Found problems: 259
In a word formed with the letters $a,b$ we can change some blocks: $aba$ in $b$ and back, $bba$ in $a$ and backwards. If the initial word is $aaa\ldots ab$ where $a$ appears 2003 times can we reach the word $baaa\ldots a$, where $a$ appears 2003 times.
Let $a, b, c, p, q, r$ be positive integers with $p, q, r \ge 2$. Denote
\[Q=\{(x, y, z)\in \mathbb{Z}^3 : 0 \le x \le a, 0 \le y \le b , 0 \le z \le c \}. \]
Initially, some pieces are put on the each point in $Q$, with a total of $M$ pieces. Then, one can perform the following three types of operations repeatedly:
(1) Remove $p$ pieces on $(x, y, z)$ and place a piece on $(x-1, y, z)$ ;
(2) Remove $q$ pieces on $(x, y, z)$ and place a piece on $(x, y-1, z)$ ;
(3) Remove $r$ pieces on $(x, y, z)$ and place a piece on $(x, y, z-1)$.
Find the smallest positive integer $M$ such that one can always perform a sequence of operations, making a piece placed on $(0,0,0)$, no matter how the pieces are distributed initially.
Five identical empty buckets of $2$-liter capacity stand at the vertices of a regular pentagon. Cinderella and her wicked Stepmother go through a sequence of rounds: At the beginning of every round, the Stepmother takes one liter of water from the nearby river and distributes it arbitrarily over the five buckets. Then Cinderella chooses a pair of neighbouring buckets, empties them to the river and puts them back. Then the next round begins. The Stepmother goal's is to make one of these buckets overflow. Cinderella's goal is to prevent this. Can the wicked Stepmother enforce a bucket overflow?
[i]Proposed by Gerhard Woeginger, Netherlands[/i]
We call a set $S$ on the real line $R$ "superinvariant", if for any stretching $A$ of the set $S$ by the transformation taking $x$ to $A(x) = x_0 + a(x - x_0)$, where $a > 0$, there exists a transformation $B, B(x) = x + b$, such that the images of $S$ under $A$ and $B$ agree; i.e., for any $x \in S$, there is $y \in S$ such that $A(x) = B(y)$, and for any $t \in S$, there is a $u \in S$ such that $B(t) = A(u).$ Determine all superinvariant sets.
Some positive integers are initially written on a board, where each $2$ of them are different.
Each time we can do the following moves:
(1) If there are 2 numbers (written in the board) in the form $n, n+1$ we can erase them and write down $n-2$
(2) If there are 2 numbers (written in the board) in the form $n, n+4$ we can erase them and write down $n-1$
After some moves, there might appear negative numbers. Find the maximum value of the integer $c$ such that:
Independetly of the starting numbers, each number which appears in any move is greater or equal to $c$
Let $n$ be an integer $> 1$. In a circular arrangement of $n$ lamps $L_0, \cdots, L_{n-1}$, each one of which can be either ON or OFF, we start with the situation that all lamps are ON, and then carry out a sequence of steps, $Step_0, Step_1, \cdots$. If $L_{j-1}$ ($j$ is taken mod n) is ON, then $Step_j$ changes the status of $L_j$ (it goes from ON to OFF or from OFF to ON) but does not change the status of any of the other lamps. If $L_{j-1}$ is OFF, then $Step_j$ does not change anything at all. Show that:
[i](a)[/i] There is a positive integer $M(n)$ such that after $M(n)$ steps all lamps are ON again.
[i](b)[/i] If $n$ has the form $2^k$, then all lamps are ON after $n^2 - 1$ steps.
[i](c) [/i]If $n$ has the form $2^k +1$, then all lamps are ON after $n^2 -n+1$ steps.
Given a finite tree $ T$ and isomorphism $ f: T\rightarrow T$. Prove that either there exist a vertex $ a$ such that $ f(a)\equal{}a$ or there exist two neighbor vertices $ a$, $ b$ such that $ f(a)\equal{}b$, $ f(b)\equal{}a$.
