Problem

Source: IMO ShortList, Netherlands 1, IMO 1976, Day 2, Problem 5

Tags: linear algebra, matrix, algebra, system of equations, IMO, imo 1976



We consider the following system with $q=2p$: \[\begin{matrix} a_{11}x_{1}+\ldots+a_{1q}x_{q}=0,\\ a_{21}x_{1}+\ldots+a_{2q}x_{q}=0,\\ \ldots ,\\ a_{p1}x_{1}+\ldots+a_{pq}x_{q}=0,\\ \end{matrix}\] in which every coefficient is an element from the set $\{-1,0,1\}$$.$ Prove that there exists a solution $x_{1}, \ldots,x_{q}$ for the system with the properties: a.) all $x_{j}, j=1,\ldots,q$ are integers$;$ b.) there exists at least one j for which $x_{j} \neq 0;$ c.) $|x_{j}| \leq q$ for any $j=1, \ldots ,q.$