Found problems: 339
2012 Gheorghe Vranceanu, 2
A group $ G $ of order at least $ 4 $ has the property that there exists a natural number $ n\not\in\{ 1,|G| \} $ such that $ G $ admits exactly $ \binom{|G|-1}{n-1} $ subgroups of order $ n. $ Show that $ G $ is commutative.
[i]Marius Tărnăuceanu[/i]
2005 Miklós Schweitzer, 4
Let F be a countable free group and let $F = H_1> H_2> H_3> \cdots$ be a descending chain of finite index subgroups of group F. Suppose that $\cap H_i$ does not contain any nontrivial normal subgroups of F. Prove that there exist $g_i\in F$ for which the conjugated subgroups $H_i^{g_i}$ also form a chain, and $\cap H_i^{g_i}=\{1\}$.
[hide=Note]Nielsen-Schreier Theorem might be useful.[/hide]
2018 PUMaC Team Round, 16
Let $N$ be the number of subsets $B$ of the set $\{1,2,\dots,2018\}$ such that the sum of the elements of $B$ is congruent to $2018$ modulo $2048$. Find the remainder when $N$ is divided by $1000$.
Gheorghe Țițeica 2024, P2
a) Let $n$ be a positive integer $G$ be a a group with $|G|<\frac{4n^2}{n-\varphi(n)}$. Suppose that $Z(G)$ contains at least $\varphi(n)+1$ elements of order $n$. Prove that $G$ is abelian.
b) Find a noncommutative group $G$ with $16$ elements such that $Z(G)$ contains two elements of order two.
[i]Robert Rogozsan & Filip Munteanu[/i]
2004 Alexandru Myller, 1
Show that the equation $ (x+y)^{-1}=x^{-1}+y^{-1} $ has a solution in the field of integers modulo $ p $ if and only if $ p $ is a prime congruent to $ 1 $ modulo $ 3. $
[i]Mihai Piticari[/i]
1998 Romania National Olympiad, 3
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.
2009 Indonesia TST, 3
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$.
2008 District Olympiad, 3
Let $ A$ be a commutative unitary ring with an odd number of elements.
Prove that the number of solutions of the equation $ x^2 \equal{} x$ (in $ A$) divides the number of invertible elements of $ A$.
2006 District Olympiad, 4
a) Find two sets $X,Y$ such that $X\cap Y =\emptyset$, $X\cup Y = \mathbb Q^{\star}_{+}$ and $Y = \{a\cdot b \mid a,b \in X \}$.
b) Find two sets $U,V$ such that $U\cap V =\emptyset$, $U\cup V = \mathbb R$ and $V = \{x+y \mid x,y \in U \}$.
2017 Miklós Schweitzer, 2
Prove that a field $K$ can be ordered if and only if every $A\in M_n(K)$ symmetric matrix can be diagonalized over the algebraic closure of $K$. (In other words, for all $n\in\mathbb{N}$ and all $A\in M_n(K)$, there exists an $S\in GL_n(\overline{K})$ for which $S^{-1}AS$ is diagonal.)
1996 IMC, 9
Let $G$ be the subgroup of $GL_{2}(\mathbb{R})$ generated by $A$ and $B$, where
$$A=\begin{pmatrix}
2 &0\\
0&1
\end{pmatrix},\;
B=\begin{pmatrix}
1 &1\\
0&1
\end{pmatrix}$$.
Let $H$ consist of the matrices $\begin{pmatrix}
a_{11} &a_{12}\\
a_{21}& a_{22}
\end{pmatrix}$ in $G$ for which $a_{11}=a_{22}=1$.
a) Show that $H$ is an abelian subgroup of $G$.
b) Show that $H$ is not finitely generated.
1991 Arnold's Trivium, 92
Find the orders of the subgroups of the group of rotations of the cube, and find its normal subgroups.
1986 Traian Lălescu, 1.2
Let $ K $ be the group of Klein. Prove that:
[b]a)[/b] There is an unique division ring (up to isomorphism), $ D, $ such that $ (D,+)\cong K. $
[b]b)[/b] There are no division rings $ A $ such that $ (A\setminus\{ 0\} ,+)\cong K. $
2011 Gheorghe Vranceanu, 1
[b]a)[/b] Let $ B,A $ be two subsets of a finite group $ G $ such that $ |A|+|B|>|G| . $ Show that $ G=AB. $
[b]b)[/b] Show that the cyclic group of order $ n+1 $ is the product of the sets $ \{ 0,1,2,\ldots ,m \} $ and $ \{ m,m+1,m+2,\ldots ,n\} , $ where $ 0,1,2,\ldots n $ are residues modulo $ n+1 $ and $ m\le n. $
2025 District Olympiad, P2
Let $G$ be a group and $H$ a proper subgroup. If there exist three group homomorphisms $f,g,h:G\rightarrow G$ such that $f(xy)=g(x)h(y)$ for all $x,y\in G\setminus H$, prove that:
[list=a]
[*] $g=h$.
