We present our rst Higher Problem-Solving Strategy.

It is extremely useful in solv

ingcertaintypesofdif cultproblems,whichareeasilyrecognizable.Wewill teach it by so
lving problems which use this strategy. In fact, problem solving canbelearnedonl
ybysolvingproblems.But it must be supported by strategies provided by the traine
r. Our rststrategyisthesearchforinvariants,anditiscalledtheInvariancePrinciple. Th
e principle is applicable to algorithms (games, transformations). Some task is r
epeatedly performed. What stays the same? What remains invariant? Here is a sayi
ng easy to remember:
If there is repetition, look for what does not change!
In algorithms there is a starting state S and a sequence of legal steps (moves,
transformations). One looks for answers to the following questions:
1. Can a given end state be reached?
2. Find all reachable end states.
3. Is there convergence to an end state?
4. Find all periods with or without tails, if any.
Since the Invariance Principle is a heuristic principle, it is best learned by e
xperience, which we will gain by solving the key examples E1 to E10.
2 1. The Invariance Principle
E1. Starting with a point S  (a,b) of the plane with 0 <b<a, we generate a sequen
ce of points (xn,yn) according to the rule
x0  a, y0  b, xn+1 
xn +yn 2
,y n+1 
2xnyn xn +yn
.
Here it is easy to nd an invariant. From xn+1yn+1  xnyn, for all n we deduce xnyn 
ab for all n. This is the invariant we are looking for. Initially, we have y0 <x
0. This relation also remains invariant. Indeed, suppose yn <x n for some n. Th
en xn+1 is the midpoint of the segment with endpoints yn,xn. Moreover, yn+1 <x n
+1 since the harmonic mean is strictly less than the arithmetic mean. Thus, 0 <x
n+1 yn+1  xn yn xn +yn xn yn 2 < xn yn 2 for all n. So we have limxn limyn  x with x2
ab or x ab. Here the invariant helped us very much, but its recognition was not ye
t the solution, although the completion of the solution was trivial. E2.Supposet
hepositiveinteger n isodd.FirstAlwritesthenumbers1,2,...,2n on the blackboard. T
hen he picks any two numbers a,b, erases them, and writes, instead,|a b|. Prove t
hat an odd number will remain at the end. Solution.Suppose S isthesumofallthenum
bersstillontheblackboard.Initially thissumis S 1+2++2n  n(2n+1),anoddnumber.Eachstepr
educesS by2min(a,b),whichisanevennumber.Sotheparityof S isaninvariant.During the
whole reduction process we have S 1 mod 2. Initially the parity is odd. So, it w
ill also be odd at the end. E3. A circle is divided into six sectors. Then the n
umbers 1,0,1,0,0,0 are written into the sectors (counterclockwise, say). You may
increase two neighboring numbers by 1. Is it possible to equalize all numbers b
y a sequence of such steps? Solution. Suppose a1,...,a6 are the numbers currentl
y on the sectors. Then I  a1a2+a3a4+a5a6 isaninvariant.Initially I 2.Thegoal I 0cannot
be reached. E4. In the Parliament of Sikinia, each member has at most three ene
mies. Prove thatthehousecanbeseparatedintotwohouses,sothateachmemberhasatmost on
e enemy in his own house. Solution. Initially, we separate the members in any wa
y into the two houses. Let H be the total sum of all the enemies each member has
in his own house. Now suppose A has at least two enemies in his own house. Then
he has at most one enemyintheotherhouse.If A switcheshouses,thenumber H willdec
rease.This decrease cannot go on forever. At some time, H reaches its absolute m
inimum. Then we have reached the required distribution.
1. The Invariance Principle 3
Here we have a new idea. We construct a positive integral function which decreas
es at each step of the algorithm. So we know that our algorithm will terminate.T
hereisnostrictlydecreasingin nitesequenceofpositiveintegers. H isnot strictly an i
nvariant, but decreases monotonically until it becomes constant. Here, the monot
onicity relation is the invariant. E5. Suppose not all four integers a,b,c,d are
equal. Start with (a,b,c,d) and repeatedly replace (a,b,c,d) by (a b,bc,cd,da). The
n at least one number of the quadruple will eventually become arbitrarily large.

