Determine whether or not there exist two different sets $A,B$, each consisting of at most $2011^2$ positive integers, such that every $x$ with $0 < x < 1$ satisfies the following inequality: \[\left| \sum_{a \in A} x^a - \sum_{b \in B} x^b \right| < (1-x)^{2011}.\]

$a$, $b$, $c$ are three distinct real numbers, given $\lambda >0$. Proof that \[\frac{1+ \lambda ^2a^2b^2}{(a-b)^2}+\frac{1+ \lambda ^2b^2c^2}{(b-c)^2}+\frac{1+ \lambda ^2c^2a^2}{(c-a)^2} \geq \frac 32 \lambda.\] [hide=Remark]Old problem, can be found [url=https://artofproblemsolving.com/community/c6h588854p3487434]here[/url]. Double post to have a cleaner thread for collection (as the original one contains a messy quote)[/hide]

Determine whether there exist two reals $x,y$ and a sequence $\{a_n\}_{n=0}^{\infty}$ of nonzero reals such that $a_{n+2}=xa_{n+1}+ya_n$ for all $n\ge0$ and for every positive real number $r$, there exist positive integers $i,j$ such that $|a_i|<r<|a_j|$. [i]Alex Zhu.[/i]

The monic polynomial $f$ has rational coefficients and is irreducible over the rational numbers. If $f(\sqrt5 +\sqrt2)= 0$, compute $f(f(\sqrt5 -\sqrt2))$. (A polynomial is [i]monic [/i] if its leading coefficient is $1$. A polynomial is [i]irreducible [/i] over the rational numbers if it cannot be expressed as a product of two polynomials with rational coefficients of positive degree. For example, $x^2 - 2$ is irreducible, but $x^2 - 1 = (x + 1)(x - 1)$ is not.)

Prove the inequality [b]a.)[/b] $ \left( a_{1}+a_{2}+...+a_{k}\right) ^{2}\leq k\left( a_{1}^{2}+a_{2}^{2}+...+a_{k}^{2}\right) , $ where $k\geq 1$ is a natural number and $a_{1},$ $a_{2},$ $...,$ $a_{k}$ are arbitrary real numbers. [b]b.)[/b] Using the inequality (1), show that if the real numbers $a_{1},$ $a_{2},$ $...,$ $a_{n}$ satisfy the inequality \[ a_{1}+a_{2}+...+a_{n}\geq \sqrt{\left( n-1\right) \left( a_{1}^{2}+a_{2}^{2}+...+a_{n}^{2}\right) }, \] then all of these numbers $a_{1},$ $a_{2},$ $\ldots,$ $a_{n}$ are non-negative.

Let $ f: \mathbb{R}\to\mathbb{N}$ be a function which satisfies $ f\left(x \plus{} \dfrac{1}{f(y)}\right) \equal{} f\left(y \plus{} \dfrac{1}{f(x)}\right)$ for all $ x$, $ y\in\mathbb{R}$. Prove that there is a positive integer which is not a value of $ f$. [i]Proposed by Žymantas Darbėnas (Zymantas Darbenas), Lithuania[/i]

Find all integer triples $(a,b,c)$ with $a>0>b>c$ whose sum equal $0$ such that the number $$N=2017-a^3b-b^3c-c^3a$$ is a perfect square of an integer.

Let $a, b, c$, and $d$ be real numbers. The six sums of two numbers $x$ and $y$, different from the previous four, are $117$, $510$, $411$, $252$, in no particular order. Determine the maximum possible value of $x + y$.

For all natural numbers $n$, consider the polynomial $P_n(x) = x^{n+2}-2x+1$. (a) Show that the equation $P_n(x)=0$ has exactly one root $c_n$ in the open interval $(0,1)$. (b) Find $lim_{n \to \infty}c_n$.

