Let $R$ be the region consisting of the points $(x,y)$ of the cartesian plane satisfying both $|x|-|y| \leq 1$ and $|y| \leq 1$. Sketch the region $R$ and find its area.

How many of the following are equal to $x^x+x^x$ for all $x>0$? $\textbf{I:}\ 2x^x \qquad\textbf{II:}\ x^{2x} \qquad\textbf{III:}\ (2x)^x \qquad\textbf{IV:}\ (2x)^{2x}$ $ \textbf{(A)}\ 0 \qquad\textbf{(B)}\ 1 \qquad\textbf{(C)}\ 2 \qquad\textbf{(D)}\ 3 \qquad\textbf{(E)}\ 4 $

Consider the sequence $ a_1\equal{}\frac{3}{2}, a_{n\plus{}1}\equal{}\frac{3a_n^2\plus{}4a_n\minus{}3}{4a_n^2}.$ $ (a)$ Prove that $ 1<a_n$ and $ a_{n\plus{}1}<a_n$ for all $ n$. $ (b)$ From $ (a)$ it follows that $ \displaystyle\lim_{n\to\infty}a_n$ exists. Find this limit. $ (c)$ Determine $ \displaystyle\lim_{n\to\infty}a_1a_2a_3...a_n$.

Let $\triangle ABC$ satisfy $AB = 17, AC = \frac{70}{3}$ and $BC = 19$. Let $I$ be the incenter of $\triangle ABC$ and $E$ be the excenter of $\triangle ABC$ opposite $A$. (Note: this means that the circle tangent to ray $AB$ beyond $B$, ray $AC$ beyond $C$, and side $BC$ is centered at $E$.) Suppose the circle with diameter $IE$ intersects $AB$ beyond $B$ at $D$. If $BD = \frac{a}{b}$ where $a, b$ are coprime positive integers, find $a + b$.

The sequence $ \{a_n \} $ is defined as follows: $ a_0 = 1 $ and $ {a_n} = \sum \limits_ {k = 1} ^ {[\sqrt n]} {{a_ {n - {k ^ 2 }}}} $ for $ n \ge 1. $ Prove that among $ a_1, a_2, \ldots, a_ {10 ^ 6} $ there are at least $500$ even numbers. (Here, $ [x] $ is the largest integer not exceeding $ x $.)

Let $A$ be a $3 \times 9$ matrix. All elements of $A$ are positive integers. We call an $m\times n$ submatrix of $A$ "ox" if the sum of its elements is divisible by $10$, and we call an element of $A$ "carboxylic" if it is not an element of any "ox" submatrix. Find the largest possible number of "carboxylic" elements in $A$.

Let $n$ be a positive integer. We start with $n$ piles of pebbles, each initially containing a single pebble. One can perform moves of the following form: choose two piles, take an equal number of pebbles from each pile and form a new pile out of these pebbles. Find (in terms of $n$) the smallest number of nonempty piles that one can obtain by performing a finite sequence of moves of this form.

Show that there is a multiple of $2^{1998}$ whose decimal representation consists only of the digits $1$ and $2$.

Let $m$ and $n$ be positive integers. Player $A$ has a field of $m \times n$, and player $B$ has a $1 \times n$ field (the first is the number of rows). On the first move, each player places on each square of his field white or black chip as he pleases. At each next on the move, each player can change the color of randomly chosen pieces on your field to the opposite, provided that in no row for this move will not change more than one chip (it is allowed not to change not a single chip). The moves are made in turn, player $A$ starts. Player $A$ wins if there is such a position that in the only row player $B$'s squares, from left to right, are the same as in some row of player's field $A$. Prove that player $A$ has the ability to win for any game of player $B$ if and only if $n <2m$.

A $2 \times 2$ square was cut out of a sheet of grid paper. Using only a ruler without divisions and without going beyond the square, divide the diagonal of the square into $6$ equal parts.

Find all positive integers $m$ such that there exist positive integers $a_1,a_2,\ldots,a_{1378}$ such that: \[ m=\sum_{k=1}^{1378}{\frac{k}{a_k}}. \]

Fourteen coins are submitted to the judge. An expert knows, that the coins from number one to seven are false, and from $8$ to $14$ -- normal. The judge is sure only that all the true coins have the same weight and all the false coins weights equal each other, but are less then the weight of the true coins. The expert has the scales without weights. a) The expert wants to prove, that the coins $1--7$ are false. How can he do it in three weighings? b) How can he prove, that the coins $1--7$ are false and the coins $8--14$ are true in three weighings?

