Let $n$ be an odd natural number and $A,B \in \mathcal{M}_n(\mathbb{C})$ be two matrices such that $(A-B)^2=O_n.$ Prove that $\det(AB-BA)=0.$

For any integer $n\ge 2$ and two $n\times n$ matrices with real entries $A,\; B$ that satisfy the equation $$A^{-1}+B^{-1}=(A+B)^{-1}\;$$ prove that $\det (A)=\det(B)$. Does the same conclusion follow for matrices with complex entries? (Proposed by Zbigniew Skoczylas, Wroclaw University of Technology)

Let $A, B \in \mathcal{M}_n(\mathbb{C})$ be such that $AB^2A = AB$. Prove that: a) $(AB)^2 = AB.$ b) $(AB - BA)^3 = O_n.$

Let be a natural number $ n, $ a complex number $ a, $ and two matrices $ \left( a_{pq}\right)_{1\le q\le n}^{1\le p\le n} ,\left( b_{pq}\right)_{1\le q\le n}^{1\le p\le n}\in\mathcal{M}_n(\mathbb{C} ) $ such that $$ b_{pq} =a^{p-q}\cdot a_{pq},\quad\forall p,q\in\{ 1,2,\ldots ,n\} . $$ Calculate the determinant of $ B $ (in function of $ a $ and the determinant of $ A $ ).

Let $A,B,C,D \in \mathcal{M}_n(\mathbb{C}),$ $A$ and $C$ invertible. Prove that if $A^k B = C^k D$ for any positive integer $k,$ then $B=D.$

Let $A\in M_3(\mathbb Z)$ such that $\det(A)=1$. What is the maximum possible number of entries of $A$ that are even?

Let $A,B\in\mathcal{M}_n(\mathbb{C})$ such that $A^2+B^2=2AB.$ Prove that for any complex number $x$\[\det(A-xI_n)=\det(B-xI_n).\][i]Mihai Opincariu and Vasile Pop[/i]

For each positive integer $n$, let $M(n)$ be the $n\times n$ matrix whose $(i,j)$ entry is equal to $1$ if $i+1$ is divisible by $j$, and equal to $0$ otherwise. Prove that $M(n)$ is invertible if and only if $n+1$ is square-free. (An integer is [i]square-free[/i] if it is not divisible by a square of an integer larger than $1$.)

Prove that the set $ \left\{ \left. \begin{pmatrix} \frac{1-2x^3}{3x^2} & \frac{1+x^3}{3x^2} & \frac{1+x^3}{3x^2} \\ \frac{1+x^3}{3x^2} & \frac{1-2x^3}{3x^2} & \frac{1+x^3}{3x^2} \\ \frac{1+x^3}{3x^2} & \frac{1+x^3}{3x^2} & \frac{1-2x^3}{3x^2}\end{pmatrix}\right| x\in\mathbb{R}^{*} \right\} $ along with the usual multiplication of matrices form a group, determine an isomorphism between this group and the group of multiplicative real numbers.

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.

We have a set of ${221}$ real numbers whose sum is ${110721}$. It is deemed that the numbers form a rectangular table such that every row as well as the first and last columns are arithmetic progressions of more than one element. Prove that the sum of the elements in the four corners is equal to ${2004}$.

An $n \times n$ complex matrix $A$ is called \emph{t-normal} if $AA^t = A^t A$ where $A^t$ is the transpose of $A$. For each $n$, determine the maximum dimension of a linear space of complex $n \times n$ matrices consisting of t-normal matrices. Proposed by Shachar Carmeli, Weizmann Institute of Science

Let $ A\in M_2\left( \mathbb{C}\right) $ such that $ \det \left( A^2+A+I_2\right) =\det \left( A^2-A+I_2\right) =3. $ Prove that $ A^2\left( A^2+I_2\right) =2I_2. $

Let be two matrices $ A,B\in M_2\left(\mathbb{R}\right) $ and two natural numbers $ m,n. $ Prove that: $$ \det\left( (AB)^m-(BA)^m\right)\cdot\det\left( (AB)^n-(BA)^n\right)\ge 0. $$

