Let $ n$ be a positive integer, and consider the matrix $ A \equal{} (a_{ij})_{1\leq i,j\leq n}$ where $ a_{ij} \equal{} 1$ if $ i\plus{}j$ is prime and $ a_{ij} \equal{} 0$ otherwise. Prove that $ |\det A| \equal{} k^2$ for some integer $ k$.

To each number with $n^2$ digits, we associate the $n\times n$ determinant of the matrix obtained by writing the digits of the number in order along the rows. For example : $8617\mapsto \det \left(\begin{matrix}{\;8}& 6\;\\ \;1 &{ 7\;}\end{matrix}\right)=50$. Find, as a function of $n$, the sum of all the determinants associated with $n^2$-digit integers. (Leading digits are assumed to be nonzero; for example, for $n = 2$, there are $9000$ determinants.)

[color=darkred]Let $n$ and $k$ be two natural numbers such that $n\ge 2$ and $1\le k\le n-1$ . Prove that if the matrix $A\in\mathcal{M}_n(\mathbb{C})$ has exactly $k$ minors of order $n-1$ equal to $0$ , then $\det (A)\ne 0$ .[/color]

In a small pond there are eleven lily pads in a row labeled $0$ through $10$. A frog is sitting on pad $1$. When the frog is on pad $N$, $0<N<10$, it will jump to pad $N-1$ with probability $\frac{N}{10}$ and to pad $N+1$ with probability $1-\frac{N}{10}$. Each jump is independent of the previous jumps. If the frog reaches pad $0$ it will be eaten by a patiently waiting snake. If the frog reaches pad $10$ it will exit the pond, never to return. What is the probability that the frog will escape being eaten by the snake? $ \textbf {(A) } \frac{32}{79} \qquad \textbf {(B) } \frac{161}{384} \qquad \textbf {(C) } \frac{63}{146} \qquad \textbf {(D) } \frac{7}{16} \qquad \textbf {(E) } \frac{1}{2} $

Let $ a$, $ b$, $ c$, $ x$, $ y$, and $ z$ be real numbers that satisfy the three equations \begin{align*} 13x + by + cz &= 0 \\ ax + 23y + cz &= 0 \\ ax + by + 42z &= 0. \end{align*}Suppose that $ a \ne 13$ and $ x \ne 0$. What is the value of \[ \frac{13}{a - 13} + \frac{23}{b - 23} + \frac{42}{c - 42} \, ?\]

In the $xOy$ system, consider the collinear points $A_i(x_i,y_i),\ 1\le i\le 4$, such that there are invertible matrices $M\in \mathcal{M}_4(\mathbb{C})$ such that $(x_1,x_2,x_3,x_4)$ and $(y_1,y_2,y_3,y_4)$ are their first two lines. Prove that the sum of the entries of $M^{-1}$ doesn't depend of $M$. [i]Marian Andronache[/i]

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? $(\text{a})\quad 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2005;$ $(\text{b})\quad 2002, 2003, 2004, 2001, 2006, 2005, 2008, 2007;$ $(\text{c})\quad 2004, 2002, 2003, 2001, 2005, 2008, 2007, 2006.$

For a given natural number, $ n\ge 2, $ consider two matrices $ A,B\in\mathcal{M}_n(\mathbb{C}) $ that commute and such that $ A $ is invertible and that the function $ M:\mathbb{C}\longrightarrow\mathbb{C} ,M(x)=\det (A+xB) $ is bounded above or below. Prove that $ B^n=0. $ [i]Sorin Rădulescu[/i] and [i]Ion Savu[/i]

Given two vectors $v = (v_1,\dots,v_n)$ and $w = (w_1\dots,w_n)$ in $\mathbb{R}^n$, lets define $v*w$ as the matrix in which the element of row $i$ and column $j$ is $v_iw_j$. Supose that $v$ and $w$ are linearly independent. Find the rank of the matrix $v*w - w*v.$

For what values of $ n$ does there exist an $ n \times n$ array of entries -1, 0 or 1 such that the $ 2 \cdot n$ sums obtained by summing the elements of the rows and the columns are all different?

