Maths Beyond Limits Balkans 2025 Qualifying Quiz

We ask you to solve three out of five olympiad problems (i.e. problems 1-5) and three exploratory ones (i.e. problems
6-8). Do not get upset if you find the problems difficult as they are meant to be demanding, thought-provoking and get
the best out of you. Also, do not hesitate to submit just partial solutions as sometimes they may be very near completion.
This applies especially to problems 6-8, which are meant to help us understand your mathematical maturity.
If you have some interesting observations concerning the introduced framework in the exploratory pro-
blems, or you find an intriguing question, share it with us in your solution! These will also be awarded
points even if you get stuck at the very beginning of the solution. Moreover, if you come up with some
idea for a modified version of the presented problem, send it to us – this will be highly beneficial to your
application!
You can use books or the Internet to look up definitions or formulas, but do not try to look for the problems
themselves! In case the problem statement is unclear to you even after getting help from the aforementioned so-
urces, please contact us at [email protected]. You may not consult or get help from anyone
else. Violation of any of these rules may permanently disqualify you from attending any Maths Beyond Limits
camp.

1. Let y1 , y2 , . . . , y2025 be real numbers satisfying y12 + y22 + . . . y2025

2
= 1. Find the maximum value of
|y1 − y2 | + |y2 − y3 | + · · · + |y2025 − y1 |.

2. Given a positive integer n, all of its positive divisors are written on separate cards exactly once. Szymon
and Andrej take turns, with Szymon going first. Each turn, a player selects one of the cards and places it into
either Box 1 or Box 2. They may choose any card that has not yet been placed in a box. The game ends when
all the cards have been placed into boxes. Szymon wins if the product of all the numbers in Box 1 is a perfect
square, or if no card has been placed in Box 1. Andrej wins otherwise. Determine who has a winning strategy
for each n.

3. Let S be a set of 2025 points in the plane such that no 3 points in S are collinear. Prove that for each point
A ∈ S, the number of triangles formed by triples of points from the set S\A that contain A in its interior is
even.

4. Let a2 , a3 , . . . , ak be a sequence of positive integers. This sequence is called twisted if, for every integer i
satisfying 2 ≤ i ≤ k, the number of elements of the sequence that are coprime to i equals ai . The length of such
a sequence is defined as k − 1. If d is a squarefree positive integer divisible by at least two distinct primes, prove
that there are at least two different twisted sequences of length d.

Remark: If you manage to strengthen the lower bound for the number of twisted sequences of length d, please
share your progress with us. Solving an original task will be worth full points for the Olympiad part of the quiz,
but you can score additional points for the exploratory part on this problem as well.

5. Circles Γ and γ are tangent at point X, and γ lies inside Γ. A chord U V of Γ is tangent to γ at T . The line
XT meets Γ again at Y . Chords Y R and Y S of Γ are tangent to γ. Let I, J and K be the incentres of triangles
U V X, U V R and U V S respectively. Prove that ∠XJI + ∠IKX = 90◦ .

6. Let p > 2 be a prime number and let Sp = {0, 1, 2, . . . , p − 1}. For ω ∈ Z, p ∤ ω with ordp (ω) = q, where
q is prime, consider all possible remainders of powers of ω modulo p. In this problem we wish to investigate
solutions (x0 , x1 , . . . , xq−1 ) ∈ Spq to congruence

x0 + x1 ω + · · · + xq−1 ω q−1 ≡ c (mod p). (1)

a) Show that for√c = 0 there exists a solution (x0 , x1 , . . . , xq−1 ) ∈ Spq to (1) such that not all xi are equal
and xi ≤ 2⌊ q−1 2p⌋ for all i ∈ {0, 1, . . . , q − 1}.
b) Show that for all c ∈ Sp there exists a solution (x0 , x1 , . . . , xq−1 ) ∈ Spq to (1) such that
p−1
x0 + x1 + · · · + xq−1 ≤
q
 .
c) Prove that for c = 0 there exist no solutions (x0 , x1 , . . . , xq−1 ) ∈ Spq to (1) satisfying
√
x0 + x1 + · · · + xq−1 < q−1 p, q ∤ x0 + x1 + · · · + xq−1 .

Hint: Under given conditions the cyclic permutations of the solution vector (x0 , x1 , . . . , xq−1 ), (xq−1 , x0 , . . . , xq−2 ),
. . . , (x1 , x2 , . . . , x0 ) are linearly independent over Z. You may use this fact without proof.

Are these results still true if q is not necessarily prime? Do you have any observations regarding the structure
of the solutions that were not covered by the subtasks?

