For every non-negative integer $i$, define the number $M(i)$ as follows: write $i$ down as a binary number, so that we have a string of zeroes and ones, if the number of ones in this string is even, then set $M(i) = 0$, otherwise set $M(i) = 1$. (The first terms of the sequence $M(i)$, $i = 0, 1, 2, ...$ are $0, 1, 1, 0, 1, 0, 0, 1,...$ ) (a) Consider the finite sequence $M(O), M(1), . . . , M(1000) $. Prove that there are at least $320$ terms in this sequence which are equal to their neighbour on the right : $M(i) = M(i + 1 )$ . (b) Consider the finite sequence $M(O), M(1), . . . , M(1000000)$ . Prove that the number of terms $M(i)$ such that $M(i) = M(i +7)$ is at least $450000$. (A Kanel)

In the first $1999$ cells of the computer are written numbers in the specified order:: $1$, $2$, $4$,$... $, $2^{1998}$. Two programmers take turns reducing in one move per unit number in five different cells. If a negative number appears in one of the cells, then the computer breaks down and the broken repairs are paid for. Which programmer can protect himself from financial losses, regardless of his partner’s moves, and how should he do this act?

Find the highest power of 2 that is a factor of the number $$ L_n = (n+1)(n+2)... 2n,$$ where $n$is a natural number.

Let $ b, m, n$ be positive integers such that $ b > 1$ and $ m \neq n.$ Prove that if $ b^m \minus{} 1$ and $ b^n \minus{} 1$ have the same prime divisors, then $ b \plus{} 1$ is a power of 2.

Prove that the sequence $5, 12, 19, 26, 33,\cdots $ contains no term of the form $2^n -1.$

Determine all pairs $(a,b)$ of positive integers such that $(a+b)^3-2a^3-2b^3$ is a power of two.

Prove that the integer $1^1 + 3^3 + 5^5 + .. + (2^n - 1)^{2^n-1}$ is a multiple of $2^n$ but not a multiple of $2^{n+1}$.

Find all numbers that can be expressed in exactly $2010$ different ways as the sum of powers of two with non-negative exponents, each power appearing as a summand at most three times. A sum can also be made from just one summand.

Determine all pairs $(a,b)$ of positive integers such that $(a+b)^3-2a^3-2b^3$ is a power of two.

Let $n$ be a natural number. We define sequences $\langle a_i\rangle$ and $\langle b_i\rangle$ of integers as follows. We let $a_0=1$ and $b_0=n$. For $i>0$, we let $$\left( a_i,b_i\right)=\begin{cases} \left(2a_{i-1}+1,b_{i-1}-a_{i-1}-1\right) & \text{if } a_{i-1}<b_{i-1},\\ \left( a_{i-1}-b_{i-1}-1,2b_{i-1}+1\right) & \text{if } a_{i-1}>b_{i-1},\\ \left(a_{i-1},b_{i-1}\right) & \text{if } a_{i-1}=b_{i-1}.\end{cases}$$ Given that $a_k=b_k$ for some natural number $k$, prove that $n+3$ is a power of two.

Find all pairs of natural numbers $a,b$ , with $a\ne b$ , such that $a+b$ and $ab+1$ are powers of $2$.

Let $a,b,c,d$ be odd integers such that $0<a<b<c<d$ and $ad=bc$. Prove that if $a+d=2^k$ and $b+c=2^m$ for some integers $k$ and $m$, then $a=1$.

Let $ b, m, n$ be positive integers such that $ b > 1$ and $ m \neq n.$ Prove that if $ b^m \minus{} 1$ and $ b^n \minus{} 1$ have the same prime divisors, then $ b \plus{} 1$ is a power of 2.

Let $k$ and $d$ be integers such that $k>1$ and $0\leq d<9$. Prove that there exists some integer $n$ such that the $k$th digit from the right of $2^n$ is $d$. [i](tatari/nightmare)[/i]

A sequence $(u_{n})$ is defined by \[ u_{0}=2 \quad u_{1}=\frac{5}{2}, u_{n+1}=u_{n}(u_{n-1}^{2}-2)-u_{1} \quad \textnormal{for } n=1,\ldots \] Prove that for any positive integer $n$ we have \[ [u_{n}]=2^{\frac{(2^{n}-(-1)^{n})}{3}} \](where $[x]$ denotes the smallest integer $\leq x)$

Consider the sequence $x_n = 2^n-n$, $n = 0,1 ,2 ,...$. Find all integers $m \ge 0$ such that $s_m = x_0 + x_1 + x_2 + ... + x_m$ is a power of $2$.

$n$ is a positive integer, $F_n=2^{2^{n}}+1$. Prove that for $n \geq 3$, there exists a prime factor of $F_n$ which is larger than $2^{n+2}(n+1)$.

A number is called polite if it can be written as $ m + (m+1)+...+ n$, for certain positive integers $ m <n$ . For example: $18$ is polite, since $18 =5 + 6 + 7$. A number is called a power of two if it can be written as $2^{\ell}$ for some integer $\ell \ge 0$. (a) Show that no number is both polite and a power of two. (b) Show that every positive integer is polite or a power of two.

Let $m$ and $n$ be positive integers. Prove that if $m^{4^n+1} - 1$ is a prime number, then there exists an integer $t \ge 0$ such that $n = 2^t$.

Find all integers of the form $2^n$ (where $n$ is a natural number) such that after deleting the first digit of its decimal representation we again get a power of $2$.

a) A positive integer is called [i]nice [/i] if it can be represented as an arithmetic mean of some (not necessarily distinct) positive integers each being a nonnegative power of $2$. Prove that all positive integers are nice. b) A positive integer is called [i]ugly [/i] if it can not be represented as an arithmetic mean of some pairwise distinct positive integers each being a nonnegative power of $2$. Prove that there exist infinitely many ugly positive integers. (A. Romanenko, D. Zmeikov)

Let \(n\) be a non-negative integer and define \(a_n = 2^n - n\). Determine all non-negative integers \(m\) such that \(s_m = a_0 + a_1 + \dots + a_m\) is a power of 2.

Let $ b, m, n$ be positive integers such that $ b > 1$ and $ m \neq n.$ Prove that if $ b^m \minus{} 1$ and $ b^n \minus{} 1$ have the same prime divisors, then $ b \plus{} 1$ is a power of 2.

A number is called polite if it can be written as $ m + (m+1)+...+ n$, for certain positive integers $ m <n$ . For example: $18$ is polite, since $18 =5 + 6 + 7$. A number is called a power of two if it can be written as $2^{\ell}$ for some integer $\ell \ge 0$. (a) Show that no number is both polite and a power of two. (b) Show that every positive integer is polite or a power of two.

15 boxes are given. They all are initially empty. By one move it is allowed to choose some boxes and to put in them numbers of apricots which are pairwise distinct powers of 2. Find the least positive integer $k$ such that it is possible to have equal numbers of apricots in all the boxes after $k$ moves.