Solution. Let Pn  (an,bn,cn,dn) be the quadruple after n iterations. Then we hav

e an+bn+cn+dn 0 for n 1.Wedonotseeyethowtousethisinvariant. But geometric interpre
tation is mostly helpful. A very important function for the point Pn in 4 space
is the square of its distance from the origin (0,0,0,0), which is a2 n +b2 n +c2
n +d2 n. If we could prove that it has no upper bound, we would be nished. We tr
y to nd a relation between Pn+1 and Pn: a2 n+1 +b2 n+1 +c2 n+1 +d2 n+1 (an bn)2 +(b
n cn)2 +(cn dn)2 +(dn an)2 2(a2 n +b2 n +c2 n +d2 n) 2anbn 2bncn 2cndn 2dnan. Now we c
use an +bn +cn +dn 0 or rather its square: 0(an+bn+cn+dn)2 (an+cn)2+(bn+dn)2+2anbn
+2andn+2bncn+2cndn. (1) Adding (1) and (2), for a2 n+1 +b2 n+1 +c2 n+1 +d2 n+1,
we get 2(a2 n +b2 n +c2 n +d2 n)+(an +cn)2 +(bn +dn)2 2(a2 n +b2 n +c2 n +d2 n).
From this invariant inequality relationship we conclude that, for n 2, a2 n +b2 n
+c2 n +d2 n 2n1(a2 1 +b2 1 +c2 1 +d2 1). (2) The distance of the points Pn from t
he origin increases without bound, which means that at least one component must
become arbitrarily large. Can you always have equality in (2)? Herewelearnedthat
thedistancefromtheoriginisaveryimportantfunction. Each time you have a sequence
of points you should consider it. E6. An algorithm is de ned as follows:
Start: (x0,y0) with 0 <x 0 <y 0. Step: xn+1  xn +yn 2 ,y n+1 xn+1yn.
4 1. The Invariance Principle
Figure 1.1 and the arithmetic mean geometric mean inequality show that
xn <y n xn+1 <y n+1,y n+1 xn+1 <
yn xn 4 for all n. Find the common limit limxn limyn  x  y. Here,invariantscanhelp.B
uttherearenosystematicmethodsto ndinvariants, justheuristics.Thesearemethodswhicho
ftenwork,butnotalways.Twoofthese heuristics tell us to look for the change in xn
/yn or yn xn when going from n to n+1.
(a)
xn+1 yn+1 
xn+1 xn+1yn xn+1 yn 1+xn/yn 2
. (1)
This reminds us of the half angle relation
cos
2 1+cos 2
.
Since we
lw
ys h
ve 0 <x n/yn < 1, we m
y set xn/yn  cosn. Then (1)becomes cosn+1 c
os n 2 n  0 2n 2nn  0, which is equiv
lent to 2n
rccos xn yn
 rccos x0 y0 . (2) This

n inv
ri
nt! (b) To
void squ
re roots, we consider y2 n x2 n inste
d of yn xn
n
d get
y2 n+1 x2 n+1 
y2 n x2 n 4 2y2 n+1 x2 n+1 y2 n x2 n
or
2ny2 n x2 n y2 0 x2 0, (3) which is a second invariant.
 x n xn+1 yn+1 yn Fig. 1.1
 
 
s
t
Fig. 1.2. arccost arcsins, s 1t2.
1. The Invariance Principle 5
From Fig. 1.2 and (2), (3), we get
arccos
x0 y0 2n arccos
xn yn 2n arcsiny2 n x2 n yn 2n arcsiny2 0 x2 0 2nyn
.
The right hand side converges toy2 0 x2 0/y for n . Finally, we get x  y  y2 0 x2 0 arcc
os(x0/y0) . (4)
It would be pretty hopeless to solve this problem without invariants. By the way
, this is a hard problem by any competition standard. E7. Each of the numbers a1
,...,an is 1 or1, and we have S  a1a2a3a4 +a2a3a4a5 ++ana1a2a3 0. Prove that 4|n. Solu
tion. This is a number theoretic problem, but it can also be solved by invarianc
e. If we replace any ai by ai, then S does not change mod 4 since four cyclically
adjacent terms change their sign. Indeed, if two of these terms are positive an

