Prove that the sum of the squares of $1984$ consecutive positive integers cannot be the square of an integer.

Fix positive integers $n$ and $k$ such that $2 \le k \le n$ and a set $M$ consisting of $n$ fruits. A [i]permutation[/i] is a sequence $x=(x_1,x_2,\ldots,x_n)$ such that $\{x_1,\ldots,x_n\}=M$. Ivan [i]prefers[/i] some (at least one) of these permutations. He realized that for every preferred permutation $x$, there exist $k$ indices $i_1 < i_2 < \ldots < i_k$ with the following property: for every $1 \le j < k$, if he swaps $x_{i_j}$ and $x_{i_{j+1}}$, he obtains another preferred permutation. \\ Prove that he prefers at least $k!$ permutations.

Let $k$ and $n$ be positive integers. Determine the smallest integer $N \ge k$ such that the following holds: If a set of $N$ integers contains a complete residue modulo $k$, then it has a non-empty subset whose sum of elements is divisible by $n$.

Let $(G,\cdot)$ be a finite group with the identity element, $e$. The smallest positive integer $n$ with the property that $x^{n}= e$, for all $x \in G$, is called the [i]exponent[/i] of $G$. (a) For all primes $p \geq 3$, prove that the multiplicative group $\mathcal G_{p}$ of the matrices of the form $\begin{pmatrix}\hat 1 & \hat a & \hat b \\ \hat 0 & \hat 1 & \hat c \\ \hat 0 & \hat 0 & \hat 1 \end{pmatrix}$, with $\hat a, \hat b, \hat c \in \mathbb Z \slash p \mathbb Z$, is not commutative and has [i]exponent[/i] $p$. (b) Prove that if $\left( G, \circ \right)$ and $\left( H, \bullet \right)$ are finite groups of [i]exponents[/i] $m$ and $n$, respectively, then the group $\left( G \times H, \odot \right)$ with the operation given by $(g,h) \odot \left( g^\prime, h^\prime \right) = \left( g \circ g^\prime, h \bullet h^\prime \right)$, for all $\left( g,h \right), \, \left( g^\prime, h^\prime \right) \in G \times H$, has the [i]exponent[/i] equal to $\textrm{lcm}(m,n)$. (c) Prove that any $n \geq 3$ is the [i]exponent[/i] of a finite, non-commutative group. [i]Ion Savu[/i]

Let $G_1$ and $G_2$ be two finite groups such that for any finite group $H$, the number of group homomorphisms from $G_1$ to $H$ is equal to the number of group homomorphisms from $G_2$ to $H$. Prove that $G_1$ and $G_2$ are Isomorphic.

Which of the following are true? $\textbf{(A)}~GL(n,\mathbb R)\text{ is connected}$ $\textbf{(B)}~GL(n,\mathbb C)\text{ is connected}$ $\textbf{(C)}~O(n,\mathbb R)\text{ is connected}$ $\textbf{(D)}~O(n,\mathbb C)\text{ is connected}$

Find all real-valued functions on the positive integers such that $f(x + 1019) = f(x)$ for all $x$, and $f(xy) = f(x) f(y)$ for all $x,y$.

Let $ G$ be a transitive subgroup of the symmetric group $ S_{25}$ different from $ S_{25}$ and $ A_{25}$. Prove that the order of $ G$ is not divisible by $ 23$. [i]J. Pelikan[/i]

Let $G$ be a finite group with the following property: If $f$ is an automorphism of $G$, then there exists $m\in\mathbb{N^\star}$, so that $f(x)=x^{m} $ for all $x\in G$. Prove that G is commutative. [i]Marian Andronache[/i]

A ring $A$ is called Boolean if $x^2 = x$ for every $x \in A$. Prove that: a) A finite set $A$ with $n \geq 2$ elements can be equipped with the structure of a Boolean ring if and only if $n = 2^k$ for some positive integer $k$. b) The set of nonnegative integers can be equipped with the structure of a Boolean ring.

6) $G$ group, $G_{m}$ and $G_{n}$ commutative subgroups being the $m$ and $n$ th powers of the elements in $G$. Prove $G_{gcd(m,n)}$ is commutative.

Show that the only solutions of the equation $x^{3}-3xy^2 -y^3 =1$ are given by $(x,y)=(1,0),(0,-1),(-1,1),(1,-3),(-3,2),(2,1)$.

