International Competition in Mathematics for

Universtiy Students
in
Plovdiv, Bulgaria
1995
1
PROBLEMS AND SOLUTIONS
First day
Problem 1. (10 points)
Let X be a nonsingular matrix with columns X
1
, X
2
, . . . , X
n
. Let Y be a
matrix with columns X
2
, X
3
, . . . , X
n
, 0. Show that the matrices A = Y X
1
and B = X
1
Y have rank n 1 and have only 0s for eigenvalues.
Solution. Let J = (a
ij
) be the n n matrix where a
ij
= 1 if i = j + 1
and a
ij
= 0 otherwise. The rank of J is n 1 and its only eigenvalues are
0

s. Moreover Y = XJ and A = Y X
1
= XJX
1
, B = X
1
Y = J. It
follows that both A and B have rank n 1 with only 0

s for eigenvalues.
Problem 2. (15 points)
Let f be a continuous function on [0, 1] such that for every x [0, 1] we
have
_
1
x
f(t)dt
1 x
2
2
. Show that
_
1
0
f
2
(t)dt
1
3
.
Solution. From the inequality
0
_
1
0
(f(x) x)
2
dx =
_
1
0
f
2
(x)dx 2
_
1
0
xf(x)dx +
_
1
0
x
2
dx
we get
_
1
0
f
2
(x)dx 2
_
1
0
xf(x)dx
_
1
0
x
2
dx = 2
_
1
0
xf(x)dx
1
3
.
From the hypotheses we have
_
1
0
_
1
x
f(t)dtdx
_
1
0
1 x
2
2
dx or
_
1
0
tf(t)dt
1
3
. This completes the proof.
Problem 3. (15 points)
Let f be twice continuously dierentiable on (0, +) such that
lim
x0+
f

(x) = and lim

x0+
f

(x) = +. Show that

lim
x0+
f(x)
f

(x)
= 0.
2
Solution. Since f

tends to and f

tends to + as x tends to
0+, there exists an interval (0, r) such that f

(x) < 0 and f

(x) > 0 for all

x (0, r). Hence f is decreasing and f

is increasing on (0, r). By the mean

value theorem for every 0 < x < x
0
< r we obtain
f(x) f(x
0
) = f

()(x x
0
) > 0,
for some (x, x
0
). Taking into account that f

is increasing, f

(x) <
f

() < 0, we get
x x
0
<
f

()
f

(x)
(x x
0
) =
f(x) f(x
0
)
f

(x)
< 0.
Taking limits as x tends to 0+ we obtain
x
0
liminf
x0+
f(x)
f

(x)
limsup
x0+
f(x)
f

(x)
0.
Since this happens for all x
0
(0, r) we deduce that lim
x0+
f(x)
f

(x)
exists and
lim
x0+
f(x)
f

(x)
= 0.
Problem 4. (15 points)
Let F : (1, ) R be the function dened by
F(x) :=
_
x
2
x
dt
ln t
.
Show that F is one-to-one (i.e. injective) and nd the range (i.e. set of
values) of F.
Solution. From the denition we have
F

(x) =
x 1
ln x
, x > 1.
Therefore F

(x) > 0 for x (1, ). Thus F is strictly increasing and hence

one-to-one. Since
F(x) (x
2
x) min
_
1
ln t
: x t x
2
_
=
x
2
x
ln x
2

3
as x , it follows that the range of F is (F(1+), ). In order to determine
F(1+) we substitute t = e
v
in the denition of F and we get
F(x) =
_
2 ln x
ln x
e
v
v
dv.
Hence
F(x) < e
2 lnx
_
2 ln x
ln x
1
v
dv = x
2
ln 2
and similarly F(x) > xln 2. Thus F(1+) = ln 2.
Problem 5. (20 points)
Let A and B be real n n matrices. Assume that there exist n + 1
dierent real numbers t
1
, t
2
, . . . , t
n+1
such that the matrices
C
i
= A + t
i
B, i = 1, 2, . . . , n + 1,
are nilpotent (i.e. C
n
i
= 0).
Show that both A and B are nilpotent.
Solution. We have that
(A + tB)
n
= A
n
+ tP
1
+ t
2
P
2
+ + t
n1
P
n1
+ t
n
B
n
for some matrices P
1
, P
2
, . . . , P
n1
not depending on t.
Assume that a, p
1
, p
2
, . . . , p
n1
, b are the (i, j)-th entries of the corre-
sponding matrices A
n
, P
1
, P
2
, . . . , P
n1
, B
n
. Then the polynomial
bt
n
+ p
n1
t
n1
+ + p
2
t
2
+ p
1
t + a
has at least n + 1 roots t
1
, t
2
, . . . , t
n+1
. Hence all its coecients vanish.
Therefore A
n
= 0, B
n
= 0, P
i
= 0; and A and B are nilpotent.
Problem 6. (25 points)
Let p > 1. Show that there exists a constant K
p
> 0 such that for every
x, y R satisfying |x|
p
+|y|
p
= 2, we have
(x y)
2
K
p
_
4 (x + y)
2
_
.
4
Solution. Let 0 < < 1. First we show that there exists K
p,
> 0 such
that
f(x, y) =
(x y)
2
4 (x + y)
2
K
p,
for every (x, y) D

