Mathematics Proficiency Test
Devansh Kumar Tripathi
March 2025
1 Problems
1.1 P-0 (warm-up)
Let S be the set of sequences of length 2018 whose terms are in the set {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 10}
and sum to 3860. If the maximum possible cardinality of S is 2x ( yz )a , with co-
prime y and z, determine the value of z + x − y − a.
1.2 P-1
Mohan and Sohan are playing a game. Mohan claims that he has a polynomial
f with integer coefficients in mind, but Sohan is skeptical. To test Mohan’s
claim, Sohan asks him on minute i for the value of f (i), starting from minute 1.
If Mohan is telling the truth, he will report f (i). However, if Mohan is lying, he
will randomly and uniformly pick a positive integer from the range [1, (i + 1)!]
and report that instead.
Sohan can immediately determine whether the values Mohan provides are
consistent with a polynomial of integer coefficients. If the values are inconsistent,
Sohan will call out Mohan. If Mohan is lying, what is the probability that he
makes it to round 20 without being caught? Express this probability as a
reduced fraction ab . If the prime factorization of b is pe11 pe22 . . . pekk , determine
the sum of digits of the sum :
Xk
ei .
i=1
1.3 P-2
Consider a (2m − 1) × (2n − 1) rectangular region, where m and n are integers
such that m, n ≥ 4. The region is to be tiled using tiles of the two types shown:
1
(The dotted lines divide the tiles into 1 × 1 squares.) The tiles may be rotated
and reflected, as long as their sides are parallel to the sides of the rectangular
region. They must all fit within the region, and they must cover it completely
without overlapping. What is the minimum number of tiles required to tile the
region? (Answer in terms of m and n).
1.4 P-3
Let λ be the largest real number with the following property: for any positive
real numbers p, q, r, s there exists a complex number z = a + bi(a, b ∈ R) such
that
|b| ≥ λ|a| and (pz 3 + 2qz 2 + 2rz + s) · (qz 3 + 2pz 2 + 2sz + r) = 0.
Determine the value of λ8 .
1.5 P-4
Let a1 , a2 , . . . , an be a sequence of real numbers, and let m be a fixed positive
integer less than n. We say an index k with 1 ≤ k ≤ n is good if there exists
some ℓ with 1 ≤ ℓ ≤ m such that ak + ak+1 + ... + ak+ℓ−1 ≥ 0, where the
indices are taken modulo n. Let T be the set of all good indices. Determine the
minimum possible value of X
ak
k∈T
.
1.6 P-5
Let M be the midpoint of BC of triangle ABC. The circle with diameter
BC, ω, meets AB, AC at D, E respectively. P lies inside △ABC such that
̸ P BA = ̸ P AC, ̸ P CA = ̸ P AB, and 2P M ·DE = BC 2 . Point X lies outside
̸ BXC+̸ BAC
ω such that XM ∥ AP , and XB AB
XC = AC . Determine the value of 2 .
1.7 P-6
In the fictional country of Mahishmati, there are 50 cities, including a capital
city. Some pairs of cities are connected by two-way flights. Given a city A,
an ordered list of cities C1 , . . . , C50 is called an antitour from A if every city
(including A) appears in the list exactly once, and for each k ∈ {1, 2, . . . , 50},
it is impossible to go from A to Ck by a sequence of exactly k (not necessarily
distinct) flights. Baahubali notices that there is an antitour from A for any
city A. Further, he can take a sequence of flights, starting from the capital and
passing through each city exactly once. If the least possible total number of
antitours from the capital city is (m!)2 , then find the value of 2m.
2
1.8 P-7
An integer partition, is a way of writing n as a sum of positive integers. Two
sums that differ only in the order of their summands are considered the same
partition. The number of partitions of n is given by the partition function
p (n). So p (4) = 5 . Determine the product of all the positive integers so that
p (n) + p (n + 4) = p (n + 2) + p (n + 3).
1.9 P-8
Let 0 < 1q ≤ p1 < 1 and p1 + 1q = 1. Let uk , vk , ak and bk be non-negative real
sequences such as u2k > apk and vk > bqk , where k = 1, 2, · · · , n. If 0 < m1 ≤
uk ≤ M1 and 0 < m2 ≤ vk ≤ M2 , then find the minimum value of
n
!1 n
! p1 n
! p1
X p X X
2 p
p
u2k apk vk2 bpk
l (uk + vk ) − (ak + bk ) − − −
k=1 k=1 k=1
where
M1 M2 + m1 m2
l= √
2 m1 M1 m2 M2
1.10 P-9
A sequence of integers a0 , a1 . . . is called kawaii if a0 = 0, a1 = 1, and
(an+2 − 3an+1 + 2an )(an+2 − 4an+1 + 3an ) = 0
for all integers n ≥ 0. An integer is called kawaii if it belongs to some kawaii se-
quence. Suppose that two consecutive integers m and m+1 are both kawaii (not
necessarily belonging to the same kawaii sequence). In such a case, determine
the unique integer α such that m m
α is an integer and α is also kawaii.
1.11 P-10
Let ω1 , ω2 be two non-intersecting circles, with circumcenters O1 , O2 respec-
tively, and radii r1 , r2 respectively where r1 < r2 . Let AB, XY be the two
internal common tangents of ω1 , ω2 , where A, X lie on ω1 , B, Y lie on ω2 . The
circle with diameter AB meets ω1 , ω2 at P and Q respectively. If
̸ AO1 P + ̸ BO2 Q = 180◦ ,
find the value of ( PQY
X 4
) (in terms of r1 , r2 ).
1.12 P-11
Given a positive integer n, let ϕ(n) denote the number of positive integers less
than or equal to n that are relatively prime to n. Find all possible positive
3
integers k for which there exist positive integers 1 ≤ a1 < a2 < . . . < ak such
that:
ϕ(a1 ) ϕ(a2 ) ϕ(ak )
+ + ... + = 2024.
a1 a2 ak
(Give answer as a range of numbers).
1.13 Bonus Problem —— Not to be Evaluated
Prove that: (1) In the complex plane, each line (except for the real axis) that
crosses the origin has at most one point z, satisfy
1 + z 23
∈ R.
z 64
(2) For any non-zero complex number a and any real number θ, the equation
1 + z 23 + az 64 = 0 has roots in
n πo
Sθ = z ∈ C | Re(ze−iθ )|z| cos .
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