Let $c$ be a positive integer. The sequence $\{f_n\}$ is defined as follows: \[f_1 = 1, f_2 = c, f_{n+1} = 2f_n - f_{n-1} + 2 \quad (n \geq 2).\] Show that for each $k \in \mathbb N$ there exists $r \in \mathbb N$ such that $f_kf_{k+1}= f_r.$

Prove that for all sufficiently large positive integers $d{}$, at least $99\%$ of the polynomials of the form \[\sum_{i\leqslant d}\sum_{j\leqslant d}\pm x^iy^j\]are irreducible over the integers.

If $b_{1}, b_{2}, \ldots, b_{n}$ are non-negative reals not all zero, then prove that the polynomial \[x^{n}-b_{1}x^{n-1}-b_{2}x^{n-2}-\ldots-b_{n}=0\] has only one positive root $p$, which is simple. Moreover prove that any root of the polynomial does not exceed $p$ in absolute value.

Prove that for any polynomial $f(x)$ (with real coefficients) there exist polynomials $g(x)$ and $h(x)$ (with real coefficients) such that $f(x) = g(h(x)) - h(g(x))$.

find all functions $f,g:\mathbb{R}^{+} \rightarrow \mathbb{R}^{+}$ such that $f$ is increasing and also: $f(f(x)+2g(x)+3f(y))=g(x)+2f(x)+3g(y)$ $g(f(x)+y+g(y))=2x-g(x)+f(y)+y$

[b]p1.[/b] Archimedes, Euclid, Fermat, and Gauss had a math competition. Archimedes said, “I did not finish $1$st or $4$th.” Euclid said, “I did not finish $4$th.” Fermat said, “I finished 1st.” Gauss said, “I finished $4$th.” There were no ties in the competition, and exactly three of the mathematicians told the truth. Who finished first and who finished last? Justify your answers. [b]p2.[/b] Find the area of the set in the xy-plane defined by $x^2 - 2|x| + y^2 \le 0$. Justify your answer. [b]p3.[/b] There is a collection of $2004$ circular discs (not necessarily of the same radius) in the plane. The total area covered by the discs is $1$ square meter. Show that there is a subcollection $S$ of discs such that the discs in S are non-overlapping and the total area of the discs in $S$ is at least $1/9$ square meter. [b]p4.[/b] Let $S$ be the set of all $2004$-digit integers (in base $10$) all of whose digits lie in the set $\{1, 2, 3, 4\}$. (For example, $12341234...1234$ is in $S$.) Let $n_0$ be the number of $s \in S$ such that $s$ is a multiple of $3$, let $n_1$ be the number of $s \in S$ such that $s$ is one more than a multiple of $3$, and let $n_2$ be the number of $s \in S$ such that $s$ is two more than a multiple of $3$. Determine which of $n_0$, $n_1$, $n_2$ is largest and which is smallest (and if there are any equalities). Justify your answers. [b]p5.[/b] There are $6$ members on the Math Competition Committee. The problems are kept in a safe. There are $\ell$ locks on the safe and there are $k$ keys, several for each lock. The safe does not open unless all of the locks are unlocked, and each key works on exactly one lock. The keys should be distributed to the $6$ members of the committee so that each group of $4$ members has enough keys to open all of the $\ell$ locks. However, no group of $3$ members should be able to open all of the $\ell$ locks. (a) Show that this is possible with $\ell = 20$ locks and $k = 60$ keys. That is, it is possible to use $20$ locks and to choose and distribute 60 keys in such a way that every group of $4$ can open the safe, but no group of $3$ can open the safe. (b) Show that we always must have $\ell \ge 20$ and $k\ge60$. PS. You should use hide for answers. Collected [url=https://artofproblemsolving.com/community/c5h2760506p24143309]here[/url].

Prove that the polynomial $x^{200} y^{200} +1$ cannot be represented in the form $f(x)g(y)$, where $f$ and $g$ are polynomials of only $x$ and $y$, respectively.

Let $x,y$ be positive numbers, $s$ -- the least of $$\{ x, (y+ 1/x), 1/y\}$$ What is the greatest possible value of $s$? To what $x$ and $y$ does it correspond?

If $2$ is a solution (root) of $x^3+hx+10=0$, then $h$ equals: $ \textbf{(A) }10\qquad\textbf{(B) }9 \qquad\textbf{(C) }2\qquad\textbf{(D) }-2\qquad\textbf{(E) }-9 $

Find all functions $f:\mathbb Z\to\mathbb Z$ such that $f$ is unbounded and \[2f(m)f(n)-f(n-m)-1\] is a perfect square for all integer $m,n.$

Prove that if $ a > 0 $, $ b > 0 $, $ c > 0 $, then $$ \frac{a}{b + c} + \frac{b}{c+ a} + \frac{c}{a+b} \geq \frac{3}{2}.$$

Suppose that $(i - 1)^{11}$ is a root of the quadratic $x^2 + Ax + B$ for integers $A$ and $B$, where $i =\sqrt{-1}$. Compute the value of $A + B$.

a) The real number $a$ and the continuous function $f : [a, \infty) \rightarrow [a, \infty)$ are such that $|f(x)-f(y)| < |x–y|$ for every two different $x, y \in [a, \infty)$. Is it always true that the equation $f(x)=x$ has only one solution in the interval $[a, \infty)$? b) The real numbers $a$ and $b$ and the continuous function $f : [a, b] \rightarrow [a, b]$ are such that $|f(x)-f(y)| < |x–y|$, for every two different $x, y \in [a, b]$. Is it always true that the equation $f(x)=x$ has only one solution in the interval $[a, b]$?