Solve the system of equations: $ \begin{matrix} |x+y| + |1-x| = 6 \\ |x+y+1| + |1-y| = 4. \end{matrix} $

Let $A,B \in M_{n}(\mathbb{R}).$ Show that $rank(A) = rank(B)$ if and only if there exist nonsingular matrices $X,Y,Z \in M_{n}(\mathbb{R})$ such that \[ AX + YB = AZB. \]

Let $A$ and $B$ be complex Hermitian $2\times2$ matrices having the pairs of eigenvalues $(\alpha_1,\alpha_2)$ and $(\beta_1,\beta_2)$, respectively. Determine all possible pairs of eigenvalues $(\gamma_1,\gamma_2)$ of the matrix $C=A+B$. (We recall that a matrix $A=(a_{ij})$ is Hermitian if and only if $a_{ij}=\overline{a_{ji}}$ for all $i$ and $j$.)

Solve the system of equations: $ \begin{matrix} x^2 + x - 1 = y \\ y^2 + y - 1 = z \\ z^2 + z - 1 = x. \end{matrix} $

Let $n$ be a positive integer that is not a perfect cube. Define real numbers $a,b,c$ by \[a=\root3\of n\kern1.5pt,\qquad b={1\over a-[a]}\kern1pt,\qquad c={1\over b-[b]}\kern1.5pt,\] where $[x]$ denotes the integer part of $x$. Prove that there are infinitely many such integers $n$ with the property that there exist integers $r,s,t$, not all zero, such that $ra+sb+tc=0$.

Define the sequence $A_1,A_2,\ldots$ of matrices by the following recurrence: $$ A_1 = \begin{pmatrix} 0 & 1 \\ 1 & 0 \\ \end{pmatrix}, \quad A_{n+1} = \begin{pmatrix} A_n & I_{2^n} \\ I_{2^n} & A_n \\ \end{pmatrix} \quad (n=1,2,\ldots) $$ where $I_m$ is the $m\times m$ identity matrix. Prove that $A_n$ has $n+1$ distinct integer eigenvalues $\lambda_0< \lambda_1<\ldots <\lambda_n$ with multiplicities $\binom{n}{0},\binom{n}{1},\ldots,\binom{n}{n}$, respectively.

For each of the following, provide proof or a counterexample: a) Every $2\times2$ matrix with real entries can we written as the sum of the squares of two $2\times2$ matrices with real entries. b) Every $3\times3$ matrix with real entries can we written as the sum of the squares of two $3\times3$ matrices with real entries.

Let $A$ be an $n\times n$ real matrix with minimal polynomial $x^n + x - 1$. Prove that the trace of $(nA^{n-1} + I)^{-1}A^{n-2}$ is zero.

Let $n \geq 2$ and $A, B \in \mathcal{M}_n(\mathbb{C})$ such that there exists an idempotent matrix $C \in \mathcal{M}_n(\mathbb{C})$ for which $C^*=AB-BA.$ Prove that $(AB-BA)^2=0.$ Note: $X^*$ is the [url = https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adjugate_matrix]adjugate[/url] matrix of $X$ (not the conjugate transpose)

Let be a natural number $ n, $ a number $ t\in (0,1) $ and $ n+1 $ numbers $ a_0\ge a_1\ge a_2\ge\cdots\ge a_n\ge 0. $ Prove the following matrix inequality: $$ \begin{vmatrix}\frac{(1+t\sqrt{-1})^2}{1+t^2} & -1 & 0& 0 & \cdots & 0 & 0 \\ 0 & \frac{(1+t\sqrt{-1})^2}{1+t^2} & -1 & 0 & \cdots & 0 & 0 \\ \vdots & \vdots & \vdots & \vdots & \vdots & \vdots & \vdots \\ 0 & 0 & 0 & 0 & \cdots & \frac{(1+t\sqrt{-1})^2}{1+t^2} & -1 \\ a_0 & a_1 & a_2 & a_3 & \cdots & a_{n-1} & a_n \end{vmatrix}^2\le a_0^2\left( 1+\frac{1}{t^2} \right) $$

