(a) A polynomial $P(x)$ with integer coefficients takes the value $-2$ for at least seven distinct integers $x$. Prove that it cannot take the value $1996$. (b) Prove that there are irrational numbers $x,y$ such that $x^y$ is rational.

For an even positive integer $n$ Kevin has a tape of length $4n$ with marks at $-2n,-2n+1,\ldots,2n-1,2n$. He then randomly picks $n$ points in the set $-n,-n+1,-n+2,\ldots,n-1,n$ and places a stone on each of these points. We call a stone 'stuck' if it is on $2n$ or $-2n$, or either all the points to the right, or all the points to the left, all contain stones. Then, every minute, Kevin shifts the unstruck stones in the following manner: [list] [*]He picks an unstuck stone uniformly at random and then flips a fair coin. [*]If the coin came up heads, he then moves that stone and every stone in the largest contiguous set containing that stone one point to the left. If the coin came up tails, he moves every stone in that set one point right instead. [*]He repeats until all the stones are stuck.[/list] Let $p_n$ be the probability that at the end of the process there are exactly $k$ stones in the right half. Evaluate \[\dfrac{p_{n-1}-p_{n-2}+p_{n-3}+\ldots+p_3-p_2+p_1}{p_{n-1}+p_{n-2}+p_{n-3}+\ldots+p_3+p_2+p_1}\] in terms of $n$.

Prove that there are infinitely many positive integers $ n$ such that $ n(n\plus{}1)$ can be represented as a sum of two positive squares in at least two different ways. (Here $ a^{2}\plus{}b^{2}$ and $ b^{2}\plus{}a^{2}$ are considered as the same representation.)

How many even integers between 4000 and 7000 have four different digits?

Consider a tree with $n$ vertices, labeled with $1,\ldots,n$ in a way that no label is used twice. We change the labeling in the following way - each time we pick an edge that hasn't been picked before and swap the labels of its endpoints. After performing this action $n-1$ times, we get another tree with its labeling a permutation of the first graph's labeling. Prove that this permutation contains exactly one cycle.

In convex pentagon $ABCDE$ points $A_1$, $B_1$, $C_1$, $D_1$, $E_1$ are intersections of pairs of diagonals $(BD, CE)$, $(CE, DA)$, $(DA, EB)$, $(EB, AC)$ and $(AC, BD)$ respectively. Prove that if four of quadrilaterals $AB_{1}A_{1}B$, $BC_{1}B_{1}C$, $CD_{1}C_{1}D$, $DE_{1}D_{1}E$ and $EA_{1}E_{1}A$ are cyclic then the fifth one is also cyclic.

Toner Drum and Celery Hilton are both running for president. A total of $129$ million people cast their vote in a random order, with exactly $63$ million and $66$ million voting for Toner Drum and Celery Hilton, respectively. The Combinatorial News Network displays the face of the leading candidate on the front page of their website. If the two candidates are tied, both faces are displayed. What is the probability that Toner Drum's face is never displayed on the front page? [i]2017 CCA Math Bonanza Individual Round #13[/i]

A chessboard with some unit squares marked is called a $\textit{good board}$ if for any pair of rows \((s, t)\), a rook placed on a marked square in row \(s\) can reach a marked square in row \(t\) in several moves by only moving to marked squares above, below, or to the right of its current position. Consider a chessboard with 220 rows and 12 columns, where exactly 9 unit squares in each row are marked. Regardless of how the marked squares are chosen, if it is possible to delete \(k\) columns and rearrange the remaining columns to form a $\textit{good board}$ determine the maximum possible value of \(k\).

Positive integers $a$, $b$, and $c$ satisfy $a^2 +b^2 = c^3 -1$ where $c \le 40$. Find the sum of all distinct possible values of $c$.

Prove that the number of incidences of $n$ distinct points on $n$ distinct lines in plane is $\mathcal O (n^{\frac{4}{3}})$. Find a configuration for which $\Omega (n^{\frac{4}{3}})$ incidences happens.