d two negative, nothing changes. If one or three have the same sign, S changes b
y4. Finally, if all four are of the same sign, then S changes by8. Initially, we h
ave S  0 which implies S 0 mod 4. Now, step by step, we change each negative sign
into a positive sign. This does not change S mod 4. At the end, we still have S
0 mod 4, but also S n, i.e, 4|n. E8.2nambassadorsareinvitedtoabanquet.Everyambass
adorhasatmostn1 enemies. Prove that the ambassadors can be seated around a round
table, so that nobody sits next to an enemy.
Solution. First, we seat the ambassadors in any way. Let H be the number of neig
hboringhostilecouples.Wemust ndanalgorithmwhichreducesthisnumber whenever H>0. Let
(A,B) be a hostile couple with B sitting to the right of A (Fig. 1.3). We must
separate them so as to cause as little disturbance as possible. Thiswillbeachiev
edifwereversesomearcBAgettingFig.1.4.H willbereduced if (A,A) and (B,B) in Fig. 1.4
are friendly couples. It remains to be shown that such a couple always exists w
ith B sitting to the right of A. We start in A and go around the table countercloc
kwise. We will encounter at least n friends of A. To their right, there are at l
east n seats. They cannot all be occupied by enemies of B since B has at most n1
enemies. Thus, there is a friend A of A with right neighbor B, a friend of B.
6 1. The Invariance Principle
Fig. 1.3. Invert arc AB.  B  A A B
Fig. 1.4


B  B
A A
Remark.ThisproblemissimilartoE4,butconsiderablyharder.Itisthefollowing theorem i
n graph theory: Let G be a linear graph with n vertices. Then G has a Hamiltonia
npathifthesumofthedegreesofanytwoverticesisequaltoorlarger than n1. In our specia
l case, we have proved that there is even a Hamiltonian circuit. E9.Toeachvertex
ofapentagon,weassignaninteger xi withsum s xi > 0. If x,y,zare the numbers assigne
d to three successive vertices and if y<0, then we replace (x,y,z) by (x +y,y,y+z
). This step is repeated as long as there is a y<0. Decide if the algorithm alwa
ys stops. (Most dif cult problem of IMO 1986.) Solution. The algorithm always stop
s. The key to the proof is (as in Examples 4 and 8) to nd an integer valued, nonn
egative function f(x1,...,x5) of the vertex labels whose value decreases when th
e given operation is performed. All but one of the eleven students who solved th
e problem found the same function
f(x1,x2,x3,x4,x5)
5  i1
(xi xi+2)2,x 6  x1,x 7  x2. Suppose y  x4 < 0. Then fnew fold 2sx4 < 0, since s>0. If
the algorithm does not stop, we can nd an in nite decreasing sequence f0 >f 1 >f 2
> ofnonnegative integers. Such a sequence does not exist. BernardChazelle(Princeton
)asked:Howmanystepsareneededuntilstop?He considered the in nite multiset S of all
sums de ned by s(i,j) xi ++xj1 with1 i 5andj > i.Amultisetisasetwhichcanhaveequalelemen
.Inthis set, all elements but one either remain invariant or are switched with o
thers. Only s(4,5)  x4 changes tox4. Thus, exactly one negative element of S chang
es to positive at each step. There are only nitely many negative elements in S, s
ince s>0. The number of steps until stop is equal to the number of negative elem
ents of S.We see that the xi need not be integers. Remark. It is interesting to n
d a formula with the computer, which, for input a,b,c,d,e, gives the number of s
teps until stop. This can be done without much effort if s  1. For instance, the
input (n,n,14n,n,n) gives the step number f(n)20n10.
1. The Invariance Principle 7
E10. Shrinking squares. An empirical exploration. Start with a sequence S  (a,b,c
,d) of positive integers and nd the derived sequence S1  T(S)  (|a b|,|bc|,|cd|,|da|).
Doesthesequence S, S1, S2  T(S1), S3  T(S2),... always end up with (0,0,0,0)?
Let us collect material for solution hints: (0,3,10,13)(3,7,3,13)(4,4,10,10) (0,6,0
,6)(6,6,6,6)(0,0,0,0), (8,17,3,107)(9,14,104,99)(5,90,5,90) (85,85,85,85)(0,0,0,0), (9
1,108,95,294)(17,13,99,203)(4,86,104,186) (82,18,82,182)(64,64,100,100)(0,36,0,36) (36
,36,36,36)(0,0,0,0).
Observations: 1. Let maxS be the maximal element of S. Then maxSi+1 maxSi, and m
axSi+4 < maxSi as long as maxSi > 0. Verify these observations. This gives a pro

