AoPS Community 2021 IMO Shortlist

IMO Shortlist 2021

www.artofproblemsolving.com/community/c3080392
by DottedCaculator, VicKmath7, CyclicISLscelesTrapezoid, amuthup, nprime06, admechii, trying to solve br,
oVlad, Hopeooooo, popcorn1, v Enhance, Kagebaka

– Algebra

A1 Let n be a positive integer. Given is a subset A of {0, 1, ..., 5n } with 4n + 2 elements. Prove that
there exist three elements a < b < c from A such that c + 2a > 3b.
Proposed by Dominik Burek and Tomasz Ciesla, Poland

A2 Which positive integers n make the equation

n X
n 
n2 (n − 1)

X ij
=
n+1 4
i=1 j=1

true?

A3 For each integer n ≥ 1, compute the smallest possible value of

n j
X ak k
k
k=1

over all permutations (a1 , . . . , an ) of {1, . . . , n}.

Proposed by Shahjalal Shohag, Bangladesh

A4 Show that the inequality

n X
X n q n X
X n q
|xi − xj | ⩽ |xi + xj |
i=1 j=1 i=1 j=1

holds for all real numbers x1 , . . . xn .

A5 Let n ≥ 2 be an integer and let a1 , a2 , . . . , an be positive real numbers with sum 1. Prove that
n
X ak 1
(a1 + a2 + · · · + ak−1 )2 < .
1 − ak 3
k=1

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A6 Let m ≥ 2 be an integer, A a finite set of integers (not necessarily positive) and B1 , B2 , ..., Bm
subsets of A. Suppose that, for every k = 1, 2, ..., m, the sum of the elements of Bk is mk . Prove
m
that A contains at least elements.
2

A7 Let n ⩾ 1 be an integer, and let x0 , x1 , . . . , xn+1 be n + 2 non-negative real numbers that satisfy
xi xi+1 − x2i−1 ⩾ 1 for all i = 1, 2, . . . , n. Show that
 3/2
2n
x0 + x1 + · · · + xn + xn+1 > .
3

Pakawut Jiradilok and Wijit Yangjit, Thailand

A8 Determine all functions f : R → R that satisfy

(f (a) − f (b))(f (b) − f (c))(f (c) − f (a)) = f (ab2 + bc2 + ca2 ) − f (a2 b + b2 c + c2 a)

for all real numbers a, b, c.

Proposed by Ankan Bhattacharya, USA

– Combinatorics

C1 Let S be an infinite set of positive integers, such that there exist four pairwise distinct a, b, c, d ∈
S with gcd(a, b) ̸= gcd(c, d). Prove that there exist three pairwise distinct x, y, z ∈ S such that
gcd(x, y) = gcd(y, z) ̸= gcd(z, x).

C2 Let n ≥ 3 be a fixed integer. There are m ≥ n + 1 beads on a circular necklace. You wish to paint
the beads using n colors, such that among any n + 1 consecutive beads every color appears at
least once. Find the largest value of m for which this task is not possible.
Carl Schildkraut, USA

C3 Two squirrels, Bushy and Jumpy, have collected 2021 walnuts for the winter. Jumpy numbers the
walnuts from 1 through 2021, and digs 2021 little holes in a circular pattern in the ground around
their favourite tree. The next morning Jumpy notices that Bushy had placed one walnut into
each hole, but had paid no attention to the numbering. Unhappy, Jumpy decides to reorder the
walnuts by performing a sequence of 2021 moves. In the k-th move, Jumpy swaps the positions
of the two walnuts adjacent to walnut k.
Prove that there exists a value of k such that, on the k-th move, Jumpy swaps some walnuts a
and b such that a < k < b.

C4 The kingdom of Anisotropy consists of n cities. For every two cities there exists exactly one
direct one-way road between them. We say that a [i]path from X to Y [/i] is a sequence of roads

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such that one can move from X to Y along this sequence without returning to an already vis-
ited city. A collection of paths is called diverse if no road belongs to two or more paths in the
collection.
Let A and B be two distinct cities in Anisotropy. Let NAB denote the maximal number of paths
in a diverse collection of paths from A to B. Similarly, let NBA denote the maximal number of
paths in a diverse collection of paths from B to A. Prove that the equality NAB = NBA holds if
and only if the number of roads going out from A is the same as the number of roads going out
from B.
Proposed by Warut Suksompong, Thailand

C5 Let n and k be two integers with n > k ⩾ 1. There are 2n + 1 students standing in a circle. Each
student S has 2k neighbors - namely, the k students closest to S on the left, and the k students
closest to S on the right.
Suppose that n + 1 of the students are girls, and the other n are boys. Prove that there is a girl
with at least k girls among her neighbors.
Proposed by Gurgen Asatryan, Armenia

C6 A hunter and an invisible rabbit play a game on an infinite square grid. First the hunter fixes a
colouring of the cells with finitely many colours. The rabbit then secretly chooses a cell to start
in. Every minute, the rabbit reports the colour of its current cell to the hunter, and then secretly
moves to an adjacent cell that it has not visited before (two cells are adjacent if they share an
edge). The hunter wins if after some finite time either:-the rabbit cannot move; or
-the hunter can determine the cell in which the rabbit started.Decide whether there exists a
winning strategy for the hunter.
Proposed by Aron Thomas

C7 Consider a checkered 3m × 3m square, where m is an integer greater than 1. A frog sits on the
lower left corner cell S and wants to get to the upper right corner cell F. The frog can hop from
any cell to either the next cell to the right or the next cell upwards.
Some cells can be sticky, and the frog gets trapped once it hops on such a cell. A set X of cells
is called blocking if the frog cannot reach F from S when all the cells of X are sticky. A blocking
set is minimal if it does not contain a smaller blocking set.-Prove that there exists a minimal
blocking set containing at least 3m2 − 3m cells.
-Prove that every minimal blocking set containing at most 3m2 cells.

