Olympiad problems

1997 Pre-Preparation Course Examination, 1

Let $ k,m,n$ be integers such that $ 1 < n \leq m \minus{} 1 \leq k.$ Determine the maximum size of a subset $ S$ of the set $ \{1,2,3, \ldots, k\minus{}1,k\}$ such that no $ n$ distinct elements of $ S$ add up to $ m.$

1983 IMO, 3

Tags: modular arithmetic , number theory , frobenius , additive number theory , additive combinatorics

Let $a,b$ and $c$ be positive integers, no two of which have a common divisor greater than $1$. Show that $2abc-ab-bc-ca$ is the largest integer which cannot be expressed in the form $xbc+yca+zab$, where $x,y,z$ are non-negative integers.

PEN P Problems, 16

Tags: search , diophantine equation , additive number theory

Prove that there exist infinitely many integers $n$ such that $n, n+1, n+2$ are each the sum of the squares of two integers.

PEN P Problems, 10

Tags: additive number theory

For each positive integer $\,n,\;S(n)\,$ is defined to be the greatest integer such that, for every positive integer $\,k\leq S(n),\;n^{2}\,$ can be written as the sum of $\,k\,$ positive squares. [list=a] [*] Prove that $S(n)\leq n^{2}-14$ for each $n\geq 4$. [*] Find an integer $n$ such that $S(n)=n^{2}-14$. [*] Prove that there are infinitely many integers $n$ such that $S(n)=n^{2}-14$. [/list]

1979 IMO Shortlist, 21

Tags: number theory , perfect cube , perfect square , counting , additive number theory

Let $N$ be the number of integral solutions of the equation \[x^2 - y^2 = z^3 - t^3\] satisfying the condition $0 \leq x, y, z, t \leq 10^6$, and let $M$ be the number of integral solutions of the equation \[x^2 - y^2 = z^3 - t^3 + 1\] satisfying the condition $0 \leq x, y, z, t \leq 10^6$. Prove that $N >M.$

1993 IMO Shortlist, 2

Tags: combinatorics , additive combinatorics , additive number theory

Let $n,k \in \mathbb{Z}^{+}$ with $k \leq n$ and let $S$ be a set containing $n$ distinct real numbers. Let $T$ be a set of all real numbers of the form $x_1 + x_2 + \ldots + x_k$ where $x_1, x_2, \ldots, x_k$ are distinct elements of $S.$ Prove that $T$ contains at least $k(n-k)+1$ distinct elements.

PEN P Problems, 23

Tags: modular arithmetic , additive number theory

Show that there are infinitely many positive integers which cannot be expressed as the sum of squares.

2015 Peru IMO TST, 11

Tags: number theory , frobenius , additive combinatorics , additive number theory , additive representation , induction

Let $n \ge 2$ be an integer, and let $A_n$ be the set \[A_n = \{2^n - 2^k\mid k \in \mathbb{Z},\, 0 \le k < n\}.\] Determine the largest positive integer that cannot be written as the sum of one or more (not necessarily distinct) elements of $A_n$ . [i]Proposed by Serbia[/i]

1992 IMO Longlists, 23

Tags: number theory , egyptian fractions , additive number theory

An [i]Egyptian number[/i] is a positive integer that can be expressed as a sum of positive integers, not necessarily distinct, such that the sum of their reciprocals is $1$. For example, $32 = 2 + 3 + 9 + 18$ is Egyptian because $\frac 12 +\frac 13 +\frac 19 +\frac{1}{18}=1$ . Prove that all integers greater than $23$ are [i]Egyptian[/i].

PEN P Problems, 25

Tags: number theory , relatively prime , additive number theory

Let $a$ and $b$ be positive integers with $\gcd(a, b)=1$. Show that every integer greater than $ab-a-b$ can be expressed in the form $ax+by$, where $x, y \in \mathbb{N}_{0}$.

1966 IMO Longlists, 11

Tags: number theory , factorial , additive number theory

Does there exist an integer $z$ that can be written in two different ways as $z = x! + y!$, where $x, y$ are natural numbers with $x \le y$ ?

PEN P Problems, 30

Tags: additive number theory

Let $a_{1}, a_{2}, a_{3}, \cdots$ be an increasing sequence of nonnegative integers such that every nonnegative integer can be expressed uniquely in the form $a_{i}+2a_{j}+4a_{k}$, where $i, j, $ and $k$ are not necessarily distinct. Determine $a_{1998}$.