Let $ABC$ be a triangle inscribed in circle $C(O,R)$. Let $M$ ba apoint on the arc $BC$ . Let $D,E,Z$ be the feet of the perpendiculars drawn from $M$ on lines $AB,AC,BC$ respectively. Prove that $\frac{(BC)^2}{(MZ)^2} \ge 8\frac{R U_a}{(MD)\cdot(ME)}$ where $U_a$ is the altitude drawn on $BC$.

Given an integer $a_1$($a_1 \neq -1$), find a real number sequence $\{ a_n \}$($a_i \neq 0, i=1,2,\cdots,5$) such that $x_1,x_2,\cdots,x_5$ and $y_1,y_2,\cdots,y_5$ satisfy $b_{i1}x_1+b_{i2}x_2+\cdots +b_{i5}x_5=2y_i$, $i=1,2,3,4,5$, then $x_1y_1+x_2y_2+\cdots+x_5y_5=0$, where $b_{ij}=\prod_{1 \leq k \leq i} (1+ja_k)$.

A circle centred at $I$ is tangent to the sides $BC, CA$, and $AB$ of an acute-angled triangle $ABC$ at $A_1, B_1$, and $C_1$, respectively. Let $K$ and $L$ be the incenters of the quadrilaterals $AB_1IC_1$ and $BA_1IC_1$, respectively. Let $CH$ be an altitude of triangle $ABC$. Let the internal angle bisectors of angles $AHC$ and $BHC$ meet the lines $A_1C_1$ and $B_1C_1$ at $P$ and $Q$, respectively. Prove that $Q$ is the orthocenter of the triangle $KLP$. Kolmogorov Cup 2018, Major League, Day 3, Problem 1; A. Zaslavsky

Let $ABC$ be a triangle with $AB=7$, $BC=9$, and $CA=4$. Let $D$ be the point such that $AB\parallel CD$ and $CA\parallel BD$. Let $R$ be a point within triangle $BCD$. Lines $\ell$ and $m$ going through $R$ are parallel to $CA$ and $AB$ respectively. Line $\ell$ meets $AB$ and $BC$ at $P$ and $P^\prime$ respectively, and $m$ meets $CA$ and $BC$ at $Q$ and $Q^\prime$ respectively. If $S$ denotes the largest possible sum of the areas of triangle $BPP^\prime$, $RP^\prime Q^\prime$, and $CQQ^\prime$, determine the value of $S^2$.

Simplify $\sin (x-y) \cos y + \cos (x-y) \sin y$. $ \textbf{(A)}\ 1\qquad\textbf{(B)}\ \sin x\qquad\textbf{(C)}\ \cos x\qquad\textbf{(D)}\ \sin x \cos 2y\qquad\textbf{(E)}\ \cos x \cos 2y $

Let $S = \{1,2,3,\dots,2014\}$. What is the largest subset of $S$ that contains no two elements with a difference of $4$ or $7$?

Find all polynomials \(P(x)\) with real coefficients such that for all nonzero real numbers \(x\), \[P(x)+P\left(\frac1x\right) =\frac{P\left(x+\frac1x\right) +P\left(x-\frac1x\right)}2.\] [i]Proposed by Holden Mui[/i]

Estimate the value of the $2020$th prime number $p$ such that $p + 2$ is also prime. If $E > 0$ is your estimate and $A$ is the correct answer, you will receive $25 \min \left( \frac{E}{A}, \frac{A}{E}\right)^2$ points, rounded to the nearest integer. (An estimate less than or equal to $0$ will receive $0$ points.

