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INMOTC: Algebra but Combinatorial Ideas
Rohan Goyal
December 2022

The following problems have the common theme of feeling very ”Combinatorial” while
solving them. Some ideas used are sometimes combinatorial, sometimes we have to
interpret the formula/equation combinatorially. This might feel in contrast to the usual
theme of converting a Combinatorics problem into an Algebra one. I hope the theme is
clearer once you go through the examples and try the problems.

§1 Example Problems
Example 1.1
Assume that a1 , a2 , · · · is an infinite sequence of reals such that ai + aj ai+j
8i, j 2 N. Prove that for any n 1
a1 a2 an
+ + ··· an
1 2 n

Example 1.2 (Kurschak?)

Is it true that for integer n 2, and given any non-negative reals `ij , 1  i < j  n,
we can find a sequenceP 0  a1 , a2P
, . . . , an such that for all 1  i < j  n to have
|ai aj | `ij , yet still ni=1 ai  1i<jn `ij

Example 1.3 (ELMO 2021)

Let n > 1 be an integer and let a1 , a2 , . . . , an be integers such that n | ai i for all
integers 1  i  n. Prove there exists an infinite sequence b1 , b2 , . . . such that

• bk 2 {a1 , a2 , . . . , an } for all positive integers k, and

P1
bk
• nk
is an integer.
k=1

Example 1.4
P is a degree m complex polynomial such that P (0) 6= 0. Prove that there exists
a rational number c, such that for all positive integers k, there are precisely dcmk e
distinct complex roots of the polynomial P (P (· · · P (x) · · · )).
| {z }
k times

1
Rohan Goyal (December 2022) INMOTC: Algebra but Combinatorial Ideas

§2 Practice Problems
All of the problems below are from the IMO shortlist and I’ve mentioned the years next
to them. All but 1 are from the Algebra section.
Problem 2.1 (2015). Suppose that a sequence a1 , a2 , . . . of positive real numbers satisfies
kak
ak+1
a2k + (k 1)
for every positive integer k. Prove that a1 + a2 + . . . + an n for every n 2.
Problem 2.2 (2014). Let a0 < a1 < a2 . . . be an infinite sequence of positive integers.
Prove that there exists a unique integer n 1 such that
a0 + a1 + a2 + · · · + an
an <  an+1 .
n
Problem 2.3 (2004). Let a0 , a1 , a2 , ... be an infinite sequence of real numbers satisfying
the equation an = |an+1 an+2 | for all n 0, where a0 and a1 are two di↵erent positive
reals.
Can this sequence a0 , a1 , a2 , ... be bounded?
Problem 2.4 (2006). The sequence of real numbers a0 , a1 , a2 , . . . is defined recursively
by
Xn
an k
a0 = 1, = 0 for n 1.
k+1
k=0
Show that an > 0 for all n 1
Problem 2.5 (2019). You are given a set of n blocks, each weighing at least 1; their
total weight is 2n. Prove that for every real number r with 0  r  2n 2 you can
choose a subset of the blocks whose total weight is at least r but at most r + 2.
Problem 2.6 (2013). Prove that in any set of 2000 distinct real numbers there exist
two pairs a > b and c > d with a 6= c or b 6= d, such that
a b 1
1 < .
c d 100000
Problem 2.7 (2017). Let S be a finite set, and let A be the set of all functions from S
to S. Let f be an element of A, and let T = f (S) be the image of S under f . Suppose
that f g f 6= g f g for every g in A with g 6= f . Show that f (T ) = T .
Problem 2.8 (2018). Let a0 , a1 , a2 , . . . be a sequence of real numbers such that a0 =
0, a1 = 1, and for every n 2 there exists 1  k  n satisfying
an 1 + · · · + an k
an = .
k
Find the maximum possible value of a2018 a2017 .
Problem 2.9 (2016). Find all positive integers n such that the following statement
holds: Suppose real numbers a1 , a2 , . . . , an , b1 , b2 , . . . , bn satisfy |ak | + |bk | = 1 for all
k = 1, . . . , n. Then there exists "1 , "2 , . . . , "n , each of which is either 1 or 1, such that
n
X n
X
"i a i + "i bi  1.
i=1 i=1