Prove that a nontrivial finite ring is not a skew field if and only if the equation $ x^n+y^n=z^n $ has nontrivial solutions in this ring for any natural number $ n. $

Let $G$ be a finite group and let $x_1,…,x_n$ be an enumeration of its elements. We consider the matrix $(a_{ij})_{1 \le i,j \le n},$ where $a_{ij}=0$ if $x_ix_j^{-1}=x_jx_i^{-1},$ and $a_{ij}=1$ otherwise. Find the parity of the integer $\det(a_{ij}).$

The equation $ x^{n+1} +x=0 $ admits $ 0 $ and $ 1 $ as its unique solutions in a ring of order $ n\ge 2. $ Prove that this ring is a skew field.

Prove that there does not exist a ring with exactly 5 regular elements. ($ a$ is called a regular element if $ ax \equal{} 0$ or $ xa \equal{} 0$ implies $ x \equal{} 0$.) A ring is not necessarily commutative, does not necessarily contain unity element, or is not necessarily finite.

Let $n$ be a positive integer. Let $s: \mathbb N \to \{1, \ldots, n\}$ be a function such that $n$ divides $m-s(m)$ for all positive integers $m$. Let $a_0, a_1, a_2, \ldots$ be a sequence such that $a_0=0$ and \[a_{k}=a_{k-1}+s(k) \text{ for all }k\ge 1.\] Find all $n$ for which this sequence contains all the residues modulo $(n+1)^2$. [i]Proposed by N.V. Tejaswi[/i]

You are given an algebraic system admitting addition and multiplication for which all the laws of ordinary arithmetic are valid except commutativity of multiplication. Show that \[(a + ab^{-1} a)^{-1}+ (a + b)^{-1} = a^{-1},\] where $x^{-1}$ is the element for which $x^{-1}x = xx^{-1} = e$, where $e$ is the element of the system such that for all $a$ the equality $ea = ae = a$ holds.

Let $ S\equal{}\{1,2,\ldots,n\}$. Let $ A$ be a subset of $ S$ such that for $ x,y\in A$, we have $ x\plus{}y\in A$ or $ x\plus{}y\minus{}n\in A$. Show that the number of elements of $ A$ divides $ n$.

Let $ z \in \mathbb{C}$ such that for all $ k \in \overline{1, 3}$, $ |z^k \plus{} 1| \le 1$. Prove that $ z \equal{} 0$.

Let $G= \{ A \in \mathcal M_2 \left( \mathbb C \right) \mid |\det A| = 1 \}$ and $H =\{A \in \mathcal M_2 \left( \mathbb C \right) \mid \det A = 1 \}$. Prove that $G$ and $H$ together with the operation of matrix multiplication are two non-isomorphical groups.

Determine the number of polynomials of degree $ 3 $ that are irreducible over the field of integers modulo a prime.

For each positive integer $ k$, find the smallest number $ n_{k}$ for which there exist real $ n_{k}\times n_{k}$ matrices $ A_{1}, A_{2}, \ldots, A_{k}$ such that all of the following conditions hold: (1) $ A_{1}^{2}= A_{2}^{2}= \ldots = A_{k}^{2}= 0$, (2) $ A_{i}A_{j}= A_{j}A_{i}$ for all $ 1 \le i, j \le k$, and (3) $ A_{1}A_{2}\ldots A_{k}\ne 0$.

[b]a)[/b] Determine the center of the ring of square matrices of a certain dimensions with elements in a given field, and prove that it is isomorphic with the given field. [b]b)[/b] Prove that $$ \left(\mathcal{M}_n\left( \mathbb{R} \right) ,+, \cdot\right)\not\cong \left(\mathcal{M}_n\left( \mathbb{C} \right) ,+,\cdot\right) , $$ for any natural number $ n\ge 2. $ [i]Marian Andronache, Ion Sava[/i]

Let $(G, \cdot)$ a finite group with order $n \in \mathbb{N}^{*},$ where $n \geq 2.$ We will say that group $(G, \cdot)$ is arrangeable if there is an ordering of its elements, such that \[ G = \{ a_1, a_2, \ldots, a_k, \ldots , a_n \} = \{ a_1 \cdot a_2, a_2 \cdot a_3, \ldots, a_k \cdot a_{k + 1}, \ldots , a_{n} \cdot a_1 \}. \] a) Determine all positive integers $n$ for which the group $(Z_n, +)$ is arrangeable. b) Give an example of a group of even order that is arrangeable.