Let $n \ge 2018$ be an integer, and let $a_1, a_2, \dots, a_n, b_1, b_2, \dots, b_n$ be pairwise distinct positive integers not exceeding $5n$. Suppose that the sequence \[ \frac{a_1}{b_1}, \frac{a_2}{b_2}, \dots, \frac{a_n}{b_n} \] forms an arithmetic progression. Prove that the terms of the sequence are equal.

The sequence $a_n$ is defined by $a_0=a_1=1$ and $a_{n+1}=14a_n-a_{n-1}-4$,for all positive integers $n$. Prove that all terms of this sequence are perfect squares.

Find all positive integers $n \geqslant 2$ for which there exist $n$ real numbers $a_1<\cdots<a_n$ and a real number $r>0$ such that the $\tfrac{1}{2}n(n-1)$ differences $a_j-a_i$ for $1 \leqslant i<j \leqslant n$ are equal, in some order, to the numbers $r^1,r^2,\ldots,r^{\frac{1}{2}n(n-1)}$.

Find the greatest natural number $n$ such there exist natural numbers $x_{1}, x_{2}, \ldots, x_{n}$ and natural $a_{1}< a_{2}< \ldots < a_{n-1}$ satisfying the following equations for $i =1,2,\ldots,n-1$: \[x_{1}x_{2}\ldots x_{n}= 1980 \quad \text{and}\quad x_{i}+\frac{1980}{x_{i}}= a_{i}.\]

Given a positive integer $n$, let $d(n)$ be the largest positive divisor of $n$ less than $n$. For example, $d(8) = 4$ and $d(13) = 1$. A sequence of positive integers $a_1, a_2,\dots$ satisfies \[a_{i+1} = a_i +d(a_i),\] for all positive integers $i$. Prove that regardless of the choice of $a_1$, there are infinitely many terms in the sequence divisible by $3^{2011}$.

Let $\{x_n\}_{n=1}^\infty$ be a sequence such that $x_1=25$, $x_n=\operatorname{arctan}(x_{n-1})$. Prove that this sequence has a limit and find it.

Define the sequence $a_0,a_1,\dots$ inductively by $a_0=1$, $a_1=\frac{1}{2}$, and \[a_{n+1}=\dfrac{n a_n^2}{1+(n+1)a_n}, \quad \forall n \ge 1.\] Show that the series $\displaystyle \sum_{k=0}^\infty \dfrac{a_{k+1}}{a_k}$ converges and determine its value. [i]Proposed by Christophe Debry, KU Leuven, Belgium.[/i]

Done working on his sand castle design, Joshua sits down and starts rolling a $12$-sided die he found when cleaning the storage shed. He rolls and rolls and rolls, and after $17$ rolls he finally rolls a $1$. Just $3$ rolls later he rolls the first $2\textit{ after}$ that first roll of $1$. $11$ rolls later, Joshua rolls the first $3\textit{ after}$ the first $2$ that he rolled $\textit{after}$ the first $1$ that he rolled. His first $31$ rolls make the sequence \[4,3,11,3,11,8,5,2,12,9,5,7,11,3,6,10,\textbf{1},8,3,\textbf{2},10,4,2,8,1,9,7,12,11,4,\textbf{3}.\] Joshua wonders how many times he should expect to roll the $12$-sided die so that he can remove all but $12$ of the numbers from the entire sequence of rolls and (without changing the order of the sequence), be left with the sequence \[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12.\] What is the expected value of the number of times Joshua must roll the die before he has such a sequence? (Assume Joshua starts from the beginning - do $\textit{not}$ assume he starts by rolling the specific sequence of $31$ rolls above.)

Define sequence $(a_n):a_1=\text{e},a_2=\text{e}^3,\text{e}^{1-k}a_n^{k+2}=a_{n+1}a_{n-1}^{2k}$ for all $n\geq2$, where $k$ is a positive real number. Find $\prod_{i=1}^{2017}a_i$.

The real numbers $c, b, a$ form an arithmetic sequence with $a\ge b\ge c\ge 0$. The quadratic $ax^2+bx+c$ has exactly one root. What is this root? $\textbf{(A)}\ -7-4\sqrt{3}\qquad\textbf{(B)}\ -2-\sqrt{3}\qquad\textbf{(C)}\ -1\qquad\textbf{(D)}\ -2+\sqrt{3}\qquad\textbf{(E)}\ -7+4\sqrt{3} $

Sequence {$x_n$} satisfies: $x_1=1$ , ${x_n=\sqrt{x_{n-1}^2+x_{n-1}}+x_{n-1}}$ ( ${n>=2}$ ) Find the general term of {$x_n$}

For a given odd prime number $p$, define $f(n)$ the remainder of $d$ divided by $p$, where $d$ is the biggest divisor of $n$ which is not a multiple of $p$. For example when $p=5$, $f(6)=1, f(35)=2, f(75)=3$. Define the sequence $a_1, a_2, \ldots, a_n, \ldots$ of integers as the followings: [list] [*]$a_1=1$ [*]$a_{n+1}=a_n+(-1)^{f(n)+1}$ for all positive integers $n$. [/list] Determine all integers $m$, such that there exist infinitely many positive integers $k$ such that $m=a_k$.

Consider the sequence $a_1, a_2, a_3, ...$ defined by $a_1 = 9$ and $a_{n + 1} = \frac{(n + 5)a_n + 22}{n + 3}$ for $n \ge 1$. Find all natural numbers $n$ for which $a_n$ is a perfect square of an integer.

Given integers $a_1, \ldots, a_{10},$ prove that there exist a non-zero sequence $\{x_1, \ldots, x_{10}\}$ such that all $x_i$ belong to $\{-1,0,1\}$ and the number $\sum^{10}_{i=1} x_i \cdot a_i$ is divisible by 1001.

An infinite sequence of real numbers $a_1, a_2, \dots$ satisfies the recurrence \[ a_{n+3} = a_{n+2} - 2a_{n+1} + a_n \] for every positive integer $n$. Given that $a_1 = a_3 = 1$ and $a_{98} = a_{99}$, compute $a_1 + a_2 + \dots + a_{100}$.