[*] If $G$ is noncommutative and $H=Z(G)$, then $f=g=h$.
2011 Bogdan Stan, 1
Consider the multiplicative group $ \left\{ \left.A_k:=\left(\begin{matrix} 2^k& 2^k\\2^k& 2^k\end{matrix}\right)\right| k\in\mathbb{Z} \right\} . $
[b]a)[/b] Prove that $A_xA_y=A_{x+y+1} , $ for all integers $ x,y. $
[b]b)[/b] Show that, for all integers $ t, $ the multiplicative group $ \left\{ A_{jt-1}|j\in\mathbb{Z} \right\} $ is a subgroup of $ G. $
[b]c)[/b] Determine the linear integer polynomials $ P $ for which it exists an isomorphism $ \left(
G,\cdot \right)\stackrel{\eta}{\cong}\left( \mathbb{Z} ,+ \right) $ such that $ \eta\left( A_k \right) =P(k). $
1980 Miklós Schweitzer, 5
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]
2017 Romania National Olympiad, 3
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]
2006 VJIMC, Problem 2
Let $(G,\cdot)$ be a finite group of order $n$. Show that each element of $G$ is a square if and only if $n$ is odd.
2006 Cezar Ivănescu, 2
Prove that the set $ \left\{ \left. \begin{pmatrix} \frac{1-2x^3}{3x^2} & \frac{1+x^3}{3x^2} & \frac{1+x^3}{3x^2} \\ \frac{1+x^3}{3x^2} & \frac{1-2x^3}{3x^2} & \frac{1+x^3}{3x^2} \\ \frac{1+x^3}{3x^2} & \frac{1+x^3}{3x^2} & \frac{1-2x^3}{3x^2}\end{pmatrix}\right| x\in\mathbb{R}^{*} \right\} $ along with the usual multiplication of matrices form a group, determine an isomorphism between this group and the group of multiplicative real numbers.
1993 Miklós Schweitzer, 3
Let K be the field formed by the addition of a root of the polynomial $x^4 - 2x^2 - 1$ to the rational field. Prove that there are no exceptional units in the ring of integers of K. (A unit $\varepsilon$ is called exceptional if $1-\varepsilon$ is also a unit.)
2007 IberoAmerican Olympiad For University Students, 6
Let $F$ be a field whose characteristic is not $2$, let $F^*=F\setminus\left\{0\right\}$ be its multiplicative group and let $T$ be the subgroup of $F^*$ constituted by its finite order elements. Prove that if $T$ is finite, then $T$ is cyclic and its order is even.
1994 Hungary-Israel Binational, 4
An [i]$ n\minus{}m$ society[/i] is a group of $ n$ girls and $ m$ boys. Prove that there exists numbers $ n_0$ and $ m_0$ such that every [i]$ n_0\minus{}m_0$ society[/i] contains a subgroup of five boys and five girls with the following property: either all of the boys know all of the girls or none of the boys knows none of the girls.
2006 Germany Team Selection Test, 3
Suppose that $ a_1$, $ a_2$, $ \ldots$, $ a_n$ are integers such that $ n\mid a_1 \plus{} a_2 \plus{} \ldots \plus{} a_n$.
Prove that there exist two permutations $ \left(b_1,b_2,\ldots,b_n\right)$ and $ \left(c_1,c_2,\ldots,c_n\right)$ of $ \left(1,2,\ldots,n\right)$ such that for each integer $ i$ with $ 1\leq i\leq n$, we have
\[ n\mid a_i \minus{} b_i \minus{} c_i
\]
[i]Proposed by Ricky Liu & Zuming Feng, USA[/i]
2021 IMO Shortlist, N8
Find all positive integers $n$ for which there exists a polynomial $P(x) \in \mathbb{Z}[x]$ such that for every positive integer $m\geq 1$, the numbers $P^m(1), \ldots, P^m(n)$ leave exactly $\lceil n/2^m\rceil$ distinct remainders when divided by $n$. (Here, $P^m$ means $P$ applied $m$ times.)
[i]Proposed by Carl Schildkraut, USA[/i]