Let $p > 1$ be a natural number. Consider the set $F_p$ of all non-constant sequences of non-negative integers that satisfy the recursive relation $a_{n+1} = (p+1)a_n - pa_{n-1}$ for all $n > 0$. Show that there exists a sequence ($a_n$) in $F_p$ with the property that for every other sequence ($b_n$) in $F_p$, the inequality $a_n \le b_n$ holds for all $n$.

Does there exist positive $a\in\mathbb{R}$, such that \[|\cos x|+|\cos ax| >\sin x +\sin ax \] for all $x\in\mathbb{R}$? [i]N. Agakhanov[/i]

Given a finite sequence of complex numbers $c_1, c_2, \ldots , c_n$, show that there exists an integer $k$ ($1 \leq k \leq n$) such that for every finite sequence $a_1, a_2, \ldots, a_n$ of real numbers with $1 \geq a_1 \geq a_2 \geq \cdots \geq a_n \geq 0$, the following inequality holds: \[\left| \sum_{m=1}^n a_mc_m \right| \leq \left| \sum_{m=1}^k c_m \right|.\]

Given real numbers $x,y,z$ such that $x+y+z=0$, show that \[\dfrac{x(x+2)}{2x^2+1}+\dfrac{y(y+2)}{2y^2+1}+\dfrac{z(z+2)}{2z^2+1}\ge 0\] When does equality hold?

A polynomial $A(x)$ is said to be [i]simple[/i] if $A(x)$ is divisible by $x$ but not divisible by $x^2$. Suppose that a polynomial $P(x)$ has a simple polynomial $Q(x)$ such that $P(Q(x))-Q(2x)$ is divisible by $x^2$. Prove that there exists a simple polynomial $R(x)$ such that $P(R(x))-R(2x)$ is divisible by $x^{2023}$.

Let $m$ and $n$ are fixed natural numbers and $Oxy$ is a coordinate system in the plane. Find the total count of all possible situations of $n+m-1$ points $P_1(x_1,y_1),P_2(x_2,y_2),\ldots,P_{n+m-1}(x_{n+m-1},y_{n+m-1})$ in the plane for which the following conditions are satisfied: (i) The numbers $x_i$ and $y_i~(i=1,2,\ldots,n+m-1)$ are integers and $1\le x_i\le n,1\le y_i\le m$. (ii) Every one of the numbers $1,2,\ldots,n$ can be found in the sequence $x_1,x_2,\ldots,x_{n+m-1}$ and every one of the numbers $1,2,\ldots,m$ can be found in the sequence $y_1,y_2,\ldots,y_{n+m-1}$. (iii) For every $i=1,2,\ldots,n+m-2$ the line $P_iP_{i+1}$ is parallel to one of the coordinate axes. [i](Ivan Gochev, Hristo Minchev)[/i]

Let be a quadratic polynom that has the property that the modulus of the sum between the leading and the free coefficient is smaller than the modulus of the middle coefficient. Prove that this polynom admits two distinct real roots, one belonging to the interval $ (-1,1) , $ and the other belonging outside of the interval $ (-1,1). $

Find one pair of positive integers $a,b$ such that $ab(a+b)$ is not divisible by $7$, but $(a+b)^7-a^7-b^7$ is divisible by $7^7$.

Determine all real numbers $\alpha$ with the property that all numbers in the sequence $\cos\alpha,\cos2\alpha,\cos2^2\alpha,\ldots,\cos2^n\alpha,\ldots$ are negative.

