Set 1

Time: 3 hours.
It is not necessary to show work for a subtask if it is covered by a later subtask.
Problem 1 What is the greatest common factor of all integers of the form p4 1, where p is a prime number
greater than 5?
(a) Prove that 16 divides all integers of the form p4 1. [20 points]
(b) Prove that 3 divides all integers of the form p4 1. [20 points]
(c) Prove that 5 divides all integers of the form p4 1. [25 points]
(d) Complete the solution given (a), (b), and (c). [35 points]
Problem 2 Alice and Bob play a game, taking turns, playing on a row of n seats. On a players turn, he or she
places a coin on any seat provided that there is no coin on that seat or on an adjacent seat. Alice moves first. The
player who does not have a valid move loses the game.
(a) Show that Alice has a winning strategy when n = 5. [20 points]
(b) Show that Alice has a winning strategy when n = 6. [30 points]
(c) Show that Bob has a winning strategy when n = 8. [50 points]
Problem 3 Assume that k and n are two positive integers. Prove that there exist positive integers m1 , . . . , mk
such that




1
1
2k 1
= 1+
1 +
.
1+
n
m1
mk
3
. [5 points]
(a) Find two positive integers a, b such that (1 + a1 )(1 + 1b ) = 1 + 11
(b) Solve the problem for k = 3 and n odd. [15 points]
3
. [5 points]
(c) Find two positive integers a, b such that (1 + a1 )(1 + 1b ) = 1 + 26
(d) Solve the problem for k = 3 and n even. [15 points]
(e) Complete the original problem. [60 points]

Set 2
Time: 3 hours.
It is not necessary to show work for a subtask if it is covered by a later subtask.
Problem 4 Find all triples of primes (p, q, r) satisfying 3p4 5q 4 4r2 = 26.
(a) Show that q is a multiple of 3. [35 points]
(b) Show that p is a multiple of 5. [40 points]
(c) Solve the full problem given (a) and (b). [25 points]
Problem 5 A sequence of m Ps and n Qs with m > n is called non-predictive if there is some point in the
sequence where the number of Qs counted from the left is greater than or equal to the number of Ps counted from
the left. For example, if m = 5 and n = 2 the sequence PPQQPPP is non-predictive because in counting the first
four letters from the left, the number of Qs is equal to the number of Ps. Also, the sequence QPPPQPP is
non-predictive because in counting the first letter from the left, the number of Qs is greater than the number of Ps.
(a) If m = 7 and n = 2, determine the number of non-predictive sequences that begin with P. [10 points]
(b) Suppose that n = 2. Show that for every m > 2, the number of non-predictive sequences that begin with P is
equal to the number of non-predictive sequences that begin with Q. [30 points]
(c) Determine the number of non-predictive sequences with m = 10 and n = 3. [60 points]
Problem 6 Find all integers n for which each cell of n n table can be filled with one of the letters A, B and C in
such a way that: in each row and each column, one third of the entries are A, one third are B and one third are C;
and in any diagonal (not only the long diagonals), if the number of entries on the diagonal is a multiple of three,
then one third of the entries are A, one third are B and one third are C.
(a) Prove that it is not possible to fill the grid when n is not a multiple of 3. [2 points]
(b) Prove that it is not possible to fill the grid when n = 3. [3 points]
(c) Prove that it is not possible to fill the grid when n = 6. [10 points]
(d) Prove that it is not possible to fill the grid when n is a multiple of 3 but is not a multiple of 9. [50 points]
(e) Prove that it is possible to fill the grid when n = 9. [20 points]
(f) Prove that it is possible to fill the grid when n is a multiple of 9. [15 points]