Let $k$ and $n$ be positive integers. A sequence $\left( A_1, \dots , A_k \right)$ of $n\times n$ real matrices is [i]preferred[/i] by Ivan the Confessor if $A_i^2\neq 0$ for $1\le i\le k$, but $A_iA_j=0$ for $1\le i$, $j\le k$ with $i\neq j$. Show that $k\le n$ in all preferred sequences, and give an example of a preferred sequence with $k=n$ for each $n$. (Proposed by Fedor Petrov, St. Petersburg State University)

Let $(a_i)_{1\le i\le2015}$ be a sequence consisting of $2015$ integers, and let $(k_i)_{1\le i\le2015}$ be a sequence of $2015$ positive integers (positive integer excludes $0$). Let $$A=\begin{pmatrix}a_1^{k_1}&a_1^{k_2}&\cdots&a_1^{k_{2015}}\\a_2^{k_1}&a_2^{k_2}&\cdots&a_2^{k_{2015}}\\\vdots&\vdots&\ddots&\vdots\\a_{2015}^{k_1}&a_{2015}^{k_2}&\cdots&a_{2015}^{k_{2015}}\end{pmatrix}.$$Prove that $2015!$ divides $\det A$.

Let $ \mathcal{M} =\left\{ A\in M_2\left( \mathbb{C}\right)\big| \det\left( A-zI_2\right) =0\implies |z| < 1\right\} . $ Prove that: $$ X,Y\in\mathcal{M}\wedge X\cdot Y=Y\cdot X\implies X\cdot Y\in\mathcal{M} . $$

$P\in A_n(\mathbb R)=\{M_{n\times n}|M^2=M\}$. Which of the following are true? $\textbf{(A)}~P^T=P,\forall P\in A_n(\mathbb R)$ $\textbf{(B)}~\exists P\ne0,P\in A_n(\mathbb R)\text{ with }\operatorname{tr}(P)=0$ $\textbf{(C)}~\exists X_{n\times r}\text{ such that }Px=X\text{ for }r=\operatorname{rank}(P)$

Here is a problem we (me and my colleagues) suggested and was given at the competition this year. The problem statement is very natural and short. However, we have not seen such a problem before. A real $2024 \times 2024$ matrix $A$ is called nice if $(Av, v) = 1$ for every vector $v\in \mathbb{R}^{2024}$ with unit norm. a) Prove that the only nice matrix such that all of its eigenvalues are real is the identity matrix. b) Find an example of a nice non-identity matrix

Let $n$ be a positive integer. Suppose that $A$ and $B$ are invertible $n \times n$ matrices with complex entries such that $A+B=I$ (where $I$ is the identity matrix) and \[(A^2+B^2)(A^4+B^4)=A^5+B^5.\] Find all possible values of $\det(AB)$ for the given $n$.

Let $n$ be an integer with $n \geq 2$ and let $A \in \mathcal{M}_n(\mathbb{C})$ such that $\operatorname{rank} A \neq \operatorname{rank} A^2.$ Prove that there exists a nonzero matrix $B \in \mathcal{M}_n(\mathbb{C})$ such that $$AB=BA=B^2=0$$ [i]Cornel Delasava[/i]

Let $S$ denote the set of $2$ by $2$ matrices with integer entries and determinant $1$, and let $T$ denote those matrices of $S$ which are congruent to the identity matrix $I\pmod3$ (so $\begin{pmatrix}a&b\\c&d\end{pmatrix}\in T$ means that $a,b,c,d\in\mathbb Z,ad-bc=1,$ and $3$ divides $b,c,a-1,d-1$). (a) Let $f:T\to\mathbb R$ be a function such that for every $X,Y\in T$ with $Y\ne I$, either $f(XY)>f(X)$ or $f(XY^{-1})>f(X)$. Show that given two finite nonempty subsets $A,B$ of $T$, there are matrices $a\in A$ and $b\in B$ such that if $a'\in A$, $b'\in B$ and $a'b'=ab$, then $a'=a$ and $b'=b$. (b) Show that there is no $f:S\to\mathbb R$ such that for every $X,Y\in S$ with $Y\ne\pm I$, either $f(XY)>f(X)$ or $f(XY^{-1})>f(X)$.

[b]Problem 1 [/b] Let $A$ and $B$ be two $3 \times 3$ matrices with real entries. Prove that $$ A-(A^{-1} +(B^{-1}-A)^{-1})^{-1} =ABA\ , $$ provided all the inverses appearing on the left-hand side of the equality exist.