Let $v \in \mathbb{R}^2$ a vector of length 1 and $A$ a $2 \times 2$ matrix with real entries such that: (i) The vectors $A v, A^2 v$ y $A^3 v$ are also of length 1. (ii) The vector $A^2 v$ isn't equal to $\pm v$ nor to $\pm A v$. Prove that $A^t A=I_2$.

Let $a_{ij}$ $i=1,2,3$; $j=1,2,3$ be real numbers such that $a_{ij}$ is positive for $i=j$ and negative for $i\neq j$. Prove the existence of positive real numbers $c_{1}$, $c_{2}$, $c_{3}$ such that the numbers \[a_{11}c_{1}+a_{12}c_{2}+a_{13}c_{3},\qquad a_{21}c_{1}+a_{22}c_{2}+a_{23}c_{3},\qquad a_{31}c_{1}+a_{32}c_{2}+a_{33}c_{3}\] are either all negative, all positive, or all zero. [i]Proposed by Kiran Kedlaya, USA[/i]

In the following $6\times 6$ matrix, one can choose any $k\times k$ submatrix, with $1<k\leq6 $ and add $1$ to all its entries. Is it possible to perform the operation a finite number of times so that all the entries in the $6\times 6$ matrix are multiples of $3$? $ \begin{pmatrix} 2 & 0 & 1 & 0 & 2 & 0 \\ 0 & 2 & 0 & 1 & 2 & 0 \\ 1 & 0 & 2 & 0 & 2 & 0 \\ 0 & 1 & 0 & 2 & 2 & 0 \\ 1 & 1 & 1 & 1 & 2 & 0 \\ 0 & 0 & 0 & 0 & 0 & 0 \end{pmatrix} $ Note: A $p\times q$ submatrix of a $m\times n$ matrix (with $p\leq m$, $q\leq n$) is a $p\times q$ matrix formed by taking a block of the entries of this size from the original matrix.

Let $n$ be a positive integer. Find the smallest positive integer $k$ with the property that for any colouring nof the squares of a $2n$ by $k$ chessboard with $n$ colours, there are $2$ columns and $2$ rows such that the $4$ squares in their intersections have the same colour.

Let be a $ 2\times 2 $ real matrix such that $ \det \left( A^6+64I \right) =0. $ Show that $ \det A=4. $ [i]Viorel Botea[/i]

Let real numbers $ a,b,c$. Prove that $ \sqrt{2(a^2\plus{}b^2)}\plus{}\sqrt{2(b^2\plus{}c^2)}\plus{}\sqrt{2(c^2\plus{}a^2)}\ge \sqrt{3(a\plus{}b)^2\plus{}3(b\plus{}c)^2\plus{}3(c\plus{}a)^2}$.

Find the number of even permutations of $ \{1,2,\ldots,n\}$ with no fixed points.

Calculate the sum of matrix commutators $[A, [B, C]] + [B, [C, A]] + [C, [A, B]]$, where $[A, B] = AB-BA$

The scores of this problem were: one time 17/20 (by the runner-up) one time 4/20 (by Andrei Negut) one time 1/20 (by the winner) the rest had zero... just to give an idea of the difficulty. Let $A_{i},B_{i},S_{i}$ ($i=1,2,3$) be invertible real $2\times 2$ matrices such that [list][*]not all $A_{i}$ have a common real eigenvector, [*]$A_{i}=S_{i}^{-1}B_{i}S_{i}$ for $i=1,2,3$, [*]$A_{1}A_{2}A_{3}=B_{1}B_{2}B_{3}=I$.[/list] Prove that there is an invertible $2\times 2$ matrix $S$ such that $A_{i}=S^{-1}B_{i}S$ for all $i=1,2,3$.

$n\geq 2$ is a given integer. For two permuations $(\alpha_1,\cdots,\alpha_n)$ and $(\beta_1,\cdots,\beta_n)$ of $1,\cdots,n$, consider $n\times n$ matrix $A= \left(a_{ij} \right)_{1\leq i,j\leq n}$ defined by $a_{ij} = (1+\alpha_i \beta_j )^{n-1}$. Find every possible value of $\det(A)$.

a)Prove that any matrix $A\in \mathcal{M}_4(\mathbb{C})$ can be written as a sum of four matrices $B_1,B_2,B_3,B_4\in \mathcal{M}_4(\mathbb{C})$ with the rank equal to $1$. b)$I_4$ can't be written as a sum of less than four matrices with the rank equal to $1$. [i]Manuela Prajea & Ion Savu[/i]

