Found problems: 5923
A sequence $x_1, x_2, \ldots$ is defined by $x_1 = 1$ and $x_{2k}=-x_k, x_{2k-1} = (-1)^{k+1}x_k$ for all $k \geq 1.$ Prove that $\forall n \geq 1$ $x_1 + x_2 + \ldots + x_n \geq 0.$
[i]Proposed by Gerhard Wöginger, Austria[/i]
Let $n$ be a positive integer. Denote by $S_n$ the set of points $(x, y)$ with integer coordinates such that \[ \left\lvert x\right\rvert + \left\lvert y + \frac{1}{2} \right\rvert < n. \] A path is a sequence of distinct points $(x_1 , y_1), (x_2, y_2), \ldots, (x_\ell, y_\ell)$ in $S_n$ such that, for $i = 2, \ldots, \ell$, the distance between $(x_i , y_i)$ and $(x_{i-1} , y_{i-1} )$ is $1$ (in other words, the points $(x_i, y_i)$ and $(x_{i-1} , y_{i-1} )$ are neighbors in the lattice of points with integer coordinates). Prove that the points in $S_n$ cannot be partitioned into fewer than $n$ paths (a partition of $S_n$ into $m$ paths is a set $\mathcal{P}$ of $m$ nonempty paths such that each point in $S_n$ appears in exactly one of the $m$ paths in $\mathcal{P}$).
The absolute value of every number in the sequence $\{a_n\}$ is smaller than 2005, and \[a_{n+6}=a_{n+4}+a_{n+2}-a_n.\] holds for all positive integers n. Prove that $\{a_n\}$ is periodic.
Incredibly, this was probably the most difficult problem of our independent study problems in the 1st TST (excluding the final exam).
Define the sequence $a_0,a_1,a_2,\hdots$ by $a_n=2^n+2^{\lfloor n/2\rfloor}$. Prove that there are infinitely many terms of the sequence which can be expressed as a sum of (two or more) distinct terms of the sequence, as well as infinitely many of those which cannot be expressed in such a way.
The sequence $x_0, x_1, x_2, \ldots$ is defined by the conditions \[ x_0 = a, x_1 = b, x_{n+1} = \frac{x_{n - 1} + (2n - 1) ~x_n}{2n}\] for $n \ge 1,$ where $a$ and $b$ are given numbers. Express $\lim_{n \to \infty} x_n$ concisely in terms of $a$ and $b.$
Given positive numbers $a_1$ and $b_1$, consider the sequences defined by
\[a_{n+1}=a_n+\frac{1}{b_n},\quad b_{n+1}=b_n+\frac{1}{a_n}\quad (n \ge 1)\]
Prove that $a_{25}+b_{25} \geq 10\sqrt{2}$.
Denote by $S(x)$ the sum of digits of positive integer $x$ written in decimal notation. For $k$ a fixed positive integer, define a sequence $(x_n)_{n \geq 1}$ by $x_1=1$ and $x_{n+1}$ $=$ $S(kx_n)$ for all positive integers $n$. Prove that $x_n$ $<$ $27 \sqrt{k}$ for all positive integer $n$.
Given a sequence of integers $A_1,A_2,\cdots A_{99}$ such that for every sub-sequence that contains $m$ consecutive elements, there exist not more than $max\{ \frac{m}{3} ,1\}$ odd integers. Let $S=\{ (i,j) \ | i<j \}$ such that $A_i$ is even and $A_j$ is odd. Find $max\{ |S|\}$.
Find all positive integers $n$ such that there exists a sequence of positive integers $a_1$, $a_2$,$\ldots$, $a_n$ satisfying: \[a_{k+1}=\frac{a_k^2+1}{a_{k-1}+1}-1\] for every $k$ with $2\leq k\leq n-1$.
[i]Proposed by North Korea[/i]
Consider the set $E$ of all positive integers $n$ such that when divided by $9,10,11$ respectively, the remainders(in that order) are all $>1$ and form a non constant geometric progression. If $N$ is the largest element of $E$, find the sum of digits of $E$
Let $a_1 , b_1 , c_1$ be positive real numbers whose sum is $1,$ and for $n=1, 2, \ldots$ we define
$$a_{n+1}= a_{n}^{2} +2 b_n c_n, \;\;\;b_{n+1}= b_{n}^{2} +2 a_n c_n, \;\;\; c_{n+1}= c_{n}^{2} +2 a_n b_n.$$
Show that $a_n , b_n ,c_n$ approach limits as $n\to \infty$ and find those limits.
The increasing geometric sequence $x_{0},x_{1},x_{2},\ldots$ consists entirely of integral powers of $3.$ Given that \[\sum_{n=0}^{7}\log_{3}(x_{n}) = 308\qquad\text{and}\qquad 56 \leq \log_{3}\left ( \sum_{n=0}^{7}x_{n}\right ) \leq 57,\] find $\log_{3}(x_{14}).$
The sum of the first $n$ terms of the sequence \[1,~(1+2),~(1+2+2^2),~\dots ~(1+2+2^2+\dots +2^{n-1})\] in terms of $n$ is
$\textbf{(A) }2^n\qquad\textbf{(B) }2^n-n\qquad\textbf{(C) }2^{n+1}-n\qquad\textbf{(D) }2^{n+1}-n-2\qquad \textbf{(E) }n\cdot 2^n$
Suppose that a sequence $a_1,a_2,\ldots$ of positive real numbers satisfies \[a_{k+1}\geq\frac{ka_k}{a_k^2+(k-1)}\] for every positive integer $k$. Prove that $a_1+a_2+\ldots+a_n\geq n$ for every $n\geq2$.