2
Rohan Goyal (December 2022) INMOTC: Algebra but Combinatorial Ideas

Problem 2.10 (2017). A sequence of real numbers a1 , a2 , . . . satisfies the relation

an = max (ai + aj ) for all n > 2017.

i+j=n

Prove that the sequence is bounded, i.e., there is a constant M such that |an |  M for
all positive integers n.
Problem 2.11 (2019). Let n > 3 be a positive integer and let (a1 , a2 , . . . , an ) be a
strictly increasing sequence of n positive real numbers with sum equal to 2. Let X be a
subset of {1, 2, . . . , n} such that the value of
X
1 ai
i2X

is minimised. Prove that there exists a strictly increasing sequence of n positive real
numbers (b1 , b2 , . . . , bn ) with sum equal to 2 such that
X
bi = 1.
i2X

Problem 2.12 (2010). A sequence x1 , x2 , . . . is defined by x1 = 1 and x2k = xk , x2k 1 =

( 1)k+1 xk for all k 1. Prove that 8n 1

x1 + x2 + . . . + xn 0

Problem 2.13 (2012). Let Z and Q be the sets of integers and rationals respectively.
a) Does there exist a partition of Z into three non-empty subsets A, B, C such that
the sets A + B, B + C, C + A are disjoint?

b) Does there exist a partition of Q into three non-empty subsets A, B, C such that
the sets A + B, B + C, C + A are disjoint?
Here X + Y denotes the set {x + y : x 2 X, y 2 Y }, for X, Y ✓ Z and for X, Y ✓ Q.
Problem 2.14 (2013). Let n be a positive integer, and consider a sequence a1 , a2 , · · · , an
of positive integers. Extend it periodically to an infinite sequence a1 , a2 , · · · by defining
an+i = ai for all i 1. If
a1  a2  · · ·  an  a1 + n
and
a ai  n + i 1 for i = 1, 2, · · · , n,
prove that
a 1 + · · · + a n  n2 .
Problem 2.15 (2019). Let n > 2 be a positive integer and a1 , a2 , . . . , an be real numbers
such that
a1 + a2 + · · · + an = 0.
Define the set A by

A = {(i, j) | 1 6 i < j 6 n, |ai aj | > 1}

Prove that, if A is not empty, then

X
ai aj < 0.
(i,j)2A

3
Rohan Goyal (December 2022) INMOTC: Algebra but Combinatorial Ideas

Problem 2.16 (2012). Let f : N ! N be a function, and let f m be f applied m times.

Suppose that for every n 2 N there exists a k 2 N such that f 2k (n) = n + k, and let kn
be the smallest such k. Prove that the sequence k1 , k2 , . . . is unbounded.

Problem 2.17 (2009). Suppose that s1 , s2 , s3 , . . . is a strictly increasing sequence of

positive integers such that the sub-sequences

s s1 , s s2 , s s3 , . . . and ss1 +1 , ss2 +1 , ss3 +1 , . . .

are both arithmetic progressions. Prove that the sequence s1 , s2 , s3 , . . . is itself an

arithmetic progression.

Problem 2.18 (2010). Let a1 , a2 , a3 , . . . be a sequence of positive real numbers, and s

be a positive integer, such that

an = max{ak + an k |1kn 1} for all n > s.

Prove there exist positive integers `  s and N , such that

an = a` + an ` for all n N.

Problem 2.19 (2007). Let n be a positive integer. Consider

S = {(x, y, z) | x, y, z 2 {0, 1, . . . , n}, x + y + z > 0}

as a set of (n + 1)3 1 points in the three-dimensional space. Determine the smallest

possible number of planes, the union of which contains S but does not include (0, 0, 0).