= {(x, y) : |x y| , |x|
p
+|y|
p
= 2}.
Since D

is compact it is enough to show that f is continuous on D

.
For this we show that the denominator of f is dierent from zero. Assume
the contrary. Then |x + y| = 2, and

x + y
2

p
= 1. Since p > 1, the function
g(t) = |t|
p
is strictly convex, in other words

x + y
2

p
<
|x|
p
+|y|
p
2
whenever
x = y. So for some (x, y) D

we have

x + y
2

p
<
|x|
p
+|y|
p
2
= 1 =

x + y
2

p
. We get a contradiction.
If x and y have dierent signs then (x, y) D

for all 0 < < 1 because

then |xy| max{|x|, |y|} 1 > . So we may further assume without loss
of generality that x > 0, y > 0 and x
p
+ y
p
= 2. Set x = 1 + t. Then
y = (2 x
p
)
1/p
=(2 (1 + t)
p
)
1/p
=
_
2 (1 + pt +
p(p1)
2
t
2
+ o(t
2
))
_
1/p
=
_
1 pt
p(p 1)
2
t
2
+ o(t
2
)
_
1/p
= 1 +
1
p
_
pt
p(p 1)
2
t
2
+ o(t
2
)
_
+
1
2p
_
1
p
1
_
(pt + o(t))
2
+ o(t
2
)
= 1 t
p 1
2
t
2
+ o(t
2
)
p 1
2
t
2
+ o(t
2
)
= 1 t (p 1)t
2
+ o(t
2
).
We have
(x y)
2
= (2t + o(t))
2
= 4t
2
+ o(t
2
)
and
4(x+y)
2
=4(2(p1)t
2
+o(t
2
))
2
=44+4(p1)t
2
+o(t
2
)=4(p1)t
2
+o(t
2
).
So there exists
p
> 0 such that if |t| <
p
we have (xy)
2
< 5t
2
, 4(x+y)
2
>
3(p 1)t
2
. Then
() (x y)
2
< 5t
2
=
5
3(p 1)
3(p 1)t
2
<
5
3(p 1)
(4 (x + y)
2
)
5
if |x 1| <
p
. From the symmetry we have that () also holds when
|y 1| <
p
.
To nish the proof it is enough to show that |x y| 2
p
whenever
|x 1|
p
, |y 1|
p
and x
p
+y
p
= 2. Indeed, since x
p
+y
p
= 2 we have
that max{x, y} 1. So let x 1
p
. Since
_
x + y
2
_
p

x
p
+ y
p
2
= 1 we
get x + y 2. Then x y 2(x 1) 2
p
.
Second day
Problem 1. (10 points)
Let A be 33 real matrix such that the vectors Au and u are orthogonal
for each column vector u R
3
. Prove that:
a) A

= A, where A

denotes the transpose of the matrix A;

b) there exists a vector v R
3
such that Au = v u for every u R
3
,
where v u denotes the vector product in R
3
.
Solution. a) Set A = (a
ij
), u = (u
1
, u
2
, u
3
)

. If we use the orthogonal-

ity condition
(1) (Au, u) = 0
with u
i
=
ik
we get a
kk
= 0. If we use (1) with u
i
=
ik
+
im
we get
a
kk
+ a
km
+ a
mk
+ a
mm
= 0
and hence a
km
= a
mk
.
b) Set v
1
= a
23
, v
2
= a
13
, v
3
= a
12
. Then
Au = (v
2
u
3
v
3
u
2
, v
3
u
1
v
1
u
3
, v
1
u
2
v
2
u
1
)