The sides of a 99-gon are initially colored so that consecutive sides are red, blue, red, blue, $\,\ldots, \,$ red, blue, yellow. We make a sequence of modifications in the coloring, changing the color of one side at a time to one of the three given colors (red, blue, yellow), under the constraint that no two adjacent sides may be the same color. By making a sequence of such modifications, is it possible to arrive at the coloring in which consecutive sides
are red, blue, red, blue, red, blue, $\, \ldots, \,$ red, yellow, blue?
Circle is divided into $n$ arcs by $n$ marked points on the circle. After that circle rotate an angle $ 2\pi k/n $ (for some positive integer $ k $), marked points moved to $n$ [i] new points [/i], dividing the circle into $ n $ [i] new arcs[/i]. Prove that there is a new arc that lies entirely in the one of the old arсs.
(It is believed that the endpoints of arcs belong to it.)
[i]I. Mitrophanov[/i]
Let $\{x\}$ be a sequence of positive reals $x_1, x_2, \ldots, x_n$, defined by: $x_1 = 1, x_2 = 9, x_3=9, x_4=1$. And for $n \geq 1$ we have:
\[x_{n+4} = \sqrt[4]{x_{n} \cdot x_{n+1} \cdot x_{n+2} \cdot x_{n+3}}.\]
Show that this sequence has a finite limit. Determine this limit.
A natural number is written on the blackboard. In each step, we erase the units digit and add four times the erased digit to the remaining number, and write the result on the blackboard instead of the initial number. Starting with the number $13^{2006}$, is it possible to obtain the number $2006^{13}$ by repeating this step finitely many times?
At the vertices $A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H$ of a cube, $2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2008, 2007$ and $2006$ stones respectively are placed. It is allowed to move a stone from a vertex to each of its three neighbours, or to move a stone to a vertex from each of its three neighbours. Which of the following arrangements of stones at $A, B, \ldots , H$ can be obtained?
$(\text{a})\quad 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2005;$
$(\text{b})\quad 2002, 2003, 2004, 2001, 2006, 2005, 2008, 2007;$
$(\text{c})\quad 2004, 2002, 2003, 2001, 2005, 2008, 2007, 2006.$
A multi-digit number is written on the blackboard. Susan puts in a number of plus signs between some pairs of adjacent digits. The addition is performed and the process is repeated with the sum. Prove that regardless of what number was initially on the blackboard, Susan can always obtain a single-digit number in at most ten steps.
Let $ P\subseteq \mathbb{R}^m$ be a non-empty compact convex set and $ f: P\rightarrow \mathbb{R}_{ \plus{} }$ be a concave function. Prove, that for every $ \xi\in \mathbb{R}^m$
\[ \int_{P}\langle \xi,x \rangle f(x)dx\leq \left[\frac {m \plus{} 1}{m \plus{} 2}\sup_{x\in P}{\langle\xi,x\rangle} \plus{} \frac {1}{m \plus{} 2}\inf_{x\in P}{\langle\xi,x\rangle}\right] \cdot\int_{P}f(x)dx.\]
Let $ k$ be an integer, $ k \geq 2$, and let $ p_{1},\ p_{2},\ \ldots,\ p_{k}$ be positive reals with $ p_{1} \plus{} p_{2} \plus{} \ldots \plus{} p_{k} \equal{} 1$. Suppose we have a collection $ \left(A_{1,1},\ A_{1,2},\ \ldots,\ A_{1,k}\right)$, $ \left(A_{2,1},\ A_{2,2},\ \ldots,\ A_{2,k}\right)$, $ \ldots$, $ \left(A_{m,1},\ A_{1,2},\ \ldots,\ A_{m,k}\right)$ of $ k$-tuples of finite sets satisfying the following two properties:
(i) for every $ i$ and every $ j \neq j^{\prime}$, $ A_{i,j}\cap A_{i,j^{\prime}} \equal{} \emptyset$, and
(ii) for every $ i\neq i^{\prime}$ there exist $ j\neq j^{\prime}$ for which $ A_{i,j} \cap A_{i^{\prime},j^{\prime}}\neq\emptyset$. Prove that
\[ \sum_{b \equal{} 1}^{m}{\prod_{a \equal{} 1}^{k}{p_{a}^{|A_{b,a}|}}} \leq 1.