C8 Determine the largest integer N for which there exists a table T of integers with N rows and 100
columns that has the following properties: (i) Every row contains the numbers 1, 2, . . ., 100 in
some order. (ii) For any two distinct rows r and s, there is a column c such that |T (r, c)−T (s, c)| ≥
2. (Here T (r, c) is the entry in row r and column c.)

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– Geometry

G1 Let ABCD be a parallelogram with AC = BC. A point P is chosen on the extension of ray
AB past B. The circumcircle of ACD meets the segment P D again at Q. The circumcircle of
triangle AP Q meets the segment P C at R. Prove that lines CD, AQ, BR are concurrent.

G2 Let Γ be a circle with centre I, and ABCD a convex quadrilateral such that each of the seg-
ments AB, BC, CD and DA is tangent to Γ. Let Ω be the circumcircle of the triangle AIC. The
extension of BA beyond A meets Ω at X, and the extension of BC beyond C meets Ω at Z. The
extensions of AD and CD beyond D meet Ω at Y and T , respectively. Prove that

AD + DT + T X + XA = CD + DY + Y Z + ZC.

Proposed by Dominik Burek, Poland and Tomasz Ciesla, Poland

G3 Consider a 100 × 100 square unit lattice L (hence L has 10000 points). Suppose F is a set of
polygons such that all vertices of polygons in F lie in L and every point in L is the vertex of
exactly one polygon in F. Find the maximum possible sum of the areas of the polygons in F.
Michael Ren and Ankan Bhattacharya, USA

G4 Let ABCD be a quadrilateral inscribed in a circle Ω. Let the tangent to Ω at D meet rays BA and
BC at E and F, respectively. A point T is chosen inside △ABC so that T E ∥ CD and T F ∥ AD.
Let K ̸= D be a point on segment DF satisfying T D = T K. Prove that lines AC, DT, and BK
are concurrent.

G5 Let ABCD be a cyclic quadrilateral whose sides have pairwise different lengths. Let O be the
circumcenter of ABCD. The internal angle bisectors of ∠ABC and ∠ADC meet AC at B1 and
D1 , respectively. Let OB be the center of the circle which passes through B and is tangent to
AC at D1 . Similarly, let OD be the center of the circle which passes through D and is tangent to
AC at B1 .
Assume that BD1 ∥ DB1 . Prove that O lies on the line OB OD .

G6 Find all integers n ≥ 3 for which every convex equilateral n-gon of side length 1 contains an
equilateral triangle of side length 1. (Here, polygons contain their boundaries.)

G7 Let D be an interior point of the acute triangle ABC with AB > AC so that ∠DAB = ∠CAD.
The point E on the segment AC satisfies ∠ADE = ∠BCD, the point F on the segment AB
satisfies ∠F DA = ∠DBC, and the point X on the line AC satisfies CX = BX. Let O1 and O2
be the circumcenters of the triangles ADC and EXD, respectively. Prove that the lines BC, EF,
and O1 O2 are concurrent.

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G8 Let ABC be a triangle with circumcircle ω and let ΩA be the A-excircle. Let X and Y be the
intersection points of ω and ΩA . Let P and Q be the projections of A onto the tangent lines
to ΩA at X and Y respectively. The tangent line at P to the circumcircle of the triangle AP X
intersects the tangent line at Q to the circumcircle of the triangle AQY at a point R. Prove that
AR ⊥ BC.

– Number Theory

N1 Find all positive integers n ≥ 1 such that there exists a pair (a, b) of positive integers, such that
a2 + b + 3 is not divisible by the cube of any prime, and

ab + 3b + 8
n= .
a2 + b + 3

N2 Let n ⩾ 100 be an integer. Ivan writes the numbers n, n + 1, . . . , 2n each on different cards. He
then shuffles these n + 1 cards, and divides them into two piles. Prove that at least one of the
piles contains two cards such that the sum of their numbers is a perfect square.

N3 Find all positive integers n with the following property: the k positive divisors of n have a per-
mutation (d1 , d2 , . . . , dk ) such that for i = 1, 2, . . . , k, the number d1 + d2 + · · · + di is a perfect
square.

N4 Let r > 1 be a rational number. Alice plays a solitaire game on a number line. Initially there is
a red bead at 0 and a blue bead at 1. In a move, Alice chooses one of the beads and an integer
k ∈ Z. If the chosen bead is at x, and the other bead is at y, then the bead at x is moved to the
point x′ satisfying x′ − y = rk (x − y).
Find all r for which Alice can move the red bead to 1 in at most 2021 moves.

N5 Show that n! = an−1 + bn−1 + cn−1 has only finitely many solutions in positive integers.
Proposed by Dorlir Ahmeti, Albania

N6 Determine all integers n ⩾ 2 with the following property: every n pairwise distinct integers
whose sum is not divisible by n can be arranged in some order a1 , a2 , . . . , an so that n divides
1 · a1 + 2 · a2 + · · · + n · an .
Arsenii Nikolaiev, Anton Trygub, Oleksii Masalitin, and Fedir Yudin

N7 Let a1 , a2 , a3 , . . . be an infinite sequence of positive integers such that an+2m divides an + an+m
for all positive integers n and m. Prove that this sequence is eventually periodic, i.e. there exist
positive integers N and d such that an = an+d for all n > N.

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N8 Find all positive integers n for which there exists a polynomial P (x) ∈ Z[x] such that for every
positive integer m ≥ 1, the numbers P m (1), . . . , P m (n) leave exactly ⌈n/2m ⌉ distinct remainders
when divided by n. (Here, P m means P applied m times.)
Proposed by Carl Schildkraut, USA

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