Let $x_1,x_2,...,x_n$ ($n \ge 2$) be positive numbers with the sum $1$. Prove that $$\sum_{i=1}^{n} \frac{1}{\sqrt{1-x_i}} \ge n\sqrt{\frac{n}{n-1}} $$

Find all functions $f:\mathbb{R}\to\mathbb{R}$ which satisfy the following equality for all $x,y\in\mathbb{R}$ \[f(x)f(y)-f(x-1)-f(y+1)=f(xy)+2x-2y-4.\][i]Proposed by Dániel Dobák, Budapest[/i]

The function $f : \mathbb N \to \mathbb R$ satisfies $f(1) = 1, f(2) = 2$ and \[f (n+2) = f(n+2 - f(n+1) ) + f(n+1 - f(n) ).\] Show that $0 \leq f(n+1) - f(n) \leq 1$. Find all $n$ for which $f(n) = 1025$.

The sequence $(x_n)_{n\geqslant 0}$ is defined as such: $x_0=1, x_1=2$ and $x_{n+1}=4x_n-x_{n-1}$, for all $n\geqslant 1$. Determine all the terms of the sequence which are perfect squares. [i]George Stoica, Canada[/i]

Suppose that $a$ is real number. Sequence $a_1,a_2,a_3,....$ satisfies $$a_1=a, a_{n+1} = \begin{cases} a_n - \frac{1}{a_n}, & a_n\ne 0 \\ 0, & a_n=0 \end{cases} (n=1,2,3,..)$$ Find all possible values of $a$ such that $|a_n|<1$ for all positive integer $n$.

Let $P,Q\in\mathbb{R}[x]$, such that $Q$ is a $2021$-degree polynomial and let $a_{1}, a_{2}, \ldots , a_{2022}, b_{1}, b_{2}, \ldots , b_{2022}$ be real numbers such that $a_{1}a_{2}\ldots a_{2022}\neq 0$. If for all real $x$ \[P(a_{1}Q(x) + b_{1}) + \ldots + P(a_{2021}Q(x) + b_{2021}) = P(a_{2022}Q(x) + b_{2022})\] prove that $P(x)$ has a real root.

A machine-shop cutting tool has the shape of a notched circle, as shown. The radius of the circle is $\sqrt{50}$ cm, the length of $AB$ is 6 cm, and that of $BC$ is 2 cm. The angle $ABC$ is a right angle. Find the square of the distance (in centimeters) from $B$ to the center of the circle. [asy] size(150); defaultpen(linewidth(0.65)+fontsize(11)); real r=10; pair O=(0,0),A=r*dir(45),B=(A.x,A.y-r),C; path P=circle(O,r); C=intersectionpoint(B--(B.x+r,B.y),P); draw(Arc(O, r, 45, 360-17.0312)); draw(A--B--C);dot(A); dot(B); dot(C); label("$A$",A,NE); label("$B$",B,SW); label("$C$",C,SE); [/asy]

Let $X$ be a set with $n\ge 2$ elements. Define $\mathcal{P}(X)$ to be the set of all subsets of $X$. Find the number of functions $f:\mathcal{P}(X)\mapsto \mathcal{P}(X)$ such that $$|f(A)\cap f(B)|=|A\cap B|$$ whenever $A$ and $B$ are two distinct subsets of $X$. [i] (Sergiu Novac)[/i]

Let $n$ be a positive integer. Find all real numbers $x_1,x_2 ,..., x_n$ such that $$\prod_{k=1}^{n}(x_k^2+ (k + 2)x_k + k^2 + k + 1) =\left(\frac{3}{4}\right)^n (n!)^2$$

Find all polynomials $p$ with real coefficients such that for all real $x$ , $xp(x)p(1-x)+x^3 +100 \ge 0$.

Find all the pairs of integers $(m,n)$ satisfying the equality $3(m^2+n^2)-7(m+n)=-4$

Let $a, b_1, b_2, \dots, b_n, c_1, c_2, \dots, c_n$ be real numbers such that \[x^{2n} + ax^{2n - 1} + ax^{2n - 2} + \dots + ax + 1 = \prod_{i = 1}^{n}{(x^2 + b_ix + c_i)}\] Prove that $c_1 = c_2 = \dots = c_n = 1$. As a consequence, all complex zeroes of this polynomial must lie on the unit circle.

