Let be a group with $ 10 $ elements for which there exist two non-identity elements, $ a,b, $ having the property that $ a^2 $ and $ b^2 $ are the identity. Show that this group is not commutative.

Let $ b,a $ be two elements of a group chosen such that $ a^3b=ba^2 $ and $ a^2b=ba^3. $ Prove that the order of $ a $ divides $ 5. $ [i]Gabriel Tica[/i]

On a table there are 2004 boxes, and in each box a ball lies. I know that some the balls are white and that the number of white balls is even. In each case I may point to two arbitrary boxes and ask whether in the box contains at least a white ball lies. After which minimum number of questions I can indicate two boxes for sure, in which white balls lie?

Find the maximum number of subsets from $\left \{ 1,...,n \right \}$ such that for any two of them like $A,B$ if $A\subset B$ then $\left | B-A \right |\geq 3$. (Here $\left | X \right |$ is the number of elements of the set $X$.)

Let be a group $ G $ of order $ 1+p, $ where $ p $ is and odd prime. Show that if $ p $ divides the number of automorphisms of $ G, $ then $ p\equiv 3\pmod 4. $

In the 75th Annual Putnam Games, participants compete at mathematical games. Patniss and Keeta play a game in which they take turns choosing an element from the group of invertible $n\times n$ matrices with entries in the field $\mathbb{Z}/p\mathbb{Z}$ of integers modulo $p,$ where $n$ is a fixed positive integer and $p$ is a fixed prime number. The rules of the game are: (1) A player cannot choose an element that has been chosen by either player on any previous turn. (2) A player can only choose an element that commutes with all previously chosen elements. (3) A player who cannot choose an element on his/her turn loses the game. Patniss takes the first turn. Which player has a winning strategy?

Show that no one $n$-th root of a rational (for $n$ a positive integer) can be a root of the polynomial $x^5 - x^4 - 4x^3 + 4x^2 + 2$.

Consider the set $ M = \{1,2, \ldots ,2008\}$. Paint every number in the set $ M$ with one of the three colors blue, yellow, red such that each color is utilized to paint at least one number. Define two sets: $ S_1=\{(x,y,z)\in M^3\ \mid\ x,y,z\text{ have the same color and }2008 | (x + y + z)\}$; $ S_2=\{(x,y,z)\in M^3\ \mid\ x,y,z\text{ have three pairwisely different colors and }2008 | (x + y + z)\}$. Prove that $ 2|S_1| > |S_2|$ (where $ |X|$ denotes the number of elements in a set $ X$).

In the questions below: $G$ is a finite group; $H \leq G$ a subgroup of $G; |G : H |$ the index of $H$ in $G; |X |$ the number of elements of $X \subseteq G; Z (G)$ the center of $G; G'$ the commutator subgroup of $G; N_{G}(H )$ the normalizer of $H$ in $G; C_{G}(H )$ the centralizer of $H$ in $G$; and $S_{n}$ the $n$-th symmetric group. Suppose that $n \geq 1$ is such that the mapping $x \mapsto x^{n}$ from $G$ to itself is an isomorphism. Prove that for each $a \in G, a^{n-1}\in Z (G).$

Consider the multiplicative group $ \left\{ \left.A_k:=\left(\begin{matrix} 2^k& 2^k\\2^k& 2^k\end{matrix}\right)\right| k\in\mathbb{Z} \right\} . $ [b]a)[/b] Prove that $A_xA_y=A_{x+y+1} , $ for all integers $ x,y. $ [b]b)[/b] Show that, for all integers $ t, $ the multiplicative group $ \left\{ A_{jt-1}|j\in\mathbb{Z} \right\} $ is a subgroup of $ G. $ [b]c)[/b] Determine the linear integer polynomials $ P $ for which it exists an isomorphism $ \left( G,\cdot \right)\stackrel{\eta}{\cong}\left( \mathbb{Z} ,+ \right) $ such that $ \eta\left( A_k \right) =P(k). $

Let $ f(x)$ be a nonzero, bounded, real function on an Abelian group $ G$, $ g_1,...,g_k$ are given elements of $ G$ and $ \lambda_1,...,\lambda_k$ are real numbers. Prove that if \[ \sum_{i=1}^k \lambda_i f(g_ix) \geq 0\] holds for all $ x \in G$, then \[ \sum_{i=1}^k \lambda_i \geq 0.\] [i]A. Mate[/i]

Let $A$ be an Abelian group with $n$ elements. Prove that there are two subgroups in $\text{GL}(n,\Bbb{C})$, isomorphic to $S_n$, whose intersection is isomorphic to the automorphism group of $A$. [i]Proposed by Zoltán Halasi[/i]

Let $ A$ be a unitary finite ring with $ n$ elements, such that the equation $ x^n\equal{}1$ has a unique solution in $ A$, $ x\equal{}1$. Prove that a) $ 0$ is the only nilpotent element of $ A$; b) there exists an integer $ k\geq 2$, such that the equation $ x^k\equal{}x$ has $ n$ solutions in $ A$.

