Let $q$ be a real number. Gugu has a napkin with ten distinct real numbers written on it, and he writes the following three lines of real numbers on the blackboard:
- In the first line, Gugu writes down every number of the form $a-b$, where $a$ and $b$ are two (not necessarily distinct) numbers on his napkin.
- In the second line, Gugu writes down every number of the form $q a b$, where $a$ and $b$ are two (not necessarily distinct) numbers from the first line.
- In the third line, Gugu writes down every number of the form $a^{2}+b^{2}-c^{2}-d^{2}$, where $a, b, c, d$ are four (not necessarily distinct) numbers from the first line.
Determine all values of $q$ such that, regardless of the numbers on Gugu's napkin, every number in the second line is also a number in the third line.
Let $S$ be a finite set, and let $\mathcal{A}$ be the set of all functions from $S$ to $S$. Let $f$ be an element of $\mathcal{A}$, and let $T=f(S)$ be the image of $S$ under $f$. Suppose that $f \circ g \circ f \neq g \circ f \circ g$ for every $g$ in $\mathcal{A}$ with $g \neq f$. Show that $f(T)=T$.
An integer $n \geqslant 3$ is given. We call an $n$-tuple of real numbers $\left(x_{1}, x_{2}, \ldots, x_{n}\right)$ Shiny if for each permutation $y_{1}, y_{2}, \ldots, y_{n}$ of these numbers we have
Let $a_{0}, a_{1}, a_{2}, \ldots$ be a sequence of integers and $b_{0}, b_{1}, b_{2}, \ldots$ be a sequence of positive integers such that $a_{0}=0, a_{1}=1$, and
$$
a_{n+1}=\left\{\begin{array}{ll}
a_{n} b_{n}+a_{n-1}, & \text { if } b_{n-1}=1 \\
a_{n} b_{n}-a_{n-1}, & \text { if } b_{n-1}\gt 1
\end{array} \quad \text { for } n=1,2, \ldots\right.
$$
Prove that at least one of the two numbers $a_{2017}$ and $a_{2018}$ must be greater than or equal to 2017 .
Assume that a function $f: \mathbb{R} \rightarrow \mathbb{R}$ satisfies the following condition:
For every $x, y \in \mathbb{R}$ such that $(f(x)+y)(f(y)+x)\gt 0$, we have $f(x)+y=f(y)+x$.
Prove that $f(x)+y \leqslant f(y)+x$ whenever $x\gt y$.
A rectangle $\mathcal{R}$ with odd integer side lengths is divided into small rectangles with integer side lengths. Prove that there is at least one among the small rectangles whose distances from the four sides of $\mathcal{R}$ are either all odd or all even.
Let $n$ be a positive integer. Define a chameleon to be any sequence of $3 n$ letters, with exactly $n$ occurrences of each of the letters $a, b$, and $c$. Define a swap to be the transposition of two adjacent letters in a chameleon. Prove that for any chameleon $X$, there exists a chameleon $Y$ such that $X$ cannot be changed to $Y$ using fewer than $3 n^{2} / 2$ swaps.
Sir Alex plays the following game on a row of 9 cells. Initially, all cells are empty. In each move, Sir Alex is allowed to perform exactly one of the following two operations:
(1) Choose any number of the form $2^{j}$, where $j$ is a non-negative integer, and put it into an empty cell.
(2) Choose two (not necessarily adjacent) cells with the same number in them; denote that number by $2^{j}$. Replace the number in one of the cells with $2^{j+1}$ and erase the number in the other cell.
At the end of the game, one cell contains the number $2^{n}$, where $n$ is a given positive integer, while the other cells are empty. Determine the maximum number of moves that Sir Alex could have made, in terms of $n$.