Find all real solutions $x$ of the equation $\cos\cos\cos\cos x=\sin\sin\sin\sin x$. (Angles are measured in radians.)

function $f:\mathbb{N}^{\star} \times \mathbb{N}^{\star} \rightarrow \mathbb{N}^{\star}$ ($\mathbb{N}^{\star}=\mathbb{N}\cup \{0\}$)with these conditon: 1- $f(0,x)=x+1$ 2- $f(x+1,0)=f(x,1)$ 3- $f(x+1,y+1)=f(x,f(x+1,y))$(romania 1997) find $f(3,1997)$

Find all pairs of integers $(m, n)$ which satisfy the equation \[(2n^2+5m-5n-mn)^2=m^3n\]

Initially there are $n+1$ monomials on the blackboard: $1,x,x^2, \ldots, x^n $. Every minute each of $k$ boys simultaneously write on the blackboard the sum of some two polynomials that were written before. After $m$ minutes among others there are the polynomials $S_1=1+x,S_2=1+x+x^2,S_3=1+x+x^2+x^3,\ldots ,S_n=1+x+x^2+ \ldots +x^n$ on the blackboard. Prove that $ m\geq \frac{2n}{k+1} $.

Suppose $ 2015= a_1 <a_2 < a_3<\cdots <a_k $ be a finite sequence of positive integers, and for all $ m, n \in \mathbb{N} $ and $1\le m,n \le k $, $$ a_m+a_n\ge a_{m+n}+|m-n| $$ Determine the largest possible value $ k $ can obtain.

Find the largest possible value of $a$ such that there exist real numbers $b,c>1$ such that \[a^{\log_b c}\cdot b^{\log_c a}=2023.\] [i]Proposed by Howard Halim[/i]

Prove that for any positive integers $a_1, a_2, \ldots , a_n$ the following inequality holds true: \[\left\lfloor\frac{a_1^2}{a_2}\right\rfloor+\left\lfloor\frac{a_2^2}{a_3}\right\rfloor+\cdots+\left\lfloor\frac{a_n^2}{a_1}\right\rfloor\geqslant a_1+a_2+\cdots+a_n.\] [i]Maxim Didin[/i]

A vintage tram departs a stop with a certain number of boys and girls on board. At the first stop, a third of the girls get out and their places are taken by boys. At the next stop, a third of the boys get out and their places are taken by girls. There are now two more girls than boys and as many boys as there originally were girls. How many boys and girls were there on board at the start?

Positive integers $x_1,x_2,...,x_n$ ($n \in N_+$) satisfy $x_1^2 +x_2^2+...+x_n^2=111$, find the maximum possible value of $S =\frac{x_1 +x_2+...+x_n}{n}$.

Given a positive integer $n$, determine the largest integer $M$ satisfying $$\lfloor \sqrt{a_1}\rfloor + ... + \lfloor \sqrt{a_n} \rfloor \ge \lfloor\sqrt{ a_1 + ... + a_n +M \cdot min(a_1,..., a_n)}\rfloor $$ for all non-negative integers $a_1,...., a_n$. S. Berlov, A. Khrabrov

The equation $$(x-1)(x-2)\cdots(x-2016)=(x-1)(x-2)\cdots (x-2016)$$ is written on the board, with $2016$ linear factors on each side. What is the least possible value of $k$ for which it is possible to erase exactly $k$ of these $4032$ linear factors so that at least one factor remains on each side and the resulting equation has no real solutions?

Let $ \mathbb{R}^\plus{}$ be the set of all non-negative real numbers. Given two positive real numbers $ a$ and $ b,$ suppose that a mapping $ f: \mathbb{R}^\plus{} \mapsto \mathbb{R}^\plus{}$ satisfies the functional equation: \[ f(f(x)) \plus{} af(x) \equal{} b(a \plus{} b)x.\] Prove that there exists a unique solution of this equation.