Let $a$ be a real number. Suppose the function $f(x) = \frac{a}{x-1} + \frac{1}{x-2} + \frac{1}{x-6}$ defined in the interval $3 < x < 5$ attains its maximum at $x=4$. Find the value of $a.$

Find the formula for the general term of the sequence an, for which $a_1 = 1$, $a_2 = 3$, $a_{n+1} = 3a_n-2a_{n-1}$ (you need to express an in terms of $n$).

Prove that for all positive, entirely rational numbers $a$ and $b$ always holds $$\frac{a + b}{2} \ge \sqrt[a+b]{a^b \cdot b^a}.$$ When does the equal sign hold?

[b]p1.[/b] Let $D(n)$ denote the number of positive factors of the integer $n$. For example, $D(6) = 4$ , since the factors of $6$ are $1, 2, 3$ , and $6$ . Note that $D(n) = 2$ if and only if $n$ is a prime number. (a) Describe the set of all solutions to the equation $D(n) = 5$ . (b) Describe the set of all solutions to the equation $D(n) = 6$ . (c) Find the smallest $n$ such that $D(n) = 21$ . [b]p2.[/b] At a party with $n$ married couples present (and no one else), various people shook hands with various other people. Assume that no one shook hands with his or her spouse, and no one shook hands with the same person more than once. At the end of the evening Mr. Jones asked everyone else, including his wife, how many hands he or she had shaken. To his surprise, he got a different answer from each person. Determine the number of hands that Mr. Jones shook that evening, (a) if $n = 2$ . (b) if $n = 3$ . (c) if $n$ is an arbitrary positive integer (the answer may depend on $n$). [b]p3.[/b] Let $n$ be a positive integer. A square is divided into triangles in the following way. A line is drawn from one corner of the square to each of $n$ points along each of the opposite two sides, forming $2n + 2$ nonoverlapping triangles, one of which has a vertex at the opposite corner and the other $2n + 1$ of which have a vertex at the original corner. The figure shows the situation for $n = 2$ . Assume that each of the $2n + 1$ triangles with a vertex in the original corner has area $1$. Determine the area of the square, (a) if $n = 1$ . (b) if $n$ is an arbitrary positive integer (the answer may depend on $n$). [img]https://cdn.artofproblemsolving.com/attachments/1/1/62a54011163cc76cc8d74c73ac9f74420e1b37.png[/img] [b]p4.[/b] Arthur and Betty play a game with the following rules. Initially there are one or more piles of stones, each pile containing one or more stones. A legal move consists either of removing one or more stones from one of the piles, or, if there are at least two piles, combining two piles into one (but not removing any stones). Arthur goes first, and play alternates until a player cannot make a legal move; the player who cannot move loses. (a) Determine who will win the game if initially there are two piles, each with one stone, assuming that both players play optimally. (b) Determine who will win the game if initially there are two piles, each with $n$ stones, assuming that both players play optimally; $n$ is a positive integer, and the answer may depend on $n$ . (c) Determine who will win the game if initially there are $n$ piles, each with one stone, assuming that both players play optimally; $n$ is a positive integer, and the answer may depend on $n$ . [b]p5.[/b] Suppose $x$ and $y$ are real numbers such that $0 < x < y$. Define a sequence$ A_0 , A_1 , A_2, A_3, ...$ by-setting $A_0 = x$ , $A_1 = y$ , and then $A_n= |A_{n-1}| - A_{n-2}$ for each $n \ge 2$ (recall that $|A_{n-1}|$ means the absolute value of $A_{n-1}$ ). (a) Find all possible values for $A_6$ in terms of $x$ and $y$ . (b) Find values of $x$ and $y$ so that $A_{1987} = 1987$ and $A_{1988} = -1988$ (simultaneously). PS. You should use hide for answers. Collected [url=https://artofproblemsolving.com/community/c5h2760506p24143309]here[/url].