A 3x3 magic square, with magic number $m$, is a $3\times 3$ matrix such that the entries on each row, each column and each diagonal sum to $m$. Show that if the square has positive integer entries, then $m$ is divisible by $3$, and each entry of the square is at most $2n-1$, where $m=3n$. An example of a magic square with $m=6$ is \[\left( \begin{array}{ccccc} 2 & 1 & 3\\ 3 & 2 & 1\\ 1 & 3 & 2 \end{array} \right)\]

Prove that the elements of any natural power of a $ 2\times 2 $ special linear integer matrix are pairwise coprime, with the possible exception of the pairs that form the diagonals. [i]Vasile Pop[/i]

$SU_2(\mathbb{C})=\left\{\begin{pmatrix} z & w \\ -\bar{w} & \bar{z} \end{pmatrix} : z,w\in\mathbb{C} , z\bar{z}+w\bar{w}=1\right\}$ A and B are 2 elements of the above matrix group and have eigenvalues $e^{i\theta_1}$ , $e^{-i\theta_1}$ and $e^{i\theta_2}$ , $e^{-i\theta_2}$respectively, where $0\leq\theta_i\leq\pi$ . Prove that if AB has eigenvalue $e^{i\theta_3}$ , then $\theta_3$ satisfies the inequality $|\theta_1-\theta_2|\leq\theta_3\leq \min\{\theta_1+\theta_2 , 2\pi-(\theta_1+\theta_2)\}$

Let be a natural number $ n $ and a $ n\times n $ nilpotent real matrix $ A. $ Prove that $ 0=\det\left( A+\text{adj} A \right) . $ [i]Neculai Moraru[/i]

Given A, non-inverted matrices of order n with real elements, $n\ge 2$ and given ${{A}^{*}}$adjoin matrix A. Prove that $tr({{A}^{*}})\ne -1$ if and only if the matrix ${{I}_{n}}+{{A}^{*}}$ is invertible.

Set $T$ consists of $66$ points in plane, and $P$ consists of $16$ lines in plane. Pair $(A,l)$ is [i]good[/i] if $A \in T$, $l \in P$ and $A \in l$. Prove that maximum number of good pairs is no greater than $159$, and prove that there exits configuration with exactly $159$ good pairs.

The rows and columns of a $2^n \times 2^n$ table are numbered from $0$ to $2^{n}-1.$ The cells of the table have been coloured with the following property being satisfied: for each $0 \leq i,j \leq 2^n - 1,$ the $j$-th cell in the $i$-th row and the $(i+j)$-th cell in the $j$-th row have the same colour. (The indices of the cells in a row are considered modulo $2^n$.) Prove that the maximal possible number of colours is $2^n$. [i]Proposed by Hossein Dabirian, Sepehr Ghazi-nezami, Iran[/i]

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 $i=1,2,3$.

Solve the following system of equations, in which $a$ is a given number satisfying $|a| > 1$: $\begin{matrix} x_{1}^2 = ax_2 + 1 \\ x_{2}^2 = ax_3 + 1 \\ \ldots \\ x_{999}^2 = ax_{1000} + 1 \\ x_{1000}^2 = ax_1 + 1 \\ \end{matrix}$

Decide whether the integers $1,2,\ldots,100$ can be arranged in the cells $C(i, j)$ of a $10\times10$ matrix (where $1\le i,j\le 10$), such that the following conditions are fullfiled: i) In every row, the entries add up to the same sum $S$. ii) In every column, the entries also add up to this sum $S$. iii) For every $k = 1, 2, \ldots, 10$ the ten entries $C(i, j)$ with $i-j\equiv k\bmod{10}$ add up to $S$. [i](Proposed by Gerhard Woeginger, Austria)[/i]

Let us consider a matrix $T$ with n rows denoted $1,\ldots,n$ and $p$ columns $1,\ldots,p$. Its entries $a_{ik}~(1\le i\le n,1\le k\le p)$ are integers such that $1\le a_{ik}\le N$, where $N$ is a given natural number. Let $E_i$ be the set of numbers that appear on the $i$-th row. Answer question (a) or (b). (a) Assume $T$ satisfies the following conditions: $(1)$ $E_i$ has exactly $p$ elements for each $i$, and $(2)$ all $E_i$'s are mutually distinct. Let $m$ be the smallest value of $N$ that permits a construction of such an $n\times p$ table $T$. i. Compute $m$ if $n=p+1$. ii. Compute $m$ if $n=10^{30}$ and $p=1998$. iii. Determine $\lim_{n\to\infty}\frac{m^p}n$, where $p$ is fixed. (b) Assume $T$ satisfies the following conditions instead: $(1)$ $p=n$, $(2)$ whenever $i,k$ are integers with $i+k\le n$, the number $a_{ik}$ is not in the set $E_{i+k}$. i. Prove that all $E_i$'s are mutually distinct. ii. Prove that if $n\ge2^q$ for some integer $q>0$, then $N\ge q+1$. iii. Let $n=2^r-1$ for some integer $r>0$. Prove that $N\ge r$ and show that there is such a table with $N=r$.

$p=3k+1$ is a prime number. For each $m \in \mathbb Z_p$, define function $L$ as follow: $L(m) = \sum_{x \in \mathbb{Z}_p}^{ } \left ( \frac{x(x^3 + m)}{p} \right )$ [i]a)[/i] For every $m \in \mathbb Z_p$ and $t \in {\mathbb Z_p}^{*}$ prove that $L(m) = L(mt^3)$. (5 points) [i]b)[/i] Prove that there is a partition of ${\mathbb Z_p}^{*} = A \cup B \cup C$ such that $|A| = |B| = |C| = \frac{p-1}{3}$ and $L$ on each set is constant. Equivalently there are $a,b,c$ for which $L(x) = \left\{\begin{matrix} a & & &x \in A \\ b& & &x \in B \\ c& & & x \in C \end{matrix}\right.$ . (7 points) [i]c)[/i] Prove that $a+b+c = -3$. (4 points) [i]d)[/i] Prove that $a^2 + b^2 + c^2 = 6p+3$. (12 points) [i]e)[/i] Let $X= \frac{2a+b+3}{3},Y= \frac{b-a}{3}$, show that $X,Y \in \mathbb Z$ and also show that :$p= X^2 + XY +Y^2$. (2 points) (${\mathbb Z_p}^{*} = \mathbb Z_p \setminus \{0\}$)

Let $A=[a_{ij}]_{n\times n}$ be a matrix with nonnegative entries such that $$\sum_{i=1}^n\sum_{j=1}^na_{ij}=n.$$ (a) Prove that $|\det A|\le1$. (b) If $|\det A|=1$ and $\lambda\in\mathbb C$ is an arbitrary eigenvalue of $A$, show that $|\lambda|=1$.

Let $f(x)=\frac{ax+b}{cx+d}$ $F_n(x)=f(f(f...f(x)...))$ (with $n\ f's$) Suppose that $f(0) \not =0$, $f(f(0)) \not = 0$, and for some $n$ we have $F_n(0)=0$, show that $F_n(x)=x$ (for any valid x).

Let be a natural number $ k, $ and a matrix $ M\in\mathcal{M}_k(\mathbb{R}) $ having the property that $$ \det\left( I-\frac{1}{n^2}\cdot A^2 \right) +1\ge\det \left( I -\frac{1}{n}\cdot A \right) +\det \left( I +\frac{1}{n}\cdot A \right) , $$ for all natural numbers $ n. $ Prove that the trace of $ A $ is $ 0. $ [i]Nelu Chichirim[/i]