[b]p1.[/b] Ben and his dog are walking on a path around a lake. The path is a loop $500$ meters around. Suddenly the dog runs away with velocity $10$ km/hour. Ben runs after it with velocity $8$ km/hour. At the moment when the dog is $250$ meters ahead of him, Ben turns around and runs at the same speed in the opposite direction until he meets the dog. For how many minutes does Ben run? [b]p2.[/b] The six interior angles in two triangles are measured. One triangle is obtuse (i.e. has an angle larger than $90^o$) and the other is acute (all angles less than $90^o$). Four angles measure $120^o$, $80^o$, $55^o$ and $10^o$. What is the measure of the smallest angle of the acute triangle? [b]p3.[/b] The figure below shows a $ 10 \times 10$ square with small $2 \times 2$ squares removed from the corners. What is the area of the shaded region? [img]https://cdn.artofproblemsolving.com/attachments/7/5/a829487cc5d937060e8965f6da3f4744ba5588.png[/img] [b]p4.[/b] Two three-digit whole numbers are called relatives if they are not the same, but are written using the same triple of digits. For instance, $244$ and $424$ are relatives. What is the minimal number of relatives that a three-digit whole number can have if the sum of its digits is $10$? [b]p5.[/b] Three girls, Ann, Kelly, and Kathy came to a birthday party. One of the girls wore a red dress, another wore a blue dress, and the last wore a white dress. When asked the next day, one girl said that Kelly wore a red dress, another said that Ann did not wear a red dress, the last said that Kathy did not wear a blue dress. One of the girls was truthful, while the other two lied. Which statement was true? PS. You should use hide for answers. Collected [url=https://artofproblemsolving.com/community/c5h2760506p24143309]here[/url].

$f(x)=ax^2+bx+c;a,b,c$ are reals. $M=\{f(2n)|n \text{ is integer}\},N=\{f(2n+1)|n \text{ is integer}\}$ Prove that $M=N$ or $M \cap N = \O $

[b]6.1[/b] Which number is greater $$\underbrace{1000. . . 001}_{1965\, zeroes} / \underbrace{1000 . . . 001}_{1966\, zeroes} \,\,\, or \,\,\, \underbrace{1000. . . 001}_{1966\, zeroes} / \underbrace{1000 . . . 001}_{1967\, zeroes} \,\,?$$ [b]6.2[/b] $30$ teams participate in the football championship. Prove that at any moment there will be two teams that have played at this point the same number of matches. [b]6.3./ 7.1 [/b] All integers from $1$ to $1966$ are written on the board. Allowed is to erase any two numbers by writing their difference instead. Prove that repeating such an operation many times cannot ensure that There are only zeros left on the board. [b]6.4 / 7.5[/b] Black paint was sprayed onto a white surface. Prove that there are three points of the same color lying on the same line, and so, that one of the points lies in the middle between the other two. [b]6.5[/b] In a chess tournament, there are more than three chess players, and each player plays each other the same number of times. There were $26$ rounds in the tournament. After the $13$th round, one of the participants discovered that he had an odd number points, and each of the other participants has an even number of points. How many chess players participated in the tournament? PS. You should use hide for answers.Collected [url=https://artofproblemsolving.com/community/c3988082_1966_leningrad_math_olympiad]here[/url].

Let $ X: \equal{} \{x_1,x_2,\ldots,x_{29}\}$ be a set of $ 29$ boys: they play with each other in a tournament of Pro Evolution Soccer 2009, in respect of the following rules: [list]i) every boy play one and only one time against each other boy (so we can assume that every match has the form $ (x_i \text{ Vs } x_j)$ for some $ i \neq j$); ii) if the match $ (x_i \text{ Vs } x_j)$, with $ i \neq j$, ends with the win of the boy $ x_i$, then $ x_i$ gains $ 1$ point, and $ x_j$ doesn’t gain any point; iii) if the match $ (x_i \text{ Vs } x_j)$, with $ i \neq j$, ends with the parity of the two boys, then $ \frac {1}{2}$ point is assigned to both boys. [/list] (We assume for simplicity that in the imaginary match $ (x_i \text{ Vs } x_i)$ the boy $ x_i$ doesn’t gain any point). Show that for some positive integer $ k \le 29$ there exist a set of boys $ \{x_{t_1},x_{t_2},\ldots,x_{t_k}\} \subseteq X$ such that, for all choice of the positive integer $ i \le 29$, the boy $ x_i$ gains always a integer number of points in the total of the matches $ \{(x_i \text{ Vs } x_{t_1}),(x_i \text{ Vs } x_{t_2}),\ldots, (x_i \text{ Vs } x_{t_k})\}$. [i](Paolo Leonetti)[/i]