We consider the following system with $q=2p$: \[\begin{matrix} a_{11}x_{1}+\ldots+a_{1q}x_{q}=0,\\ a_{21}x_{1}+\ldots+a_{2q}x_{q}=0,\\ \ldots ,\\ a_{p1}x_{1}+\ldots+a_{pq}x_{q}=0,\\ \end{matrix}\] in which every coefficient is an element from the set $\{-1,0,1\}$$.$ Prove that there exists a solution $x_{1}, \ldots,x_{q}$ for the system with the properties: [b]a.)[/b] all $x_{j}, j=1,\ldots,q$ are integers$;$ [b]b.)[/b] there exists at least one j for which $x_{j} \neq 0;$ [b]c.)[/b] $|x_{j}| \leq q$ for any $j=1, \ldots ,q.$

Consider the two square matrices \[A=\begin{bmatrix} +1 & +1 &+1& +1 &+1 \\+1 &+1 &+1&-1 &-1 \\ +1 &-1&-1 &+1& +1 \\ +1 & -1 & -1 & -1 & +1 \\ +1 &+1&-1 &+1&-1 \end{bmatrix} \quad \text{ and } \quad B=\begin{bmatrix} +1 & +1 &+1& +1 &+1 \\+1 &+1 &+1&-1 &-1 \\ +1 &+1&-1& +1&-1 \\ +1 &-1& -1& +1& +1 \\ +1 & -1& +1&-1 &+1 \end{bmatrix}\] with entries $+1$ and $-1$. The following operations will be called elementary: (1) Changing signs of all numbers in one row; (2) Changing signs of all numbers in one column; (3) Interchanging two rows (two rows exchange their positions); (4) Interchanging two columns. Prove that the matrix $B$ cannot be obtained from the matrix $A$ using these operations.

The vertices of a regular $n$-gon are initially marked with one of the signs $+$ or $-$ . A [i]move[/i] consists in choosing three consecutive vertices and changing the signs from the vertices , from $+$ to $-$ and from $-$ to $+$. [b]a)[/b] Prove that if $n=2015$ then for any initial configuration of signs , there exists a sequence of [i]moves[/i] such that we'll arrive at a configuration with only $+$ signs. [b]b)[/b] Prove that if $n=2016$ , then there exists an initial configuration of signs such that no matter how we make the [i]moves[/i] we'll never arrive at a configuration with only $+$ signs.

What is the maximal dimension of a linear subspace $ V$ of the vector space of real $ n \times n$ matrices such that for all $ A$ in $ B$ in $ V$, we have $ \text{trace}\left(AB\right) \equal{} 0$ ?

Let $O_n$ be the $n$-dimensional vector $(0,0,\cdots, 0)$. Let $M$ be a $2n \times n$ matrix of complex numbers such that whenever $(z_1, z_2, \dots, z_{2n})M = O_n$, with complex $z_i$, not all zero, then at least one of the $z_i$ is not real. Prove that for arbitrary real numbers $r_1, r_2, \dots, r_{2n}$, there are complex numbers $w_1, w_2, \dots, w_n$ such that \[ \mathrm{re}\left[ M \left( \begin{array}{c} w_1 \\ \vdots \\ w_n \end{array} \right) \right] = \left( \begin{array}{c} r_1 \\ \vdots \\ r_n \end{array} \right). \] (Note: if $C$ is a matrix of complex numbers, $\mathrm{re}(C)$ is the matrix whose entries are the real parts of the entries of $C$.)