Define a sequence $\{ a_n \}_{n=0}^{\infty}$ by $a_0 = 1,$ $a_1 = 8,$ and $a_n = 2a_{n-1} + a_{n-2}$ for $n \geq 2.$ The infinite sum \[ \sum_{n=1}^{\infty} \int_{0}^{2021\pi/14} \sin(a_{n-1}x)\sin(a_nx)\,dx \] can be expressed as a common fraction $\tfrac{p}{q}.$ Compute $p + q.$

Let $F_{n}$ be the $n-$ th Fibonacci number (where $F_{1}= F_{2}= 1$). Consider the functions $f_{n}(x)=\parallel . . . \parallel |x|-F_{n}|-F_{n-1}|-...-F_{2}|-F_{1}|, g_{n}(x)=| . . . \parallel x-1|-1|-...-1|$ ($F_{1}+...+F_{n}$ one’s). Show that $f_{n}(x) = g_{n}(x)$ for every real number $x.$

Let $n \ge 2$ be an integer. There are $n$ beads numbered $1, 2, \ldots, n$. Two necklaces made out of some of these beads are considered the same if we can get one by rotating the other (with no flipping allowed). For example, with $n \ge 5$, the necklace with four beads $1, 5, 3, 2$ in the clockwise order is same as the one with $5, 3, 2, 1$ in the clockwise order, but is different from the one with $1, 2, 3, 5$ in the clockwise order. We denote by $D_0(n)$ (respectively $D_1(n)$) the number of ways in which we can use all the beads to make an even number (resp. an odd number) of necklaces each of length at least $3$. Prove that $n - 1$ divides $D_1(n) - D_0(n)$.

Let $N$ be the positive integer $7777\ldots777$, a $313$-digit number where each digit is a $7$. Let $f(r)$ be the leading digit of the $r{ }$th root of $N$. What is$$f(2) + f(3) + f(4) + f(5)+ f(6)?$$ $(\textbf{A})\: 8\qquad(\textbf{B}) \: 9\qquad(\textbf{C}) \: 11\qquad(\textbf{D}) \: 22\qquad(\textbf{E}) \: 29$

Given an integer $k$. $f(n)$ is defined on negative integer set and its values are integers. $f(n)$ satisfies \[ f(n)f(n+1)=(f(n)+n-k)^2, \] for $n=-2,-3,\cdots$. Find an expression of $f(n)$.

Consider the equation $x^5+x=10$. Show that (a) the equation has only one real root; (b) this root lies between $1$ and $2$; (c) this root must be irrational.

In the tribe of Zimmer, being able to hike long distances and knowing the roads through the forest are both extremely important, so a boy who reaches the age of manhood is not designated as a man by the tribe until he completes an interesting rite of passage. The man must go on a sequence of hikes. The first hike is a $5$ kilometer hike down the main road. The second hike is a $5\frac{1}{4}$ kilometer hike down a secondary road. Each hike goes down a different road and is a quarter kilometer longer than the previous hike. The rite of passage is completed at the end of the hike where the cumulative distance walked by the man on all his hikes exceeds $1000$ kilometers. So in the tribe of Zimmer, how many roads must a man walk down, before you call him a man?

A function \[\text{f:(0,}\infty \text{) }\to \text{(0,}\infty \text{)}\] is called contract if, for every numbers $x,y\in \text{(0,}\infty \text{)}$ we have, $\underset{n\to \infty }{\mathop{\lim }}\,\left( {{f}^{n}}\left( x \right)-{{f}^{n}}\left( y \right) \right)=0$ where ${{f}^{n}}=\underbrace{f\circ f\circ ...\circ f}_{n\ f\text{'s}}$ a) Consider \[f:\text{(0,}\infty \text{) }\to \text{(0,}\infty \text{)}\] a function contract, continue with the property that has a fixed point, that existing ${{x}_{0}}\in \text{(0,}\infty \text{) }$ there so that $f\left( {{x}_{0}} \right)={{x}_{0}}.$ Show that $f\left( x \right)>x,$ for every $x\in \text{(0,}{{x}_{0}}\text{)}\,$ and $f\left( x \right)<x$, for every $x\in \text{(}{{x}_{0}}\text{,}\infty \text{)}\,$. b) Show that the given function \[f\text{:(0,}\infty \text{) }\to \text{(0,}\infty \text{)}\] given by $f\left( x \right)=x+\frac{1}{x}$ is contracted but has no fix number.