of of our conjecture.
2. S and tS have the same life expectancy.
3. Afterfourstepsatmost,allfourtermsofthesequencebecomeeven.Indeed, it is suf cien
t to calculate modulo 2. Because of cyclic symmetry, we need to test just six se
quences 0001 0011 0101 1111 0000 and 1110 0011. Thus, we have proved our conject
ure. After four steps at most, each term is divisible by 2, after 8 steps at mos
t, by 22,...,after 4k steps at most, by 2k. As soon as maxS<2k, all terms must b
e 0.
In observation 1, we used another strategy, the Extremal Principle: Pick the max
imal element! Chapter 3 is devoted to this principle. In observation 3, we used
symmetry. You should always think of this strategy, although we did not devote a
chapter to this idea. Generalizations: (a) Start with four real numbers, e.g., 2
3 e 2 3 e3 e2 32 e 32 e e3+2 e3+2 e3+2 e3+
8 1. The Inv
ri
nce Princile
Somemoretri
lssuggestth
t,evenfor
llnonneg
tivere
lqu
drules,we
lw
ys end u wi
th (0,0,0,0). But with t>1
nd S (1,t,t2,t3) we h
ve T(S)[t 1,(t 1)t,(t 1)t2,(t 1)(t2
+t +1)]. Ift3  t2+t+1,i.e.,t 1.8392867552...,thentherocessneverstosbec
use of th
e second observ
tion. This t is unique u to
tr
nsform
tion f(t)
t +b. (b) St

