Problem

Source: Romania National Olympiad 2022

Tags: linear algebra, Matrices, romania



Let $\mathcal{F}$ be the set of pairs of matrices $(A,B)\in\mathcal{M}_2(\mathbb{Z})\times\mathcal{M}_2(\mathbb{Z})$ for which there exists some positive integer $k$ and matrices $C_1,C_2,\ldots, C_k\in\{A,B\}$ such that $C_1C_2\cdots C_k=O_2.$ For each $(A,B)\in\mathcal{F},$ let $k(A,B)$ denote the minimal positive integer $k$ which satisfies the latter property. Let $(A,B)\in\mathcal{F}$ with $\det(A)=0,\det(B)\neq 0$ and $k(A,B)=p+2$ for some $p\in\mathbb{N}^*.$ Show that $AB^pA=O_2.$ Prove that for any $k\geq 3$ there exists a pair $(A,B)\in\mathcal{F}$ such that $k(A,B)=k.$ Bogdan Blaga