Consider the following graphs of position [i]vs.[/i] time. [asy] size(500); picture pic; // Rectangle draw(pic,(0,0)--(20,0)--(20,15)--(0,15)--cycle); label(pic,"0",(0,0),S); label(pic,"2",(4,0),S); label(pic,"4",(8,0),S); label(pic,"6",(12,0),S); label(pic,"8",(16,0),S); label(pic,"10",(20,0),S); label(pic,"-15",(0,2),W); label(pic,"-10",(0,4),W); label(pic,"-5",(0,6),W); label(pic,"0",(0,8),W); label(pic,"5",(0,10),W); label(pic,"10",(0,12),W); label(pic,"15",(0,14),W); label(pic,rotate(90)*"x (m)",(-2,7),W); label(pic,"t (s)",(11,-2),S); // Tick Marks draw(pic,(4,0)--(4,0.3)); draw(pic,(8,0)--(8,0.3)); draw(pic,(12,0)--(12,0.3)); draw(pic,(16,0)--(16,0.3)); draw(pic,(20,0)--(20,0.3)); draw(pic,(4,15)--(4,14.7)); draw(pic,(8,15)--(8,14.7)); draw(pic,(12,15)--(12,14.7)); draw(pic,(16,15)--(16,14.7)); draw(pic,(20,15)--(20,14.7)); draw(pic,(0,2)--(0.3,2)); draw(pic,(0,4)--(0.3,4)); draw(pic,(0,6)--(0.3,6)); draw(pic,(0,8)--(0.3,8)); draw(pic,(0,10)--(0.3,10)); draw(pic,(0,12)--(0.3,12)); draw(pic,(0,14)--(0.3,14)); draw(pic,(20,2)--(19.7,2)); draw(pic,(20,4)--(19.7,4)); draw(pic,(20,6)--(19.7,6)); draw(pic,(20,8)--(19.7,8)); draw(pic,(20,10)--(19.7,10)); draw(pic,(20,12)--(19.7,12)); draw(pic,(20,14)--(19.7,14)); // Path add(pic); path A=(0,14)--(20,14); draw(A); label("I.",(8,-4),3*S); path B=(0,6)--(20,6); picture pic2=shift(30*right)*pic; draw(shift(30*right)*B); label("II.",(38,-4),3*S); add(pic2); path C=(0,12)--(20,14); picture pic3=shift(60*right)*pic; draw(shift(60*right)*C); label("III.",(68,-4),3*S); add(pic3); [/asy] Which of the graphs could be the motion of a particle in the given potential? (A) $\text{I}$ (B) $\text{III}$ (C) $\text{I and II}$ (D) $\text{I and III}$ (E) $\text{I, II, and III}$

The natural numbers $X$ and $Y$ are obtained from each other by permuting the digits. Prove that the sums of the digits of the numbers $5X$ and $5Y$ coincide.

A value of $ x$ satisfying the equation $ x^2 \plus{} b^2 \equal{} (a \minus{} x)^2$ is: $ \textbf{(A)}\ \frac{b^2 \plus{} a^2}{2a}\qquad \textbf{(B)}\ \frac{b^2 \minus{} a^2}{2a}\qquad \textbf{(C)}\ \frac{a^2 \minus{} b^2}{2a}\qquad \textbf{(D)}\ \frac{a \minus{} b}{2}\qquad \textbf{(E)}\ \frac{a^2 \minus{} b^2}{2}$

There are $110$ guinea pigs for each of the $110$ species, arranging as a $110\times 110$ array. Find the maximum integer $n$ such that, no matter how the guinea pigs align, we can always find a column or a row of $110$ guinea pigs containing at least $n$ different species.

Find all functions $f :\mathbb{N} \rightarrow \mathbb{N}$ such that $f(m + f(n)f(m)) = nf(m) + m$ holds for all $m,n \in \mathbb{N}$.

Let $I$ be the center of the circle of the inscribed triangle $ABC$ and $M$ be the center of its side $BC$. If $|AI| = |MI|$, prove that there are two of the sides of triangle $ABC$, of which one is twice of the other.

Three lines were drawn through the point $X$ in space. These lines crossed some sphere at six points. It turned out that the distances from point $X$ to some five of them are equal to $2$ cm, $3$ cm, $4$ cm, $5$ cm, $6$ cm. What can be the distance from point $X$ to the sixth point? (Alexey Panasenko)