rt with S  (
0,
1,...,
n1),
i nonneg
tive integers. For n  2, we re
ch(0,0)
fter2s
tes
tmost.For n 3,weget,for011,
urecycleoflength 3: 011 101 110 011. For n  5 we
get 00011 00101 01111 10001 10010 10111 11000 01001 11011 01100 10100
10 01010 11110 00011, which h
s
ure cycle of length 15. 1. Find the eriods f
or n 6(n 7) st
rting with 000011 (0000011). 2. Prove th
t, for n 8, the
lgorithm s
tos st
rting with 00000011. 3. Proveth
t,forn 2r,we
lw
ysre
ch(0,0,...,0),
nd,fo
rn 2r,weget (u to some excetions)
cycle cont
ining just two numbers: 0
nd eve
nly often some number
>0. Bec
use of observ
tion 2, we m
y
ssume th
t
1. Then
|
b |
+b mod 2,
nd we do our c
lcul
tions in GF(2), i.e., the nite eld with two e
lements 0
nd 1. 4. Let n  2r
nd c(n) be the cycle length. Prove th
t c(2n)  2c(n)
(u to some excetions). 5. Prove th
t, for odd n, S (0,0,...,1,1)
lw
ys lies o
n
cycle. 6. Algebr
iz
tion. To the sequence (
0,...,
n1), we
ssign the olynom
i
l (x)
n1++a0xn1 with coef cients from GF(2), and xn 1. The polynomial(1+x)p(x)belong
to T(S).Usethisalgebraizationifyoucan. 7. The following table was generated by m
eans of a computer. Guess as many properties of c(n) as you can, and prove those
you can. n 3 5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19 21 23 25 c(n) 3 15 7 63 341 819 15 255 9709 6
3 2047 25575 n 27 29 31 33 35 37 39 41 43 c(n) 13797 47507 31 1023 4095 3233097
4095 41943 5461
Problems
1. Startwiththepositiveintegers1,...,4n1.Inonemoveyoumayreplaceanytwo integersbyt
heirdifference.Provethatanevenintegerwillbeleftafter4n2steps.
1. The Invariance Principle 9
2. Start with the set {3,4,12}. In each step you may choose two of the numbers a
,b and replace them by 0.6a0.8b and 0.8a+0.6b. Can you reach the goal (a) or (b)
in nitely many steps: (a){4,6,12}, (b){x,y,z}with|x 4|,|y 6|,|z12|each less than 1/3?
3. Assumean88chessboardwiththeusualcoloring.Youmayrepaintallsquares(a) of a row
or column (b) of a 22 square. The goal is to attain just one black square. Can yo
u reach the goal? 4. Westartwiththestate(a,b)where a, barepositiveintegers.Tothi
sinitialstatewe apply the following algorithm: while a>0, do if a<bthen (a,b)(2a,
ba) else (a,b)(a b,2b). Forwhichstartingpositionsdoesthealgorithmstop?Inhowmanystep
sdoesitstop, if it stops? What can you tell about periods and tails? The same qu
estions, when a,b are positive reals. 5. Aroundacircle,5onesand4zerosarearranged
inanyorder.Thenbetweenanytwo equal digits, you write 0 and between different dig
its 1. Finally, the original digits are wiped out. If this process is repeated i
nde nitely, you can never get 9 zeros. Generalize! 6. There are a white, b black,
and c red chips on a table. In one step, you may choose twochipsofdifferentcolor
sandreplacethembyachipofthethirdcolor.Ifjustone chip will remain at the end, its
color will not depend on the evolution of the game. When can this nal state be r
eached? 7. There are a white, b black, and c red chips on a table. In one step,
you may choose two chips of different colors and replace each one by a chip of t
he third color. Find conditions for all chips to become of the same color. Suppo
se you have initially 13 white 15 black and 17 red chips. Can all chips become o

