Let $x_{1}$ be a positive real number and for every integer $n \geq 1$ let $x_{n+1} = 1 + x_{1}x_{2}\ldots x_{n-1}x_{n}$. If $x_{5} = 43$, what is the sum of digits of the largest prime factors of $x_{6}$?

Consider the sequence $a_1, a_2, \dots$ of positive integers such that $a_1=2$ and $a_{n+1}=a_n^4+a_n^3-3a_n^2-a_n+2$, for all $n\geqslant 1$. Prove that there exist infinitely many prime numbers that don't divide any term of the sequence. [i]Proposed by Pavel Ciurea[/i]

An ant is at vertex of a cube. Every $10$ minutes it moves to an adjacent vertex along an edge. If $N$ is the number of one hour journeys that end at the starting vertex, find the sum of the squares of the digits of $N$.

A mail carrier delivers mail to the nineteen houses on the east side of Elm Street. The carrier notices that no two adjacent houses ever get mail on the same day, but that there are never more than two houses in a row that get no mail on the same day. How many different patterns of mail delivery are possible?

Let $n$ be a nonnegative integer. Determine the number of ways that one can choose $(n+1)^2$ sets $S_{i,j}\subseteq\{1,2,\ldots,2n\}$, for integers $i,j$ with $0\leq i,j\leq n$, such that: [list] [*] for all $0\leq i,j\leq n$, the set $S_{i,j}$ has $i+j$ elements; and [*] $S_{i,j}\subseteq S_{k,l}$ whenever $0\leq i\leq k\leq n$ and $0\leq j\leq l\leq n$. [/list] [i]Proposed by Ricky Liu[/i]

Let $n \geq 3$ be a positive integer. A [i]chipped $n$-board[/i] is a $2 \times n$ checkerboard with the bottom left square removed. Lino wants to tile a chipped $n$-board and is allowed to use the following types of tiles: [list] [*] Type 1: any $1 \times k$ board where $1 \leq k \leq n$ [*] Type 2: any chipped $k$-board where $1 \leq k \leq n$ that must cover the left-most tile of the $2 \times n$ checkerboard. [/list] Two tilings $T_1$ and $T_2$ are considered the same if there is a set of consecutive Type 1 tiles in both rows of $T_1$ that can be vertically swapped to obtain the tiling $T_2$. For example, the following three tilings of a chipped $7$-board are the same: [img]http://i.imgur.com/8QaSgc0.png[/img] For any positive integer $n$ and any positive integer $1 \leq m \leq 2n - 1$, let $c_{m,n}$ be the number of distinct tilings of a chipped $n$-board using exactly $m$ tiles (any combination of tile types may be used), and define the polynomial $$P_n(x) = \sum^{2n-1}_{m=1} c_{m,n}x^m.$$ Find, with justification, polynomials $f(x)$ and $g(x)$ such that $$P_n(x) = f(x)P_{n-1}(x) + g(x)P_{n-2}(x)$$ for all $n \geq 3$.

If $x_0=x_1=1$, and for $n\geq1$ $x_{n+1}=\frac{x_n^2}{x_{n-1}+2x_n}$, find a formula for $x_n$ as a function of $n$.

Let $ a, b \in \mathbb{N}$ with $ 1 \leq a \leq b,$ and $ M \equal{} \left[\frac {a \plus{} b}{2} \right].$ Define a function $ f: \mathbb{Z} \mapsto \mathbb{Z}$ by \[ f(n) \equal{} \begin{cases} n \plus{} a, & \text{if } n \leq M, \\ n \minus{} b, & \text{if } n >M. \end{cases} \] Let $ f^1(n) \equal{} f(n),$ $ f_{i \plus{} 1}(n) \equal{} f(f^i(n)),$ $ i \equal{} 1, 2, \ldots$ Find the smallest natural number $ k$ such that $ f^k(0) \equal{} 0.$

Denote by $l(n)$ the largest prime divisor of $n$. Let $a_{n+1} = a_n + l(a_n)$ be a recursively defined sequence of integers with $a_1 = 2$. Determine all natural numbers $m$ such that there exists some $i \in \mathbb{N}$ with $a_i = m^2$. [i]Proposed by Nikola Velov, North Macedonia[/i]

For a given positive integer $n$, you may perform a series of steps. At each step, you may apply an operation: you may increase your number by one, or if your number is divisible by 2, you may divide your number by 2. Let $\ell(n)$ be the minimum number of operations needed to transform the number $n$ to 1 (for example, $\ell(1) = 0$ and $\ell(7) = 4$). How many positive integers $n$ are there such that $\ell(n) \leq 12$?