Assume that $a,b$ are integers and $n$ is a natural number. $2^na+b$ is a perfect square for every $n$.Prove that $a=0$.

Functions $f$ and $g$ are defined so that $f(1) = 4$, $g(1) = 9$, and for each integer $n \ge 1$, $f(n+1) = 2f(n) + 3g(n) + 2n $ and $g(n+1) = 2g(n) + 3 f(n) + 5$. Find $f(2005) - g(2005)$.

Let $g:[0,1]\rightarrow \mathbb{R}$ be a continuous function and let $f_{n}:[0,1]\rightarrow \mathbb{R}$ be a sequence of functions defined by $f_{0}(x)=g(x)$ and $$f_{n+1}(x)=\frac{1}{x}\int_{0}^{x}f_{n}(t)dt.$$ Determine $\lim_{n\to \infty}f_{n}(x)$ for every $x\in (0,1]$.

Let $ X $ be the power set of set of $ \{ 0\}\cup\mathbb{N} , $ and let be a function $ d:X^2\longrightarrow\mathbb{R} $ defined as $$ d(U,V)=\sum_{n\in\mathbb{N}}\frac{\chi_U (n) +\chi_V (n) -2\chi_{U\cap V} (n)}{2} , $$ where $ \chi_W (n)=\left\{ \begin{matrix} 1,& n\in W\\ 0,& n\not\in W \end{matrix} \right. ,\quad\forall W\in X,\forall n\in\mathbb{N} . $ [b]a)[/b] Prove that there exists an unique $ V' $ such that $ \lim_{k\to\infty} d\left( \{ k+i|i\in\mathbb{N}\} , V'\right) =0. $ [b]b)[/b] Demonstrate that for all $ V\in X $ there exists a $ v\in\mathbb{N} $ with $ d\left( \left\{ \frac{3}{2} -\frac{1}{2}(-1)^{v} \right\} , V \right) >\frac{1}{k} . $ [b]c)[/b] Let $ f: X\longrightarrow X,\quad f(X)=\left\{ 1+x|x\in X\right\} . $ Calculate $ d\left( f(A),f(B) \right) $ in terms of $ d(A,B) $ and prove that $ f $ admits an unique fixed point.

Ati has $ 7$ pots of flower, ordered in $ P_1,P_2,P_3,P_4,P_5,P_6,P_7$. She wants to rearrange the position of those pots to $ B_1,B_2,B_2,B_3,B_4,B_5,B_6,B_7$ such that for every positive integer $ n<7$, $ B_1,B_2,\dots,B_n$ is not the permutation of $ P_1,P_2,\dots,P_7$. In how many ways can Ati do this?

Hi guys, I was just reading over old posts that I made last year ( :P ) and saw how much the level of Getting Started became harder. To encourage more people from posting, I decided to start a Problem of the Day. This is how I'll conduct this: 1. In each post (not including this one since it has rules, etc) everyday, I'll post the problem. I may post another thread after it to give hints though. 2. Level of problem.. This is VERY important. All problems in this thread will be all AHSME or problems similar to this level. No AIME. Some AHSME problems, however, that involve tough insight or skills will not be posted. The chosen problems will be usually ones that everyone can solve after working. Calculators are allowed when you solve problems but it is NOT necessary. 3. Response.. All you have to do is simply solve the problem and post the solution. There is no credit given or taken away if you get the problem wrong. This isn't like other threads where the number of problems you get right or not matters. As for posting, post your solutions here in this thread. Do NOT PM me. Also, here are some more restrictions when posting solutions: A. No single answer post. It doesn't matter if you put hide and say "Answer is ###..." If you don't put explanation, it simply means you cheated off from some other people. I've seen several posts that went like "I know the answer" and simply post the letter. What is the purpose of even posting then? Huh? B. Do NOT go back to the previous problem(s). This causes too much confusion. C. You're FREE to give hints and post different idea, way or answer in some cases in problems. If you see someone did wrong or you don't understand what they did, post here. That's what this thread is for. 4. Main purpose.. This is for anyone who visits this forum to enjoy math. I rememeber when I first came into this forum, I was poor at math compared to other people. But I kindly got help from many people such as JBL, joml88, tokenadult, and many other people that would take too much time to type. Perhaps without them, I wouldn't be even a moderator in this forum now. This site clearly made me to enjoy math more and more and I'd like to do the same thing. That's about the rule.. Have fun problem solving! Next post will contain the Day 1 Problem. You can post the solutions until I post one. :D