f the same color? What states can be reached from these numbers? 8. There is a p
ositive integer in each square of a rectangular table. In each move, you maydoub
leeachnumberinaroworsubtract1fromeachnumberofacolumn.Prove that you can reach a
table of zeros by a sequence of these permitted moves. 9. Eachofthenumbers1to106
isrepeatedlyreplacedbyitsdigitalsumuntilwereach 106 one digit numbers. Will the
se have more 1s or 2s? 10. The vertices of an n gon are labeled by real numbers x1
,...,xn. Let a,b,c,d be four successive labels. If (a d)(bc) < 0, then we may swit
ch b with c. Decide if this switching operation can be performed in nitely often.
11. In Fig. 1.5, you may switch the signs of all numbers of a row, column, or a
parallel tooneofthediagonals.Inparticular,youmayswitchthesignofeachcornersquare.
Prove that at least one1 will remain in the table.
1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
1 1 1 1
1 1 1 1
Fig. 1.5
10 1. The Invariance Principle
12. There is a row of 1000 integers. There is a second row below, which is const
ructed asfollows.Undereachnumbera ofthe rstrow,thereisapositiveintegerf(a)such tha
t f(a) equals the number of occurrences of a in the rst row. In the same way, we
get the 3rd row from the 2nd row, and so on. Prove that, nally, one of the rows i
s identical to the next row. 13. There is an integer in each square of an 88 ches
sboard. In one move, you may choose any 44 or 33 square and add 1 to each integer
of the chosen square. Can you always get a table with each entry divisible by (a
) 2, (b) 3? 14. Westrikethe rstdigitofthenumber71996,andthenaddittotheremainingnum
ber. This is repeated until a number with 10 digits remains. Prove that this num
ber has two equal digits. 15. There is a checker at point (1,1) of the lattice (
x,y) with x,y positive integers. It moves as follows. At any move it may double
one coordinate, or it may subtract the smaller coordinate from the larger . Whic
h points of the lattice can the checker reach? 16. Eachterminasequence1,0,1,0,1,
0,...startingwiththeseventhisthesumofthe last 6 terms mod 10. Prove that the seq
uence ...,0,1,0,1,0,1,...never occurs. 17. Starting with any 35 integers, you ma
y select 23 of them and add 1 to each. By repeating this step, one can make all
35 integers equal. Prove this. Now replace 35 and 23 by m and n, respectively. W
hat condition must m and n satisfy to make the equalization still possible? 18.
The integers 1,...,2n are arranged in any order on 2n places numbered 1,...,2n.
Now we add its place number to each integer. Prove that there are two among the
sums which have the same remainder mod 2n. 19. The n holes of a socket are arran
ged along a circle at equal (unit) distances and numbered1,...,n.Forwhatncanthep
rongsofaplug ttingthesocketbenumbered suchthatatleastoneprongineachplug ingoesinto
aholeofthesamenumber(good numbering)? 20. A game for computing gcd(a,b) and lcm(
a,b). We start with x  a,y  b,u a,v  b and move as follows: if x<ythen, set y y x and
v v+u if x>y, then set x x y and u u+v The game ends with x  y gcd(a,b) and (u+v)/
2lcm(a,b). Show this. 21. Threeintegers a,b,carewrittenonablackboard.Thenoneofthe
integersiserased andreplacedbythesumoftheothertwodiminishedby1.Thisoperationisre
peated many times with the nal result 17,1967,1983. Could the initial numbers be
(a) 2, 2, 2 (b) 3, 3, 3? 22. There is a chip on each dot in Fig. 1.6. In one mov
e, you may simultaneously move any two chips by one place in opposite directions
. The goal is to get all chips into one dot. When can this goal be reached?       1 2 n
3 Fig. 1.6
1. The Invariance Principle 11
23. Start with n pairwise different integers x1,x 2,...,xn,(n>2) and repeat the
following step:
T :( x1,...,xn)x1 +x2 2
,
x2 +x3 2
,...,
xn +x1 2 . Show that T,T2,... nally leads to nonintegral components. 24. Start with
an mn table of integers. In one step, you may change the sign of all numbersinan
yroworcolumn.Showthatyoucanachieveanonnegativesumofany row or column. (Construct
an integral function which increases at each step, but is boundedabove.Thenitmu

stbecomeconstantatsomestep,reachingitsmaximum.) 25. Assume a convex 2m gon A1,..