Prove that the number $\left\lfloor\left(5+\sqrt{35}\right)^{2n-1}\right\rfloor$ is divisible by $10^n$ for each $n\in\mathbb N$.

Let $n$ be a positive integer. Find the number of permutations $a_1$, $a_2$, $\dots a_n$ of the sequence $1$, $2$, $\dots$ , $n$ satisfying $$a_1 \le 2a_2\le 3a_3 \le \dots \le na_n$$. Proposed by United Kingdom

Denote by $l(n)$ the largest prime divisor of $n$. Let $a_{n+1} = a_n + l(a_n)$ be a recursively defined sequence of integers with $a_1 = 2$. Determine all natural numbers $m$ such that there exists some $i \in \mathbb{N}$ with $a_i = m^2$. [i]Proposed by Nikola Velov, North Macedonia[/i]

Define a sequence recursively by $F_0 = 0$, $F_1 = 1$, and $F_n = $ the remainder when $F_{n-1} + F_{n-2}$ is divided by $3$, for all $n \ge 2$. Thus the sequence starts $0,1,1,2,0,2 \ldots$. What is $F_{2017} + F_{2018} + F_{2019} + F_{2020} + F_{2021} + F_{2022} + F_{2023} + F_{2024}$? $\textbf{(A)}\ 6\qquad\textbf{(B)}\ 7\qquad\textbf{(C)}\ 8\qquad\textbf{(D)}\ 9\qquad\textbf{(E)}\ 10$

An $\textrm{alien}$ script has $n$ letters $b_1,b_2,\dots,b_n$. For some $k<n/2$ assume that all words formed by any of the $k$ letters (written left to right) are meaningful. These words are called $k$-words. Such a $k$-word is considered $\textbf{sacred}$ if: i. no letter appears twice and, ii. if a letter $b_i$ appears in the word then the letters $b_{i-1}$ and $b_{i+1}$ do not appear. (Here $b_{n+1} = b_1$ and $b_0 = b_n$). For example, if $n = 7$ and $k = 3$ then $b_1b_3b_6, b_3b_1b_6, b_2b_4b_6$ are sacred $3$-words. On the other hand $b_1b_7b_4, b_2b_2b_6$ are not sacred. What is the total number of sacred $k$-words? Use your formula to find the answer for $n = 10$ and $k = 4$.

Let $n$ be a positive integer. Find the number of permutations $a_1$, $a_2$, $\dots a_n$ of the sequence $1$, $2$, $\dots$ , $n$ satisfying $$a_1 \le 2a_2\le 3a_3 \le \dots \le na_n$$. Proposed by United Kingdom

Determine all functions $f$ from the reals to the reals for which (1) $f(x)$ is strictly increasing and (2) $f(x) + g(x) = 2x$ for all real $x$, where $g(x)$ is the composition inverse function to $f(x)$. (Note: $f$ and $g$ are said to be composition inverses if $f(g(x)) = x$ and $g(f(x)) = x$ for all real $x$.)

The integer sequence $(s_i)$ "having pattern 2016'" is defined as follows: $\circ$ The first member $s_1$ is 2. $\circ$ The second member $s_2$ is the least positive integer exceeding $s_1$ and having digit 0 in its decimal notation. $\circ$ The third member $s_3$ is the least positive integer exceeding $s_2$ and having digit 1 in its decimal notation. $\circ$ The third member $s_3$ is the least positive integer exceeding $s_2$ and having digit 6 in its decimal notation. The following members are defined in the same way. The required digits change periodically: $2 \rightarrow 0 \rightarrow 1 \rightarrow 6 \rightarrow 2 \rightarrow 0 \rightarrow \ldots$. The first members of this sequence are the following: $2; 10; 11; 16; 20; 30; 31; 36; 42; 50$.\\ Does this sequence contain a) 2001, b) 2006?