Evan the ant lives on a right hexagonal pyramid $ABCDEFP$ whose base is regular hexagon $ABCDEF$, and $PA=PB=PC=PD=PE=PF=38\sqrt{3}$. Let $M$ and $N$ be the midpoints of sides $AB$ and $CD$, respectively. Let $X$ be the point on segment $MP$ and $Y$ be the point on segment $NP$ such that $MX=NY=\sqrt{3}$. Given that $PM=37\sqrt{3}$, the length of the shortest path from $X$ to $Y$ that Evan can take by crawling along the surface of $ABCDEFP$ can be expressed as $\frac{m}{n}$, where $m$ and $n$ are relatively prime positive integers. Find $m+n$. [i]Lightning 4.4[/i]

Let $a, b, c$ be positive real numbers such that $abc=8$. Prove that \[ \frac{a^2}{\sqrt{(1+a^3)(1+b^3)}} +\frac{b^2}{\sqrt{(1+b^3)(1+c^3)}} +\frac{c^2}{\sqrt{(1+c^3)(1+a^3)}} \geq \frac{4}{3} \]

How many rearrangements of the letters of "$HMMTHMMT$" do not contain the substring "$HMMT$"? (For instance, one such arrangement is $HMMHMTMT$.)

[b]Problem Section #2 c). Denote by $\mathbb{Q^+}$ the set of all positive rational numbers. Determine all functions $f:\mathbb{Q^+}\to\mathbb{Q^+}$ which satisfy the following equation for all $x,y \in \mathbb{Q^+} : f(f(x)^2.y)=x^3.f(xy)$.

A jar contains $2$ yellow candies, $4$ red candies, and $6$ blue candies. Candies are randomly drawn out of the jar one-by-one and eaten. The probability that the $2$ yellow candies will be eaten before any of the red candies are eaten is given by the fraction $\frac{m}{n}$ where $m$ and $n$ are relatively prime positive integers. Find $m + n$.

The function $f$ defined by $\displaystyle f(x)= \frac{ax+b}{cx+d}$. where $a,b,c$ and $d$ are nonzero real numbers, has the properties $f(19)=19, f(97)=97$ and $f(f(x))=x$ for all values except $\displaystyle \frac{-d}{c}$. Find the unique number that is not in the range of $f$.

There are $101$ chess players who participated in several tournaments. There was no tournament in which all of them participated. Each pair of these $101$ players met exactly once during these tournaments. Prove that one of them participated in no less than $11$ tournaments. (Assume that each pair of participants in each tournament plays each other once in that tournament). (A Andjans, Riga)

A sequence ($a_n$) satisfies the following conditions: (i) For each $m \in N$ it holds that $a_{2^m} = 1/m$. (ii) For each natural $n \ge 2$ it holds that $a_{2n-1}a_{2n} = a_n$. (iii) For all integers $m,n$ with $2m > n \ge 1$ it holds that $a_{2n}a_{2n+1} = a_{2^m+n}$. Determine $a_{2000}$. You may assume that such a sequence exists.

$ \forall n > 0, n \in \mathbb{Z},$ there exists uniquely determined integers $ a_n, b_n, c_n \in \mathbb{Z}$ such \[ \left(1 \plus{} 4 \cdot \sqrt[3]{2} \minus{} 4 \cdot \sqrt[3]{4} \right)^n \equal{} a_n \plus{} b_n \cdot \sqrt[3]{2} \plus{} c_n \cdot \sqrt[3]{4}.\] Prove that $ c_n \equal{} 0$ implies $ n \equal{} 0.$

Find the smallest positive integer $n$ with the following property: For any integer $m$ with $0 < m < 2004$, there exists an integer $k$ such that \[\frac{m}{2004}<\frac{k}{n}<\frac{m+1}{2005}.\]

The integers from $1$ to $36$ are written on a “mathlotto” ticket. When you buy a “mathlotto” ticket, you choose $6$ of these $36$ numbers. Then $6$ of the integers from $1$ to $36$ are drawn, and a winning ticket is one which does not contain any of them. Prove that (a) if you buy $9$ tickets, you can choose your numbers so that regardless of which numbers are drawn, you are guaranteed to have at least one winning ticket; (b) if you buy only $8$ tickets, it is possible for you not to have any winning tickets, regardless of how you choose your numbers. (S Tokarev)

Show that the perimeter of an arbitrary planar section of a tetrahedron is less than the perimeter of one of the faces of the tetrahedron. [Gy. Hajos]

Several hikers travel at fixed speeds along a straight road. It is known that over some period of time, the sum of their pairwise distances is monotonically decreasing. Show that there is a hiker, the sum of whose distances to the other hikers is monotonically decreasing over the same period. [i]A. Shapovalov[/i]