\]
Suppose a $m \times n$ table. We write an integer in each cell of the table. In each move, we chose a column, a row, or a diagonal (diagonal is the set of cells which the difference between their row number and their column number is constant) and add either $+1$ or $-1$ to all of its cells. Prove that if for all arbitrary $3 \times 3$ table we can change all numbers to zero, then we can change all numbers of $m \times n$ table to zero.
([i]Hint[/i]: First of all think about it how we can change number of $ 3 \times 3$ table to zero.)
Let $R$ be the set of all possible remainders when a number of the form $2^n$, $n$ a nonnegative integer, is divided by $1000$. Let $S$ be the sum of all elements in $R$. Find the remainder when $S$ is divided by $1000$.
Let $ n \geq 2$ be a positive integer and $ \lambda$ a positive real number. Initially there are $ n$ fleas on a horizontal line, not all at the same point. We define a move as choosing two fleas at some points $ A$ and $ B$, with $ A$ to the left of $ B$, and letting the flea from $ A$ jump over the flea from $ B$ to the point $ C$ so that $ \frac {BC}{AB} \equal{} \lambda$.
Determine all values of $ \lambda$ such that, for any point $ M$ on the line and for any initial position of the $ n$ fleas, there exists a sequence of moves that will take them all to the position right of $ M$.
Let $a,b$ be two positive integers, such that $ab\neq 1$. Find all the integer values that $f(a,b)$ can take, where \[ f(a,b) = \frac { a^2+ab+b^2} { ab- 1} . \]
$(NET 4)$ A boy has a set of trains and pieces of railroad track. Each piece is a quarter of circle, and by concatenating these pieces, the boy obtained a closed railway. The railway does not intersect itself. In passing through this railway, the train sometimes goes in the clockwise direction, and sometimes in the opposite direction. Prove that the train passes an even number of times through the pieces in the clockwise direction and an even number of times in the counterclockwise direction. Also, prove that the number of pieces is divisible by $4.$
Let $n > 3$ be a positive integer. Suppose that $n$ children are arranged in a circle, and $n$ coins are distributed between them (some children may have no coins). At every step, a child with at least 2 coins may give 1 coin to each of their immediate neighbors on the right and left. Determine all initial distributions of the coins from which it is possible that, after a finite number of steps, each child has exactly one coin.
A pile of $n$ pebbles is placed in a vertical column. This configuration is modified according to the following rules. A pebble can be moved if it is at the top of a column which contains at least two more pebbles than the column immediately to its right. (If there are no pebbles to the right, think of this as a column with 0 pebbles.) At each stage, choose a pebble from among those that can be moved (if there are any) and place it at the top of the column to its right. If no pebbles can be moved, the configuration is called a [i]final configuration[/i]. For each $n$, show that, no matter what choices are made at each stage, the final configuration obtained is unique. Describe that configuration in terms of $n$.
[url=http://www.mathlinks.ro/Forum/viewtopic.php?p=119189]IMO ShortList 2001, combinatorics problem 7, alternative[/url]
In the notebooks of Peter and Nick, two numbers are written. Initially, these two numbers are 1 and 2 for Peter and 3 and 4 for Nick. Once a minute, Peter writes a quadratic trinomial $f(x)$, the roots of which are the two numbers in his notebook, while Nick writes a quadratic trinomial $g(x)$ the roots of which are the numbers in [i]his[/i] notebook. If the equation $f(x)=g(x)$ has two distinct roots, one of the two boys replaces the numbers in his notebook by those two roots. Otherwise, nothing happens. If Peter once made one of his numbers 5, what did the other one of his numbers become?
When counting from $3$ to $201$, $53$ is the $51^{\text{st}}$ number counted. When counting backwards from $201$ to $3$, $53$ is the $n^{\text{th}}$ number counted. What is $n$?
$\textbf{(A) }146\qquad \textbf{(B) } 147\qquad\textbf{(C) } 148\qquad\textbf{(D) }149\qquad\textbf{(E) }150$
Decompose the space of homogeneous polynomials of degree $5$ in $(x, y, z)$ into irreducible subspaces invariant with respect to the rotation group $SO(3)$.