For a natural number $ n\ge 2, $ prove that the $ \text{n-ary} $ direct product of the group of order $ 2 $ is abelian and isomorphic with the group of the power set of a set under symmetric difference.

Let $G$ be the permutation group of a finite set $\Omega$.Consider $S\subset G$ such that $1\in S$ and for any $x,y\in \Omega$ there exists a unique element $\sigma \in S$ such that $\sigma (x)=y$.Prove that,if the elements of $S \setminus \{1\}$ are conjugate in $G$,then $G$ is $2-$transitive on $\Omega$

$n$ being a given integer, find all functions $f\colon \mathbb{Z} \to \mathbb{Z}$, such that for all integers $x,y$ we have $f\left( {x + y + f(y)} \right) = f(x) + ny$.

A group $G$ has elements $g,h$ satisfying $ghg=hg^{2}h, g^{3}=1$ and $h^n=1$ for some odd integer $n$. Prove that $h=e$, where $e$ is the identity element.

Let $K$ be a ring with unit and $M$ the set of $2 \times 2$ matrices constituted with elements of $K$. An addition and a multiplication are defined in $M$ in the usual way between arrays. It is requested to: a) Check that $M$ is a ring with unit and not commutative with respect to the laws of defined composition. b) Check that if $K$ is a commutative field, the elements of$ M$ that have inverse they are characterized by the condition $ad - bc \ne 0$. c) Prove that the subset of $M$ formed by the elements that have inverse is a multiplicative group.

In the following exercise, $ C_G (e) $ denotes the centralizer of the element $ e $ in the group $ G. $ [b]a)[/b] Prove that $ \max_{\sigma\in S_n\setminus\{1\}} \left| C_{S_n} (\sigma ) \right| <\frac{n!}{2} , $ for any natural number $ n\ge 4. $ [b]b)[/b] Show that $ \lim_{n\to\infty} \left(\frac{1}{n!}\cdot\max_{\sigma\in S_n\setminus\{1\}} \left| C_{S_n} (\sigma ) \right|\right) =0. $ [i]Alexandru Cioba[/i]

Let be a group of order $ 2002 $ having the property that the application $ x\mapsto x^4 $ is and endomorphism of it. Show that this group is cyclic.

Let $ S\equal{}\{1,2,\ldots,n\}$. Let $ A$ be a subset of $ S$ such that for $ x,y\in A$, we have $ x\plus{}y\in A$ or $ x\plus{}y\minus{}n\in A$. Show that the number of elements of $ A$ divides $ n$.

Let $G$ be a finite abelian group and $f :\mathbb{Z}^+ \to G$ a completely multiplicative function (i.e. $f(mn) = f(m)f(n)$ for any positive integers $m, n$). Prove that there are infinitely many positive integers $k$ such that $f(k) = f(k + 1).$

Consider a group $G$ with at least $2$ elements and the property that each nontrivial element has infinite order. Let $H$ be a cyclic subgroup of $G$ such that the set $\{xH\mid x\in G\}$ has $2$ elements. \\ $\textbf{(a)}$ Prove that $G$ is cyclic. \\ $\textbf{(b)}$ Does the conclusion from $\textbf{(a)}$ stand true if $G$ contains nontrivial elements of finite order?

[b]a)[/b] Prove that for any two square matrices $ A,B $ of same order the equality $ \text{ord} (AB)=\text{ord} (BA) $ is true. [b]b)[/b] Show that $ \text{ord} (ab) =\text{ord} (ba) $ if $ a,b $ are elements of a monoid and one of them is an unit.

Let $F$ be a field whose characteristic is not $2$, let $F^*=F\setminus\left\{0\right\}$ be its multiplicative group and let $T$ be the subgroup of $F^*$ constituted by its finite order elements. Prove that if $T$ is finite, then $T$ is cyclic and its order is even.