Show that there is a positive number in the Fibonacci sequence which is divisible by $ 1000$.
Let $k$ and $n$ be two given distinct positive integers greater than $1$. There are finitely many (not necessarily distinct) integers written on the blackboard. Kázmér is allowed to erase $k$ consecutive elements of an arithmetic sequence with a difference not divisible by $k$. Similarly, Nándor is allowed to erase $n$ consecutive elements of an arithmetic sequence with a difference that is not divisible by $n$. The initial numbers on the blackboard have the property that both Kázmér and Nándor can erase all of them (independently from each other) in a finite number of steps. Prove that the difference of biggest and the smallest number on the blackboard is at least $\varphi(n)+\varphi(k)$.
[i]Proposed by Boldizsár Varga, Budapest[/i]
Let $m, n$ be positive integers. Consider a sequence of positive integers $a_1, a_2, ... , a_n$ that satisfies $m = a_1 \ge a_2\ge ... \ge a_n \ge 1$. Then define, for $1\le i\le m$, $b_i =$ # $\{ j \in \{1, 2, ... , n\}: a_j \ge i\}$,
so $b_i$ is the number of terms $a_j $ of the given sequence for which $a_j \ge i$.
Similarly, we define, for $1\le j \le n$, $c_j=$ # $\{ i \in \{1, 2, ... , m\}: b_i \ge j\}$ , thus $c_j$ is the number of terms bi in the given sequence for which $b_i \ge j$.
E.g.: If $a$ is the sequence $5, 3, 3, 2, 1, 1$ then $b$ is the sequence $6, 4, 3, 1, 1$.
(a) Prove that $a_j = c_j $ for $1 \le j \le n$.
(b) Prove that for $1\le k \le m$: $\sum_{i=1}^{k} b_i = k \cdot b_k + \sum_{j=b_{k+1}}^{n} a_j$.
Let $n > 1$ be a given integer. Prove that infinitely many terms of the sequence $(a_k )_{k\ge 1}$, defined by \[a_k=\left\lfloor\frac{n^k}{k}\right\rfloor,\] are odd. (For a real number $x$, $\lfloor x\rfloor$ denotes the largest integer not exceeding $x$.)
[i]Proposed by Hong Kong[/i]
We say that two sequences $x,y \colon \mathbb{N} \to \mathbb{N}$ are [i]completely different[/i] if $x_n \neq y_n$ holds for all $n\in \mathbb{N}$. Let $F$ be a function assigning a natural number to every sequence of natural numbers such that $F(x)\neq F(y)$ for any pair of completely different sequences $x$, $y$, and for constant sequences we have $F \left((k,k,\dots)\right)=k$. Prove that there exists $n\in \mathbb{N}$ such that $F(x)=x_{n}$ for all sequences $x$.
Given is the function $ f\equal{} \lfloor x^2 \rfloor \plus{} \{ x \}$ for all positive reals $ x$. ( $ \lfloor x \rfloor$ denotes the largest integer less than or equal $ x$ and $ \{ x \} \equal{} x \minus{} \lfloor x \rfloor$.)
Show that there exists an arithmetic sequence of different positive rational numbers, which all have the denominator $ 3$, if they are a reduced fraction, and don’t lie in the range of the function $ f$.
Find all integers $n \geq 2$ for which there exists a sequence of $2n$ pairwise distinct points $(P_1, \dots, P_n, Q_1, \dots, Q_n)$ in the plane satisfying the following four conditions: [list=i] [*]no three of the $2n$ points are collinear;
[*] $P_iP_{i+1} \ge 1$ for all $i = 1, 2, \dots ,n$, where $P_{n+1}=P_1$;
[*] $Q_iQ_{i+1} \ge 1$ for all $i = 1, 2, \dots, n$, where $Q_{n+1} = Q_1$; and
[*] $P_iQ_j \le 1$ for all $i = 1, 2, \dots, n$ and $j = 1, 2, \dots, n$.[/list]
[i]Ray Li[/i]
Prove that the sequence $ (a_n)_{n \geq 0,}, a_n \equal{} [n \cdot \sqrt{2}],$ contains an infinite number of perfect squares.
Let $a_n$ be a sequence with $a_0=1$ and defined recursively by
$$a_{n+1}=\begin{cases}a_n+2&\text{if }n\text{ is even},\\2a_n&\text{if }n\text{ is odd.}\end{cases}$$
What are the last two digits of $a_{2015}$?
Let $G$ be a finite group of order $n$ generated by $a$ and $b$. Prove or disprove: there is a sequence \[ g_1, g_2, g_3, \cdots, g_{2n} \] such that:
$(1)$ every element of $G$ occurs exactly twice, and
$(2)$ $g_{i+1}$ equals $g_{i}a$ or $g_ib$ for $ i = 1, 2, \cdots, 2n $. (interpret $g_{2n+1}$ as $g_1$.)
Let $a_1,a_2,\cdots,a_n$ be integers such that $1=a_1\le a_2\le \cdots\le a_{2019}=99$. Find the minimum $f_0$ of the expression $$f=(a_1^2+a_2^2+\cdots+a_{2019}^2)-(a_1a_3+a_2a_4+\cdots+a_{2017}a_{2019}),$$
and determine the number of sequences $(a_1,a_2,\cdots,a_n)$ such that $f=f_0$.