Let $n\geqslant 2$ be an integer. Prove that for any positive real numbers $a_1, a_2,\ldots, a_n$, \[\frac{1}{2\sqrt{2}}\sum_{i=1}^{n}2^{i}a_i^2 \geqslant\sum_{1 \leqslant i < j \leqslant n}a_i a_j.\][i]Proposed by Andrei Vila[/i]

Let $x_0, x_1, \ldots, x_{n-1}, x_n=x_0$ be reals and let $f: \mathbb{R} \rightarrow \mathbb{R}$ be a function. The numbers $y_i$ for $i=0,1, \ldots, n-1$ are chosen such that $y_i$ is between $x_i$ and $x_{i+1}$. Prove that $\sum_{i=0}^{n-1}(x_{i+1}-x_i)f(y_i)$ can attain both positive and negative values, by varying the $y_i$.

Prove that there is no continuous function $ f: \mathbb{R} \to \mathbb{R} $ satisfying the condition $ f(f(x)) = - x $ for every $ x $.

Let $\mathbb{N}$ be the set of positive integers. Determine all positive integers $k$ for which there exist functions $f:\mathbb{N} \to \mathbb{N}$ and $g: \mathbb{N}\to \mathbb{N}$ such that $g$ assumes infinitely many values and such that $$ f^{g(n)}(n)=f(n)+k$$ holds for every positive integer $n$. ([i]Remark.[/i] Here, $f^{i}$ denotes the function $f$ applied $i$ times i.e $f^{i}(j)=f(f(\dots f(j)\dots ))$.)

Let $b_1$, $\dots$ , $b_n$ be nonnegative integers with sum $2$ and $a_0$, $a_1$, $\dots$ , $a_n$ be real numbers such that $a_0=a_n=0$ and $|a_i-a_{i-1}|\leq b_i$ for each $i=1$, $\dots$ , $n$. Prove that $$\sum_{i=1}^n(a_i+a_{i-1})b_i\leq 2$$ [hide]I believe that the original problem was for nonnegative real numbers and it was a typo on the version of the exam paper we had but I'm not sure the inequality would hold[/hide]

Let $a, b$, and $c$ be positive real numbers not greater than $2$. Prove the inequality $\frac{abc}{a + b + c} \le \frac43$

Let $a, b, c, d$ be non-negative real numbers such that \[\frac{1}{a+1}+\frac{1}{b+1}+\frac{1}{c+1}+\frac{1}{d+1}=3.\] Prove that \[3(ab+bc+ca+ad+bd+cd)+\frac{4}{a+b+c+d}\leqslant 5.\][i]Vasile Cîrtoaje and Leonard Giugiuc[/i]

Let $P(x)$ be a polynomial with real coefficients such that $P(12)=20$ and \[ (x-1) \cdot P(16x)= (8x-1) \cdot P(8x) \] holds for all real numbers $x$. Compute the remainder when $P(2014)$ is divided by $1000$. [i]Proposed by Alex Gu[/i]

Given a nonconstant function $f : \mathbb{R}^+ \longrightarrow\mathbb{R}$ such that $f(xy) = f(x)f(y)$ for any $x, y > 0$, find functions $c, s : \mathbb{R}^+ \longrightarrow \mathbb{R}$ that satisfy $c\left(\frac{x}{y}\right) = c(x)c(y)-s(x)s(y)$ for all $x, y > 0$ and $c(x)+s(x) = f(x)$ for all $x > 0$.

Find all sequences of positive integers $(a_n)_{n\ge 1}$ which satisfy $$a_{n+2}(a_{n+1}-1)=a_n(a_{n+1}+1)$$ for all $n\in \mathbb{Z}_{\ge 1}$. [i](Bogdan Blaga)[/i]

Let $f(x)$ be the polynomial with integer coefficients ($f(x)$ is not constant) such that \[(x^3+4x^2+4x+3)f(x)=(x^3-2x^2+2x-1)f(x+1)\] Prove that for each positive integer $n\geq8$, $f(n)$ has at least five distinct prime divisors.

Let p(x) be the polynomial $x^3 + 14x^2 - 2x + 1$. Let $p^n(x)$ denote $p(p^(n-1)(x))$. Show that there is an integer N such that $p^N(x) - x$ is divisible by 101 for all integers x.