Let be a natural number $ n\ge 2, $ a real number $ \lambda , $ and let be the set $$ H_{\lambda }=\left\{ \left( h_k^l \right)_{1\le k\le n}^{1\le l\le n}\in\mathcal{M}_n\left(\mathbb{R}\right) \bigg| \lambda =\sum_{k,l=1}^n h_k^l \right\} . $$ Prove the following statements. [b]a)[/b] The sets of symmetric and antisymmetric matrices from $ \mathcal{M}_n\left(\mathbb{R}\right) $ are subgroups of the additive subgroup $ \mathcal{M}_n\left(\mathbb{R}\right) , $ and any matrix from $ \mathcal{M}_n\left(\mathbb{R}\right) $ is a sum of a symmetric and antisymmetric matrix from $ \mathcal{M}_n\left(\mathbb{R}\right) . $ [b]b)[/b] $ \left( H_{\lambda },+\right)\le\left( \mathcal{M}_n\left(\mathbb{R}\right) ,+ \right)\iff \lambda =0 $ [b]c)[/b] There is a commutative group formed with the elements of $ H_{\lambda } $ if $ \lambda\neq 0. $ [i]Dan Negulescu[/i]

Let $A,B\in \mathcal{M}_n(\mathbb{R})$. Prove that $\text{rank}\ A+\text{rank}\ B\le n$ if and only if there exists an invertible matrix $X\in \mathcal{M}_n(\mathbb{R})$ such that $AXB=O_n$.

Let $A, B \in M_2(\mathbb{R})$ such as $det(AB+BA)\leq 0$. Prove that $$det(A^2+B^2)\geq 0$$

In a finite sequence of real numbers the sum of any seven successive terms is negative and the sum of any eleven successive terms is positive. Determine the maximum number of terms in the sequence.

In a certain city, age is reckoned in terms of real numbers rather than integers. Every two citizens $x$ and $x'$ either know each other or do not know each other. Moreover, if they do not, then there exists a chain of citizens $x = x_0, x_1, \ldots, x_n = x'$ for some integer $n \geq 2$ such that $ x_{i-1}$ and $x_i$ know each other. In a census, all male citizens declare their ages, and there is at least one male citizen. Each female citizen provides only the information that her age is the average of the ages of all the citizens she knows. Prove that this is enough to determine uniquely the ages of all the female citizens.

Let $M_n$ be the $n\times n$ matrix with entries as follows: for $1\leq i \leq n$, $m_{i,i}=10$; for $1\leq i \leq n-1, m_{i+1,i}=m_{i,i+1}=3$; all other entries in $M_n$ are zero. Let $D_n$ be the determinant of matrix $M_n$. Then $\displaystyle \sum_{n=1}^{\infty} \dfrac{1}{8D_n+1}$ can be represented as $\frac{p}{q}$, where $p$ and $q$ are relatively prime positive integers. Find $p+q$. Note: The determinant of the $1\times 1$ matrix $[a]$ is $a$, and the determinant of the $2\times 2$ matrix $\left[ \begin{array}{cc} a & b \\ c & d \end{array} \right]=ad-bc$; for $n\geq 2$, the determinant of an $n\times n$ matrix with first row or first column $a_1\ a_2\ a_3 \dots\ a_n$ is equal to $a_1C_1 - a_2C_2 + a_3C_3 - \dots + (-1)^{n+1} a_nC_n$, where $C_i$ is the determinant of the $(n-1)\times (n-1)$ matrix found by eliminating the row and column containing $a_i$.

Let $A,B \in \mathbb{R}^{n\times n}$ with $A^2+B^2=AB$. Prove that if $BA-AB$ is invertible then $3|n$.

Prove that from every set of $n+1$ natural numbers, whose prime factors are in a given set of $n$ prime numbers, one can select several distinct numbers whose product is a perfect square.

Let $G$ be a finite set of real $n \times n$ matrices $\left\{M_{i}\right\}, 1 \leq i \leq r,$ which form a group under matrix multiplication. Suppose that $\textstyle\sum_{i=1}^{r} \operatorname{tr}\left(M_{i}\right)=0,$ where $\operatorname{tr}(A)$ denotes the trace of the matrix $A .$ Prove that $\textstyle\sum_{i=1}^{r} M_{i}$ is the $n \times n$ zero matrix.

Let be a natural number $ n. $ Solve in the set of $ 2\times 2 $ complex matrices the equation $$ \begin{pmatrix} -2& 2007\\ 0&-2 \end{pmatrix} =X^{3n}-3X^n. $$ [i]Petru Vlad[/i]

Suppose that $W,W_1$ and $W_2$ are subspaces of a vector space $V$ such that $V=W_1\oplus W_2$. Under what conditions we have $W=(W\cap W_1)\oplus(W\cap W_2)$?

$A, B$ are $n \times n$ matrices such that $\text{rank}(AB-BA+I) = 1.$ Prove that $\text{tr}(ABAB)-\text{tr}(A^2 B^2) = \frac{1}{2}n(n-1).$

Prove that if $A{}$ is an $n\times n$ matrix with complex entries such that $A+A^*=A^2A^*$ then $A=A^*$. (Here, we denote by $M^*$ the conjugate transpose $\overline{M}^t$ of the matrix $M{}$).

Let $H$ be an $n\times n$ matrix all of whose entries are $\pm1$ and whose rows are mutually orthogonal. Suppose $H$ has an $a\times b$ submatrix whose entries are all $1.$ Show that $ab\le n.$