define a sequence of real numbers $\{a_n\}_{n\in\mathbb{N}}$ by :$$a_1=1~~\text{and}~~a_{n+1}=f(a_n)~\text{for all}~n\in\mathbb{N}$$ Prove that there exists a positive real number $M$ such that for all $n\in\mathbb{N}$, $$\vert a_n\vert \leqslant M$$

2018 ISI Entrance Examination, 8

Tags: isi , Indian Statistical Institute , 2018 , college contests , linear algebra

Let $n\geqslant 3$. Let $A=((a_{ij}))_{1\leqslant i,j\leqslant n}$ be an $n\times n$ matrix such that $a_{ij}\in\{-1,1\}$ for all $1\leqslant i,j\leqslant n$. Suppose that $$a_{k1}=1~~\text{for all}~1\leqslant k\leqslant n$$ and $~~\sum_{k=1}^n a_{ki}a_{kj}=0~~\text{for all}~i\neq j$. Show that $n$ is a multiple of $4$.

2022 ISI Entrance Examination, 2

Tags: function , isi , Indian Statistical Institute , calculus , differentiation

Consider the function $$f(x)=\sum_{k=1}^{m}(x-k)^{4}~, \qquad~ x \in \mathbb{R}$$ where $m>1$ is an integer. Show that $f$ has a unique minimum and find the point where the minimum is attained.

2019 ISI Entrance Examination, 4

Tags: isi , Indian Statistical Institute , 2019 , calculus

Let $f:\mathbb{R}\to\mathbb{R}$ be a twice differentiable function such that $$\frac{1}{2y}\int_{x-y}^{x+y}f(t)\, dt=f(x)\qquad\forall~x\in\mathbb{R}~\&~y>0$$ Show that there exist $a,b\in\mathbb{R}$ such that $f(x)=ax+b$ for all $x\in\mathbb{R}$.

2018 ISI Entrance Examination, 2

Tags: isi , Indian Statistical Institute , geometry

Suppose that $PQ$ and $RS$ are two chords of a circle intersecting at a point $O$. It is given that $PO=3 \text{cm}$ and $SO=4 \text{cm}$. Moreover, the area of the triangle $POR$ is $7 \text{cm}^2$. Find the area of the triangle $QOS$.

2019 ISI Entrance Examination, 3

Tags: isi , Indian Statistical Institute , complex plane , complex numbers , algebra

Let $\Omega=\{z=x+iy~\in\mathbb{C}~:~|y|\leqslant 1\}$. If $f(z)=z^2+2$, then draw a sketch of $$f\Big(\Omega\Big)=\{f(z):z\in\Omega\}$$ Justify your answer.

2019 ISI Entrance Examination, 6

Tags: isi , Indian Statistical Institute , limit , Sequence , real analysis

For all natural numbers $n$, let $$A_n=\sqrt{2-\sqrt{2+\sqrt{2+\cdots+\sqrt{2}}}}\quad\text{(n many radicals)}$$ [b](a)[/b] Show that for $n\geqslant 2$, $$A_n=2\sin\frac{\pi}{2^{n+1}}$$ [b](b)[/b] Hence or otherwise, evaluate the limit $$\lim_{n\to\infty} 2^nA_n$$

2019 ISI Entrance Examination, 1

Tags: isi , Indian Statistical Institute , 2019 , number theory

Prove that the positive integers $n$ that cannot be written as a sum of $r$ consecutive positive integers, with $r>1$, are of the form $n=2^l~$ for some $l\geqslant 0$.

2022 ISI Entrance Examination, 8

Tags: isi , Indian Statistical Institute , 2022 , trigonometry , algebra , inequalities

Find the minimum value of $$\big|\sin x+\cos x+\tan x+\cot x+\sec x+\operatorname{cosec}x\big|$$ for real numbers $x$ not multiple of $\frac{\pi}{2}$.