Let $n$ be a positive integer. We start with $n$ piles of pebbles, each initially containing a single pebble. One can perform moves of the following form: choose two piles, take an equal number of pebbles from each pile and form a new pile out of these pebbles. Find (in terms of $n$) the smallest number of nonempty piles that one can obtain by performing a finite sequence of moves of this form.
2023 Brazil Team Selection Test
March 1st, 2023 - Test 1
Let $a > 1$ be a positive integer and $d > 1$ be a positive integer coprime to $a$. Let $x_1=1$, and for $k\geq 1$, define $$x_{k+1} = \begin{cases} x_k + d &\text{if } a \text{ does not divide } x_k \\ x_k/a & \text{if } a \text{ divides } x_k \end{cases}$$Find, in terms of $a$ and $d$, the greatest positive integer $n$ for which there exists an index $k$ such that $x_k$ is divisible by $a^n$.
Find all positive integers $n \geqslant 2$ for which there exist $n$ real numbers $a_1<\cdots<a_n$ and a real number $r>0$ such that the $\tfrac{1}{2}n(n-1)$ differences $a_j-a_i$ for $1 \leqslant i<j \leqslant n$ are equal, in some order, to the numbers $r^1,r^2,\ldots,r^{\frac{1}{2}n(n-1)}$.
Let $ABC$ be an acute triangle with altitude $\overline{AH}$, and let $P$ be a variable point such that the angle bisectors $k$ and $\ell$ of $\angle PBC$ and $\angle PCB$, respectively, meet on $\overline{AH}$. Let $k$ meet $\overline{AC}$ at $E$, $\ell$ meet $\overline{AB}$ at $F$, and $\overline{EF}$ meet $\overline{AH}$ at $Q$. Prove that as $P$ varies, line $PQ$ passes through a fixed point.
APMO 2023 - Test 2
Let $n \geq 5$ be an integer. Consider $n$ squares with side lengths $1, 2, \dots , n$, respectively. The squares are arranged in the plane with their sides parallel to the $x$ and $y$ axes. Suppose that no two squares touch, except possibly at their vertices. Show that it is possible to arrange these squares in a way such that every square touches exactly two other squares.
Find all integers $n$ satisfying $n \geq 2$ and $\dfrac{\sigma(n)}{p(n)-1} = n$, in which $\sigma(n)$ denotes the sum of all positive divisors of $n$, and $p(n)$ denotes the largest prime divisor of $n$.
Let $ABCD$ be a parallelogram. Let $W, X, Y,$ and $Z$ be points on sides $AB, BC, CD,$ and $DA$, respectively, such that the incenters of triangles $AWZ, BXW, CYX,$ and $DZY$ form a parallelogram. Prove that $WXYZ$ is a parallelogram.
Let $c>0$ be a given positive real and $\mathbb{R}_{>0}$ be the set of all positive reals. Find all functions $f \colon \mathbb{R}_{>0} \to \mathbb{R}_{>0}$ such that \[f((c+1)x+f(y))=f(x+2y)+2cx \quad \textrm{for all } x,y \in \mathbb{R}_{>0}.\]
There are $n$ line segments on the plane, no three intersecting at a point, and each pair intersecting once in their respective interiors. Tony and his $2n - 1$ friends each stand at a distinct endpoint of a line segment. Tony wishes to send Christmas presents to each of his friends as follows: First, he chooses an endpoint of each segment as a “sink”. Then he places the present at the endpoint of the segment he is at. The present moves as follows : $\bullet$ If it is on a line segment, it moves towards the sink. $\bullet$ When it reaches an intersection of two segments, it changes the line segment it travels on and starts moving towards the new sink. If the present reaches an endpoint, the friend on that endpoint can receive their present. Prove that Tony can send presents to exactly $n$ of his $2n - 1$ friends.
