In the universe of Pi Zone, points are labeled with $2 \times 2$ arrays of positive reals. One can teleport from point $M$ to point $M'$ if $M$ can be obtained from $M'$ by multiplying either a row or column by some positive real. For example, one can teleport from $\left( \begin{array}{cc} 1 & 2 \\ 3 & 4 \end{array} \right)$ to $\left( \begin{array}{cc} 1 & 20 \\ 3 & 40 \end{array} \right)$ and then to $\left( \begin{array}{cc} 1 & 20 \\ 6 & 80 \end{array} \right)$. A [i]tourist attraction[/i] is a point where each of the entries of the associated array is either $1$, $2$, $4$, $8$ or $16$. A company wishes to build a hotel on each of several points so that at least one hotel is accessible from every tourist attraction by teleporting, possibly multiple times. What is the minimum number of hotels necessary? [i]Proposed by Michael Kural[/i]

In rectangle $ ABCD$, points $ F$ and $ G$ lie on $ \overline{AB}$ so that $ AF \equal{} FG \equal{} GB$ and $ E$ is the midpoint of $ \overline{DC}$. Also, $ \overline{AC}$ intersects $ \overline{EF}$ at $ H$ and $ \overline{EG}$ at $ J$. The area of the rectangle $ ABCD$ is $ 70$. Find the area of triangle $ EHJ$. [asy] size(180); pair A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, J; A = origin; real length = 6; real width = 3.5; B = length*dir(0); C = (length, width); D = width*dir(90); F = length/3*dir(0); G = 2*length/3*dir(0); E = (length/2, width); H = extension(A, C, E, F); J = extension(A, C, E, G); draw(A--B--C--D--cycle); draw(G--E--F); draw(A--C); label("$A$", A, dir(180)); label("$D$", D, dir(180)); label("$B$", B, dir(0)); label("$C$", C, dir(0)); label("$F$", F, dir(270)); label("$E$", E, dir(90)); label("$G$", G, dir(270)); label("$H$", H, dir(140)); label("$J$", J, dir(340)); [/asy] $ \displaystyle \textbf{(A)} \ \frac {5}{2} \qquad \textbf{(B)} \ \frac {35}{12} \qquad \textbf{(C)} \ 3 \qquad \textbf{(D)} \ \frac {7}{2} \qquad \textbf{(E)} \ \frac {35}{8}$

Justify your answer whether $A=\left( \begin{array}{ccc} -4 & -1& -1 \\ 1 & -2& 1 \\ 0 & 0& -3 \end{array} \right)$ is similar to $B=\left( \begin{array}{ccc} -2 & 1& 0 \\ -1 & -4& 1 \\ 0 & 0& -3 \end{array} \right),\ A,\ B\in{M(\mathbb{C})}$ or not.

Find the determinant of this matrix: $\begin{bmatrix} 2 & 2 & 2 & 2 & 2 & 2 \\ 4 & 2 & 2 & 2 & 2 & 2 \\ 4 & 4 & 2 & 2 & 2 & 2 \\ 4 & 4 & 4 & 2 & 2 & 2 \\ 4 & 4 & 4 & 4 & 2 & 2 \\ 4 & 4 & 4& 4 & 4 & 2 \end{bmatrix} $

Show that the number of non-zero integers in the expansion of the $n$-th order determinant having zeroes in the main diagonal and ones elsewhere is $$n ! \left(1- \frac{1}{1!} + \frac{1}{2!} - \frac{1}{3!} + \cdots + \frac{(-1)^{n}}{n!} \right) .$$

Let $A=(a_{ij})$ and $B=(b_{ij})$ be two real $10\times10$ matrices such that $a_{ij}=b_{ij}+1$ for all $i,j$ and $A^3=0$. Prove that $\det B=0$.

Given real numbers $x_i,y_i (i=1,2,\ldots ,n)$, let $A$ be the $n\times n$ matrix given by $a_{ij}=1$ if $x_i\ge y_j$ and $a_{ij}=0$ otherwise. Suppose $B$ is a $n\times n$ matrix whose entries are $0$ and $1$ such that the sum of entries in any row or column of $B$ equals the sum of entries in the corresponding row or column of $A$. Prove that $B=A$.

Let n be a positive integer. Find all complex numbers $x_{1}$, $x_{2}$, ..., $x_{n}$ satisfying the following system of equations: $x_{1}+2x_{2}+...+nx_{n}=0$, $x_{1}^{2}+2x_{2}^{2}+...+nx_{n}^{2}=0$, ... $x_{1}^{n}+2x_{2}^{n}+...+nx_{n}^{n}=0$.

Determine all pairs $(a, b)$ of real numbers for which there exists a unique symmetric $2\times 2$ matrix $M$ with real entries satisfying $\mathrm{trace}(M)=a$ and $\mathrm{det}(M)=b$. (Proposed by Stephan Wagner, Stellenbosch University)

Prove that there exists an infinite set of points \[ \dots, \; P_{-3}, \; P_{-2},\; P_{-1},\; P_0,\; P_1,\; P_2,\; P_3,\; \dots \] in the plane with the following property: For any three distinct integers $a,b,$ and $c$, points $P_a$, $P_b$, and $P_c$ are collinear if and only if $a+b+c=2014$.

Let be a real $ 4\times 4 $ real matrix with $ \text{det} \left( A^2-I\right) <0. $ Prove that there is a number $ \alpha\in (-1,1) $ so that $ A+\alpha I $ is singular. [i]Mihai Haivas[/i]

Find the number of ordered triplets $(a,b,c)$ of positive integers such that $abc=2008$ (the product of $a$, $b$, and $c$ is $2008$).

$A$ and $B$ are $2\times 2$ real valued matrices satisfying $$\det A = \det B = 1,\quad \text{tr}(A)>2,\quad \text{tr}(B)>2,\quad \text{tr}(ABA^{-1}B^{-1}) = 2$$ Prove that $A$ and $B$ have a common eigenvector.

Consider an $N\times N$ matrix, where $N$ is an odd positive integer, such that all its entries are $-1,0$ or $1$. Consider the sum of the numbers in every line and every column. Prove that at least two of the $2N$ sums are equal.

[list=a] [*]Let $A$ be a matrix from $\mathcal{M}_{2}(\mathbb{C})$, $A\neq aI_{2}$, for any $a\in\mathbb{C}$. Prove that the matrix $X$ from $\mathcal{M} _{2}(\mathbb{C})$ commutes with $A$, that is, $AX=XA$, if and only if there exist two complex numbers $\alpha$ and $\alpha^{\prime}$, such that $X=\alpha A+\alpha^{\prime}I_{2}$. [*]Let $A$, $B$ and $C$ be matrices from $\mathcal{M}_{2}(\mathbb{C})$, such that $AB\neq BA$, $AC=CA$ and $BC=CB$. Prove that $C$ commutes with all matrices from $\mathcal{M}_{2}(\mathbb{C})$.[/list]