PEN P Problems, 7

Tags: modular arithmetic , additive number theory

Prove that every integer $n \ge 12$ is the sum of two composite numbers.

PEN P Problems, 40

Tags: number theory , prime number , additive number theory

Show that [list=a][*] infinitely many perfect squares are a sum of a perfect square and a prime number, [*] infinitely many perfect squares are not a sum of a perfect square and a prime number. [/list]

1979 IMO Longlists, 50

Tags: additive number theory , additive combinatorics , system of equations , number theory

Let $m$ positive integers $a_1, \dots , a_m$ be given. Prove that there exist fewer than $2^m$ positive integers $b_1, \dots , b_n$ such that all sums of distinct $b_k$’s are distinct and all $a_i \ (i \leq m)$ occur among them.

2001 IMO Shortlist, 6

Tags: modular arithmetic , number theory , additive number theory , sum

Is it possible to find $100$ positive integers not exceeding $25,000$, such that all pairwise sums of them are different?

PEN P Problems, 28

Tags: induction , algorithm , additive number theory

Prove that any positive integer can be represented as a sum of Fibonacci numbers, no two of which are consecutive.

1969 IMO Shortlist, 7

Tags: modular arithmetic , number theory , diophantine equation , additive number theory , perfect cube

$(BUL 1)$ Prove that the equation $\sqrt{x^3 + y^3 + z^3}=1969$ has no integral solutions.

2002 India IMO Training Camp, 16

Tags: sum , modular arithmetic , number theory , additive number theory

Is it possible to find $100$ positive integers not exceeding $25,000$, such that all pairwise sums of them are different?

2006 QEDMO 2nd, 12

Tags: induction , additive number theory

Let $a_{1}=1$, $a_{2}=2$, $a_{3}$, $a_{4}$, $\cdots$ be the sequence of positive integers of the form $2^{\alpha}3^{\beta}$, where $\alpha$ and $\beta$ are nonnegative integers. Prove that every positive integer is expressible in the form \[a_{i_{1}}+a_{i_{2}}+\cdots+a_{i_{n}},\] where no summand is a multiple of any other.

PEN P Problems, 2

Tags: geometry , 3d geometry , modular arithmetic , additive number theory

Show that each integer $n$ can be written as the sum of five perfect cubes (not necessarily positive).

1969 IMO Longlists, 25

Tags: number theory , divisibility , frobenius , additive number theory

$(GBR 2)$ Let $a, b, x, y$ be positive integers such that $a$ and $b$ have no common divisor greater than $1$. Prove that the largest number not expressible in the form $ax + by$ is $ab - a - b$. If $N(k)$ is the largest number not expressible in the form $ax + by$ in only $k$ ways, find $N(k).$

PEN P Problems, 17

Tags: quadratic , additive number theory

Let $p$ be a prime number of the form $4k+1$. Suppose that $r$ is a quadratic residue of $p$ and that $s$ is a quadratic nonresidue of $p$. Show that $p=a^{2}+b^{2}$, where \[a=\frac{1}{2}\sum^{p-1}_{i=1}\left( \frac{i(i^{2}-r)}{p}\right), b=\frac{1}{2}\sum^{p-1}_{i=1}\left( \frac{i(i^{2}-s)}{p}\right).\] Here, $\left( \frac{k}{p}\right)$ denotes the Legendre Symbol.

PEN P Problems, 13

Tags: induction , additive number theory

Let $a_{1}=1$, $a_{2}=2$, $a_{3}$, $a_{4}$, $\cdots$ be the sequence of positive integers of the form $2^{\alpha}3^{\beta}$, where $\alpha$ and $\beta$ are nonnegative integers. Prove that every positive integer is expressible in the form \[a_{i_{1}}+a_{i_{2}}+\cdots+a_{i_{n}},\] where no summand is a multiple of any other.

2002 IMO Shortlist, 6

Tags: algebra , inequality , reciprocal sum , additive number theory

Let $A$ be a non-empty set of positive integers. Suppose that there are positive integers $b_1,\ldots b_n$ and $c_1,\ldots,c_n$ such that - for each $i$ the set $b_iA+c_i=\left\{b_ia+c_i\colon a\in A\right\}$ is a subset of $A$, and - the sets $b_iA+c_i$ and $b_jA+c_j$ are disjoint whenever $i\ne j$ Prove that \[{1\over b_1}+\,\ldots\,+{1\over b_n}\leq1.\]