.,A 2m. In its interior we choose a point P, which does not lie on any diagonal.
Show that P lies inside an even number of triangles with vertices among A1,...,
A2m. 26. Three automata I,H,T print pairs of positive integers on tickets. For i
nput (a,b), I and H give (a+1,b+1) and (a/2,b/2), respectively. H accepts only e
ven a,b. T needstwopairs(a,b)and(b,c)asinputandyieldsoutput(a,c).Startingwith(5,
19) canyoureachtheticket(a)(1,50) (b)(1,100)?Initially,wehave(a,b),a<b.For what
n is (1,n) reachable? 27. ThreeautomataI,R,Sprintpairsofpositiveintegersonticket
s.Forentry(x,y),the automata I,R,S give tickets (x y,y),(x +y,y),(y,x), respectiv
ely, as outputs. Initially, we have the ticket (1,2). With these automata, can I
get the tickets (a) (19,79) (b) (819,357)? Find an invariant. What pairs (p,q)
can I get starting with (a,b)? Via which pair should I best go? 28. n numbers ar
e written on a blackboard. In one step you may erase any two of the numbers, say
a and b, and write, instead (a+b)/4. Repeating this step n1 times, there is one
number left. Prove that, initially, if there were n ones on the board, at the en
d, a number, which is not less than 1/nwill remain. 29. The following operation
is performed with a nonconvex non self intersecting polygon P. Let A,B be two no
nneighboring vertices. Suppose P lies on the same side of AB. Re ect one part of t
he polygon connecting A with B at the midpoint O of AB. Prove that the polygon b
ecomes convex after nitely many such re ections. 30. Solve the equation (x2 3x +3)2 3
(x2 3x +3)+3 x. 31. Let a1,a2,...,an be a permutation of 1,2,...,n. Ifn is odd, th
en the product P (a1 1)(a2 2)...(an n) is even. Prove this. 32. Many handshakes are
exchanged at a big international congress. We call a person an odd person ifheha
sexchangedanoddnumberofhandshakes.Otherwisehewill be called an even person. Show
that, at any moment, there is an even number of odd persons. 33. Start with two
points on a line labeled 0, 1 in that order. In one move you may add or delete
two neighboring points (0, 0) or (1, 1). Your goal is to reach a single pair of
points labeled (1, 0) in that order. Can you reach this goal? 34. Is it possible
to transform f(x)  x2 +4x +3 into g(x)  x2 +10x +9 by a sequence of transformatio
ns of the form f(x) x2f (1/x +1) or f(x)(x 1)2f [1/(x 1)]?
12 1. The Invariance Principle
35. Does the sequence of squares contain an in nite arithmetic subsequence? 36. Th
eintegers1,...,narearrangedinanyorder.Inonestepyoumayswitchanytwo neighboring in
tegers. Prove that you can never reach the initial order after an odd number of
steps. 37. One step in the preceding problem consists of an interchange of any t
wo integers. Prove that the assertion is still true. 38. Theintegers1,...,narear
rangedinorder.Inonestepyoumaytakeanyfourintegers and interchange the rst with the
fourth and the second with the third. Prove that, if n(n1)/2 is even, then by me
ans of such steps you may reach the arrangement n,n1,...,1. But if n(n1)/2 is odd,
you cannot reach this arrangement. 39. Consider all lattice squares (x,y) with
x,y nonnegative integers. Assign to each its lower left corner as a label. We sh
ade the squares (0,0), (1,0), (0,1), (2,0), (1,1), (0,2). (a) There is a chip on
each of the six squares (b) There is only one chip on (0,0). Step: If (x,y) is
occupied, but (x +1,y) and (x,y+1) are free, you may remove the chip from (x,y)
and place a chip on each of (x +1,y) and (x,y+1). The goal is to remove the chip
s from the shaded squares. Is this possible in the cases (a) or (b)? (Kontsevich
, TT 1981.) 40. In any way you please, ll up the lattice points below or on the x
axis by chips. By solitaire jumps try to get one chip to (0,5) with all other c
hips cleared off. (J. H. Conway.) The preceding problem of Kontsevich might have
been suggested by this problem. Asolitairejumpisahorizontalorverticaljumpofanyc
hipoveritsneighbortoafree point with the chip jumped over removed. For instance,
with (x,y) and (x,y+1) occupied and (x,y+2) free, a jump consists in removing t
he two chips on (x,y) and (x,y+1) and placing a chip onto (x,y+2). 41. We may ex
tend a set S of space points by re ecting any point X of S at any space point A, A
 X. Initially, S consists of the 7 vertices of a cube. Can you ever get the eight
vertex of the cube into S? 42. The following game is played on an in nite chessbo
ard. Initially, each cell of an nnsquareisoccupiedbyachip.Amoveconsistsinajumpofa
chipoverachipin a horizontal or vertical direction onto a free cell directly beh
ind it. The chip jumped over is removed. Find all values of n, for which the gam
e ends with one chip left over (IMO 1993 and AUO 1992!). 43. Nine 11 cells of a 1