7. You find yourself on a flight to Bosnia and Herzegovina. You are seated next to a strange man wearing a
hat - similar to that worn by Indiana Jones. The man spends most of the flight rambling about some pyramids.
However, as you are approaching your destination, he tells you the following:

”I have thought of a k-digit number. I will allow you to ask me questions. A question consists of you saying a
k-digit number, to which I respond ’yes’ if at least 2 of its digits are correct, or ’no’ if that is not the case (a
digit is correct if it is equal to the corresponding digit of my number). You can ask as many questions as you
like, but they come at a price. When you are sure you know what my number is, you can try to guess it. If
you guess correctly, I will sell you my precious pyramids. You will only have to pay a number of Bosnian marks
equal to the number of questions you asked.”

Note: The guess doesn’t count as a question, but you are only allowed one guess.

You don’t care about the man’s pyramids. You are, however, a broke mathematician. Your task is to find a
strategy that guarantees you can buy the pyramids, for a price of no more than n Bosnian marks. Each question
is answered immediately, so you can use previous answers as information when deciding your next question.
What is the smallest n for which you can construct a strategy if:

a) k = 3,
b) k = 4,
c) k > 4; here we are looking for a value of n in terms of k?

Important note: In this problem we don’t expect you to provide proofs that your answers are the best possible.
Instead, show us your strategies, together with a proof that they work.

8. Definition (Ring): A ring is a quintuple (R, +, ·, 0R , 1R ) where 0R , 1R ∈ R, and +, · : R × R → R are

binary operations such that:

i) (R, +, 0R ) is an abelian group.

ii) The operation · : R × R → R satisfies associativity, i.e.
a · (b · c) = (a · b) · c
and identity:
1R · r = r · 1R = r
iii) Multiplication distributes over addition, i.e.
r1 · (r2 + r3 ) = (r1 · r2 ) + (r1 · r3 )
(r1 + r2 ) · r3 = (r1 · r3 ) + (r2 · r3 )

Notation: If R is a ring and r ∈ R, we write −r for the inverse to r in the group (R, +, 0R ). This satisfies
r + (−r) = 0R , and we write r − s to mean r + (−s) and so on.

Definition (Commutative ring): We say a ring R is commutative if a · b = b · a for all a, b ∈ R.

Important: From now onwards, all rings in this problem are commutative.

Definition (Ideal): A non-empty subset I ⊆ R is an ideal, written I ◁ R, if

 i) For all x, y ∈ I we have x + y ∈ I
ii) If x ∈ I and a ∈ R, then a · x ∈ I.

Definition (Generator of ideal): For an element a ∈ R, we write

(a) := aR := {a · r : r ∈ R} ◁ R,

and call it the ideal generated by a.

Definition (Principal ideal): An ideal I is a principal ideal if I = (a) for some a ∈ R.

Definition (Integral domain): A non-zero ring R is an integral domain if for all a, b ∈ R, if a · b = 0R , then
a = 0R or b = 0R . An element that violates this property is known as a zero divisor.

Definition (Zero divisor): An element x ∈ R is a zero divisor if x ̸= 0 and there is a y ̸= 0 such that
xy = 0 ∈ R.

In other words, a ring is an integral domain if it has no zero divisors.

Definition (Quotient ring): Let I ◁ R. On the set R/I = {a + I | a ∈ R} we define operations + and · with:

(a + I) + (b + I) = (a + b) + I

(a + I) · (b + I) = ab + I, a, b ∈ R

With such operations, R/I is a ring called a quotient ring.

Tasks:
     
 a 0 0   0 0 0 
a) Let R =  b a 0  : a, b, c ∈ C and I =  s 0 0  : s, t ∈ C be subsets of M3 (C). Prove
c 0 a t 0 0
   
that R is a commutative ring and that I is its ideal.
b) Consider the ring of polynomials with integer coefficients Z[x] and its subset

I = {2f (x) + xg(x) | f (x), g(x) ∈ Z[x]}

Show that I is an ideal of Z[x]. Is I a principal ideal?

c) Let D be an integral domain and a, b ∈ D its elements such that am = bm and an = bn for some positive
integers m and n such that gcd(m, n) = 1. Prove that a = b.

d) Let I be a minimal ideal of the ring R such that there exist a, b ∈ I with ab ̸= 0. Show that there is an
element x ∈ R such that I = (x) and x2 = x.
Remark: Here, a minimal ideal is an ideal that contains no other non-zero ideal, i.e., if J ⊊ I is an ideal,
then J = (0R ).
e) Let S be a ring of continuous functions on the interval [0, 1] with operations being standard pointwise
addition and multiplication (i.e (f + g)(t) = f (t) + g(t), (f g)(t) = f (t)g(t)). Consider
     
1 2
I= f ∈S f =f =0
3 3

Is S/I an integral domain?

Note: These tasks are completely independent from each other and they’re not necessarily sorted in the
ascending order of difficulty. Please share all of your progress with us.