Determine all functions $f:\mathbb R\to\mathbb R$ such that \[f(xy-1)+f(x)f(y)=2xy-1,\]for any real numbers $x{}$ and $y{}.$

Let $ H$ denote the set of those natural numbers for which $ \tau(n)$ divides $ n$, where $ \tau(n)$ is the number of divisors of $ n$. Show that a) $ n! \in H$ for all sufficiently large $ n$, b)$ H$ has density $ 0$. [i]P. Erdos[/i]

Find all positive integers $n$ such that $n$ is equal to $100$ times the number of positive divisors of $n$.

Let $d(n)$ denote the number of positive divisors of the positive integer $n$.Determine those numbers $n$ for which $d(n^3)=5d(n)$.

Prove that there exist two functions $f,g \colon \mathbb{R} \to \mathbb{R}$, such that $f\circ g$ is strictly decreasing and $g\circ f$ is strictly increasing. [i](Poland) Andrzej Komisarski and Marcin Kuczma[/i]

Show that there exists a bijective function $ f: \mathbb{N}_{0}\to \mathbb{N}_{0}$ such that for all $ m,n\in \mathbb{N}_{0}$: \[ f(3mn \plus{} m \plus{} n) \equal{} 4f(m)f(n) \plus{} f(m) \plus{} f(n). \]

Let $f:\mathbb{N}^*\rightarrow \mathbb{N}^*$ be a function such that $\frac{x^3+3x^2f(y)}{x+f(y)}+\frac{y^3+3y^2f(x)}{y+f(x)}=\frac{(x+y)^3}{f(x+y)},~(\forall)x,y\in\mathbb{N}^*.$ $a)$ Prove that $f(1)=1.$ $b)$ Find function $f.$

Determine all functions $f:\mathbb{R}\rightarrow\mathbb{R}$ that satisfy \[f(f(x)+y)=2x+f(f(y)-x)\quad\text{for all real}\ x,y. \]

Suppose that there are $16$ variables $\{a_{i,j}\}_{0\leq i,j\leq 3}$, each of which may be $0$ or $1$. For how many settings of the variables $a_{i,j}$ do there exist positive reals $c_{i,j}$ such that the polynomial \[f(x,y)=\sum_{0\leq i,j\leq 3}a_{i,j}c_{i,j}x^iy^j\] $(x,y\in\mathbb{R})$ is bounded below?

Let $n\geq 3$ be an integer. Find the number of functions $f:\{1,2,\ldots,n\}\to\{1,2,\ldots,n\}$ such that \[ f(f(k)) = f^3(k) - 6f^2(k) + 12f(k) - 6 , \ \textrm{ for all } k \geq 1 . \]

In the $xyz$-plane given points $P,\ Q$ on the planes $z=2,\ z=1$ respectively. Let $R$ be the intersection point of the line $PQ$ and the $xy$-plane. (1) Let $P(0,\ 0,\ 2)$. When the point $Q$ moves on the perimeter of the circle with center $(0,\ 0,\ 1)$ , radius 1 on the plane $z=1$, find the equation of the locus of the point $R$. (2) Take 4 points $A(1,\ 1,\ 1) , B(1,-1,\ 1), C(-1,-1,\ 1)$ and $D(-1,\ 1,\ 1)$ on the plane $z=2$. When the point $P$ moves on the perimeter of the circle with center $(0,\ 0,\ 2)$ , radius 1 on the plane $z=2$ and the point $Q$ moves on the perimeter of the square $ABCD$, draw the domain swept by the point $R$ on the $xy$-plane, then find the area.