April 4th, 2023 - Test 3 Day 1
A $\pm 1$-sequence is a sequence of $2022$ numbers $a_1, \ldots, a_{2022},$ each equal to either $+1$ or $-1$. Determine the largest $C$ so that, for any $\pm 1$-sequence, there exists an integer $k$ and indices $1 \le t_1 < \ldots < t_k \le 2022$ so that $t_{i+1} - t_i \le 2$ for all $i$, and $$\left| \sum_{i = 1}^{k} a_{t_i} \right| \ge C.$$
Let $\mathbb R$ be the set of real numbers. We denote by $\mathcal F$ the set of all functions $f\colon\mathbb R\to\mathbb R$ such that $$f(x + f(y)) = f(x) + f(y)$$for every $x,y\in\mathbb R$ Find all rational numbers $q$ such that for every function $f\in\mathcal F$, there exists some $z\in\mathbb R$ satisfying $f(z)=qz$.
Let $Q$ be a set of prime numbers, not necessarily finite. For a positive integer $n$ consider its prime factorization: define $p(n)$ to be the sum of all the exponents and $q(n)$ to be the sum of the exponents corresponding only to primes in $Q$. A positive integer $n$ is called special if $p(n)+p(n+1)$ and $q(n)+q(n+1)$ are both even integers. Prove that there is a constant $c>0$ independent of the set $Q$ such that for any positive integer $N>100$, the number of special integers in $[1,N]$ is at least $cN$. (For example, if $Q=\{3,7\}$, then $p(42)=3$, $q(42)=2$, $p(63)=3$, $q(63)=3$, $p(2022)=3$, $q(2022)=1$.)
April 5th, 2023 - Test 3 Day 2
Let $ABC$ be an acute-angled triangle with $AC > AB$, let $O$ be its circumcentre, and let $D$ be a point on the segment $BC$. The line through $D$ perpendicular to $BC$ intersects the lines $AO, AC,$ and $AB$ at $W, X,$ and $Y,$ respectively. The circumcircles of triangles $AXY$ and $ABC$ intersect again at $Z \ne A$. Prove that if $W \ne D$ and $OW = OD,$ then $DZ$ is tangent to the circle $AXY.$
For each $1\leq i\leq 9$ and $T\in\mathbb N$, define $d_i(T)$ to be the total number of times the digit $i$ appears when all the multiples of $1829$ between $1$ and $T$ inclusive are written out in base $10$. Show that there are infinitely many $T\in\mathbb N$ such that there are precisely two distinct values among $d_1(T)$, $d_2(T)$, $\dots$, $d_9(T)$.
Lucy starts by writing $s$ integer-valued $2022$-tuples on a blackboard. After doing that, she can take any two (not necessarily distinct) tuples $\mathbf{v}=(v_1,\ldots,v_{2022})$ and $\mathbf{w}=(w_1,\ldots,w_{2022})$ that she has already written, and apply one of the following operations to obtain a new tuple: \begin{align*} \mathbf{v}+\mathbf{w}&=(v_1+w_1,\ldots,v_{2022}+w_{2022}) \\ \mathbf{v} \lor \mathbf{w}&=(\max(v_1,w_1),\ldots,\max(v_{2022},w_{2022})) \end{align*}and then write this tuple on the blackboard. It turns out that, in this way, Lucy can write any integer-valued $2022$-tuple on the blackboard after finitely many steps. What is the smallest possible number $s$ of tuples that she initially wrote?
August 11th, 2023 - IberoAmerican Test - Test 4
In a school there are $1200$ students. Each student is part of exactly $k$ clubs. For any $23$ students, they are part of a common club. Finally, there is no club to which all students belong. Find the smallest possible value of $k$.
Let $ABCD$ be a parallelogram. The tangent to the circumcircle of triangle $BCD$ at $C$ intersects $AB$ at $P$ and intersects $AD$ at $Q$. The tangents to the circumcircle of triangle $APQ$ at $P$ and $Q$ meet at $R$. Show that points $A$, $C$, and $R$ are collinear.
Show that for all positive real numbers $a, b, c$, we have that $$\frac{a+b+c}{3}-\sqrt[3]{abc} \leq \max\{(\sqrt{a}-\sqrt{b})^2, (\sqrt{b}-\sqrt{c})^2, (\sqrt{c}-\sqrt{a})^2\}$$
Find all positive integers $n$ with the following property: There are only a finite number of positive multiples of $n$ that have exactly $n$ positive divisors.