Let $n$ be a positive integer. Given a sequence $\varepsilon_1$, $\dots$, $\varepsilon_{n - 1}$ with $\varepsilon_i = 0$ or $\varepsilon_i = 1$ for each $i = 1$, $\dots$, $n - 1$, the sequences $a_0$, $\dots$, $a_n$ and $b_0$, $\dots$, $b_n$ are constructed by the following rules: \[a_0 = b_0 = 1, \quad a_1 = b_1 = 7,\] \[\begin{array}{lll} a_{i+1} = \begin{cases} 2a_{i-1} + 3a_i, \\ 3a_{i-1} + a_i, \end{cases} & \begin{array}{l} \text{if } \varepsilon_i = 0, \\ \text{if } \varepsilon_i = 1, \end{array} & \text{for each } i = 1, \dots, n - 1, \\[15pt] b_{i+1}= \begin{cases} 2b_{i-1} + 3b_i, \\ 3b_{i-1} + b_i, \end{cases} & \begin{array}{l} \text{if } \varepsilon_{n-i} = 0, \\ \text{if } \varepsilon_{n-i} = 1, \end{array} & \text{for each } i = 1, \dots, n - 1. \end{array}\] Prove that $a_n = b_n$. [i]Proposed by Ilya Bogdanov, Russia[/i]

The integer sequence $(s_i)$ "having pattern 2016'" is defined as follows:\\ $\circ$ The first member $s_1$ is 2.\\ $\circ$ The second member $s_2$ is the least positive integer exceeding $s_1$ and having digit 0 in its decimal notation.\\ $\circ$ The third member $s_3$ is the least positive integer exceeding $s_2$ and having digit 1 in its decimal notation.\\ $\circ$ The third member $s_3$ is the least positive integer exceeding $s_2$ and having digit 6 in its decimal notation.\\ The following members are defined in the same way. The required digits change periodically: $2 \rightarrow 0 \rightarrow 1 \rightarrow 6 \rightarrow 2 \rightarrow 0 \rightarrow \ldots$. The first members of this sequence are the following: $2; 10; 11; 16; 20; 30; 31; 36; 42; 50$. What are the 4 numbers that immediately follow $s_k = 2016$ in this sequence?

The function $f(x)=x^2+ \sin x$ and the sequence of positive numbers $\{ a_n \}$ satisfy $a_1=1$, $f(a_n)=a_{n-1}$, where $n \geq 2$. Prove that there exists a positive integer $n$ such that $a_1+a_2+ \dots + a_n > 2020$.

A sequence of numbers is defined recursively by $a_1 = 1$, $a_2 = \frac{3}{7}$, and $$a_n=\frac{a_{n-2} \cdot a_{n-1}}{2a_{n-2} - a_{n-1}}$$for all $n \geq 3$ Then $a_{2019}$ can be written as $\frac{p}{q}$, where $p$ and $q$ are relatively prime positive inegers. What is $p+q ?$ $\textbf{(A) } 2020 \qquad\textbf{(B) } 4039 \qquad\textbf{(C) } 6057 \qquad\textbf{(D) } 6061 \qquad\textbf{(E) } 8078$

Let $n$ be a positive integer. Find the number of permutations $a_1$, $a_2$, $\dots a_n$ of the sequence $1$, $2$, $\dots$ , $n$ satisfying $$a_1 \le 2a_2\le 3a_3 \le \dots \le na_n$$. Proposed by United Kingdom

Let $n$ be a positive integer. Find the number of permutations $a_1$, $a_2$, $\dots a_n$ of the sequence $1$, $2$, $\dots$ , $n$ satisfying $$a_1 \le 2a_2\le 3a_3 \le \dots \le na_n$$. Proposed by United Kingdom

The first term of a sequence is 2005. Each succeeding term is the sum of the cubes of the digits of the previous terms. What is the 2005th term of the sequence? $ \textbf{(A)}\ 29\qquad \textbf{(B)}\ 55\qquad \textbf{(C)}\ 85\qquad \textbf{(D)}\ 133\qquad \textbf{(E)}\ 250$