Let $N \geqslant 2$ be an integer. $N(N+1)$ soccer players, no two of the same height, stand in a row in some order. Coach Ralph wants to remove $N(N-1)$ people from this row so that in the remaining row of $2 N$ players, no one stands between the two tallest ones, no one stands between the third and the fourth tallest ones, ..., and finally no one stands between the two shortest ones. Show that this is always possible.
A hunter and an invisible rabbit play a game in the Euclidean plane. The hunter's starting point $H_{0}$ coincides with the rabbit's starting point $R_{0}$. In the $n^{\text {th }}$ round of the game ( $n \geqslant 1$ ), the following happens.
(1) First the invisible rabbit moves secretly and unobserved from its current point $R_{n-1}$ to some new point $R_{n}$ with $R_{n-1} R_{n}=1$.
(2) The hunter has a tracking device (e.g. dog) that returns an approximate position $R_{n}^{\prime}$ of the rabbit, so that $R_{n} R_{n}^{\prime} \leqslant 1$.
(3) The hunter then visibly moves from point $H_{n-1}$ to a new point $H_{n}$ with $H_{n-1} H_{n}=1$.
Is there a strategy for the hunter that guarantees that after $10^{9}$ such rounds the distance between the hunter and the rabbit is below 100 ?
Let $n\gt 1$ be an integer. An $n \times n \times n$ cube is composed of $n^{3}$ unit cubes. Each unit cube is painted with one color. For each $n \times n \times 1$ box consisting of $n^{2}$ unit cubes (of any of the three possible orientations), we consider the set of the colors present in that box (each color is listed only once). This way, we get $3 n$ sets of colors, split into three groups according to the orientation. It happens that for every set in any group, the same set appears in both of the other groups. Determine, in terms of $n$, the maximal possible number of colors that are present.
Let $n$ be a given positive integer. In the Cartesian plane, each lattice point with nonnegative coordinates initially contains a butterfly, and there are no other butterflies. The neighborhood of a lattice point $c$ consists of all lattice points within the axis-aligned $(2 n+1) \times$ $(2 n+1)$ square centered at $c$, apart from $c$ itself. We call a butterfly lonely, crowded, or comfortable, depending on whether the number of butterflies in its neighborhood $N$ is respectively less than, greater than, or equal to half of the number of lattice points in $N$.
Every minute, all lonely butterflies fly away simultaneously. This process goes on for as long as there are any lonely butterflies. Assuming that the process eventually stops, determine the number of comfortable butterflies at the final state.
Let $A B C D E$ be a convex pentagon such that $A B=B C=C D, \angle E A B=\angle B C D$, and $\angle E D C=\angle C B A$. Prove that the perpendicular line from $E$ to $B C$ and the line segments $A C$ and $B D$ are concurrent.
Let $R$ and $S$ be distinct points on circle $\Omega$, and let $t$ denote the tangent line to $\Omega$ at $R$. Point $R^{\prime}$ is the reflection of $R$ with respect to $S$. A point $I$ is chosen on the smaller arc $R S$ of $\Omega$ so that the circumcircle $\Gamma$ of triangle $I S R^{\prime}$ intersects $t$ at two different points. Denote by $A$ the common point of $\Gamma$ and $t$ that is closest to $R$. Line $A I$ meets $\Omega$ again at $J$. Show that $J R^{\prime}$ is tangent to $\Gamma$.
Let $O$ be the circumcenter of an acute scalene triangle $A B C$. Line $O A$ intersects the altitudes of $A B C$ through $B$ and $C$ at $P$ and $Q$, respectively. The altitudes meet at $H$. Prove that the circumcenter of triangle $P Q H$ lies on a median of triangle $A B C$.
In triangle $A B C$, let $\omega$ be the excircle opposite $A$. Let $D, E$, and $F$ be the points where $\omega$ is tangent to lines $B C, C A$, and $A B$, respectively. The circle $A E F$ intersects line $B C$ at $P$ and $Q$. Let $M$ be the midpoint of $A D$. Prove that the circle $M P Q$ is tangent to $\omega$.