010 square are infected. In one time unit, the cells with at least two infected n
eighbors (having a common side) become infected. Can the infection spread to the
whole square? 44. Can you get the polynomial h(x)  x from the polynomials f(x) a
nd g(x) by the operations addition, subtraction, multiplication if (a) f(x) x2 +x
, g(x) x2 +2; (b) f(x)2x2 +x, g(x)2x; (c) f(x) x2 +x, g(x) x2 2? 45. Accumulationofyou
rcomputerroundingerrors.Startwith x0 1, y0 0,and, with your computer, generate the
sequences
xn+1 
5xn 12yn 13
,y n+1 
12xn +5yn 13
.
1. The Invariance Principle 13
Find x2 n +y2 n for n 102,103,104,105,106, and 107. 46. Startwithtwonumbers18and1
9ontheblackboard.Inonestepyoumayaddanother numberequaltothesumoftwoprecedingnumb
ers.Canyoureachthenumber1994 (IIM)? 47. In a regular (a) pentagon (b) hexagon al
l diagonals are drawn. Initially each vertex andeachpointofintersectionofthediag
onalsislabeledbythenumber1.Inonestep it is permitted to change the signs of all
numbers of a side or diagonal. Is it possible to change the signs of all labels
to1 by a sequence of steps (IIM)? 48. In Fig. 1.7, two squares are neighbors if t
hey have a common boundary. Consider the following operation T: Choose any two n
eighboring numbers and add the same integer to them. Can you transform Fig. 1.7
into Fig. 1.8 by iteration of T?
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Fig. 1.7
7 8 9 6 2 4 3 5 1 Fig. 1.8
49. There are several signs + and on a blackboard. You may erase two signs and w
rite, instead,+if they are equal andif they are unequal. Then, the last sign on t
he board does not depend on the order of erasure. 50. There are several letters
e, a and b on a blackboard. We may replace two es by one e, twoas by one b, twobs b
y one a, ana and a b by one e, ana and an e by one a,ab, and an e by one b. Prov
e that the last letter does not depend on the order of erasure. 51. A dragon has
100 heads. A knight can cut off 15, 17, 20, or 5 heads, respectively, with one
blow of his sword. In each of these cases, 24, 2, 14, or 17 new heads grow onits
shoulders.Ifallheadsareblownoff,thedragondies.Canthedragoneverdie? 52. Is it pos
sible to arrange the integers 1,1,2,2,...,1998,1998 such that there are exactly
i 1 other numbers between any two is? 53. Thefollowingoperationsarepermittedwithth
equadraticpolynomial ax2+bx+c: (a) switch a and c, (b) replace x by x +t where t
is any real. By repeating these operations, can you transform x2 x 2 into x2 x 1? 5
4. Initially,wehavethreepileswitha,b,andc chips,respectively.Inonestep,youmay tr
ansfer one chip from any pile with x chips onto any other pile with y chips. Let
d  yx+1.If d>0,thebankpaysyou d dollars.If d<0,youpaythebank|d| dollars.Repeating
thisstepseveraltimesyouobservethattheoriginaldistributionof chips has been resto
red. What maximum amount can you have gained at this stage? 55. Let d(n) be the
digital sum of n N. Solve n+d(n)+d(d(n))1997. 56. Start with four congruent right
triangles. In one step you may take any triangle and cut it in two with the alti
tude from the right angle. Prove that you can never get rid of congruent triangl
es (MMO 1995). 57. Starting with a point S(a,b) of the plane with 0 <a<b, we gen
erate a sequence (xn,yn) of points according to the rule x0  a, y0  b, xn+1 xnyn+1,y
n+1 xnyn.
14 1. The Invariance Principle
Prove that there is a limiting point with x  y. Find this limit. 58. Consider any
binary word W  a1a2an. It can be transformed by inserting, deleting or appending an
y word XXX, X being any binary word. Our goal is to transform W from 01 to 10 by
a sequence of such transformations. Can the goal be attained (LMO 1988, oral ro
und)? 59. Seven vertices of a cube are marked by 0 and one by 1. You may repeate
dly select anedgeandincreaseby1thenumbersattheendsofthatedge.Yourgoalistoreach (
a) 8 equal numbers, (b) 8 numbers divisible by 3. 60. Start with a point S(a,b)
of the plane with 0 <b<a, and generate a sequence of points Sn(xn,yn) according
to the rule
x0  a, y0  b, xn+1 

2xnyn xn +yn
,y n+1 
2xn+1yn xn+1 +yn
.
Prove that there is a limiting point with x  y. Find this limit.