= v u.
Problem 2. (15 points)
Let {b
n
}

n=0
be a sequence of positive real numbers such that b
0
= 1,
b
n
= 2 +
_
b
n1
2
_
1 +
_
b
n1
. Calculate

n=1
b
n
2
n
.
6
Solution. Put a
n
= 1 +

b
n
for n 0. Then a
n
> 1, a
0
= 2 and
a
n
= 1 +
_
1 + a
n1
2

a
n1
=

a
n1
,
so a
n
= 2
2
n
. Then
N

n=1
b
n
2
n
=
N

n=1
(a
n
1)
2
2
n
=
N

n=1
[a
2
n
2
n
a
n
2
n+1
+ 2
n
]
=
N

n=1
[(a
n1
1)2
n
(a
n
1)2
n+1
]
= (a
0
1)2
1
(a
N
1)2
N+1
= 2 2
2
2
N
1
2
N
.
Put x = 2
N
. Then x 0 as N and so

n=1
b
n
2
N
= lim
N
_
2 2
2
2
N
1
2
N
_
= lim
x0
_
2 2
2
x
1
x
_
= 2 2 ln 2.
Problem 3. (15 points)
Let all roots of an n-th degree polynomial P(z) with complex coecients
lie on the unit circle in the complex plane. Prove that all roots of the
polynomial
2zP

(z) nP(z)
lie on the same circle.
Solution. It is enough to consider only polynomials with leading coef-
cient 1. Let P(z) = (z
1
)(z
2
) . . . (z
n
) with |
j
| = 1, where the
complex numbers
1
,
2
, . . . ,
n
may coincide.
We have

P(z) 2zP

(z) nP(z) = (z +
1
)(z
2
) . . . (z
n
) +
+(z
1
)(z +
2
) . . . (z
n
) + + (z
1
)(z
2
) . . . (z +
n
).
Hence,

P(z)
P(z)
=
n

k=1
z +
k
z
k
. Since Re
z +
z
=
|z|
2
||
2
|z |
2
for all complex z,
, z = , we deduce that in our case Re

P(z)
P(z)
=
n

k=1
|z|
2
1
|z
k
|
2
. From |z| = 1
it follows that Re

P(z)
P(z)
= 0. Hence

P(z) = 0 implies |z| = 1.
7
Problem 4. (15 points)
a) Prove that for every > 0 there is a positive integer n and real
numbers
1
, . . . ,
n
such that
max
x[1,1]

x
n

k=1

k
x
2k+1

< .
b) Prove that for every odd continuous function f on [1, 1] and for every
> 0 there is a positive integer n and real numbers
1
, . . . ,
n
such that
max
x[1,1]

f(x)
n

k=1

k
x
2k+1

< .
Recall that f is odd means that f(x) = f(x) for all x [1, 1].
Solution. a) Let n be such that (1
2
)
n
. Then |x(1 x
2
)
n
| <
for every x [1, 1]. Thus one can set
k
= (1)
k+1
_
n
k
_
because then
x
n

k=1

k
x
2k+1
=
n

k=0
(1)
k
_
n
k
_
x
2k+1
= x(1 x
2
)
n
.
b) From the Weierstrass theorem there is a polynomial, say p
m
, such
that
max
x[1,1]
|f(x) p(x)| <

2
.
Set q(x) =
1
2
{p(x) p(x)}. Then
f(x) q(x) =
1
2
{f(x) p(x)}
1
2
{f(x) p(x)}
and
(1) max
|x|1
|f(x) q(x)|
1
2
max
|x|1
|f(x) p(x)| +
1
2
max
|x|1
|f(x) p(x)| <

2
.
But q is an odd polynomial in
m
and it can be written as
q(x) =
m

k=0
b
k
x
2k+1
= b
0
x +
m

k=1
b
k
x
2k+1
.
8
If b
0
= 0 then (1) proves b). If b
0
= 0 then one applies a) with

2|b
0
|
instead
of to get
(2) max
|x|1

b
0
x
n

k=1
b
0

k
x
2k+1

<

2
for appropriate n and
1
,
2
, . . . ,
n
. Now b) follows from (1) and (2) with
max{n, m} instead of n.
Problem 5. (10+15 points)
a) Prove that every function of the form
f(x) =
a
0
2
+ cos x +
N

n=2
a
n
cos (nx)
with |a
0
| < 1, has positive as well as negative values in the period [0, 2).
b) Prove that the function
F(x) =
100

n=1
cos (n
3
2
x)
has at least 40 zeros in the interval (0, 1000).
Solution. a) Let us consider the integral
_
2
0
f(x)(1 cos x)dx = (a
0
1).
The assumption that f(x) 0 implies a
0
1. Similarly, if f(x) 0 then
a
0
1. In both cases we have a contradiction with the hypothesis of the
problem.
b) We shall prove that for each integer N and for each real number h 24
and each real number y the function
F
N
(x) =
N

n=1
cos (xn
3
2
)
changes sign in the interval (y, y +h). The assertion will follow immediately
from here.
9
Consider the integrals
I
1
=
_
y+h
y
F
N
(x)dx, I
2
=
_
y+h
y
F
N
(x)cos xdx.
If F
N
(x) does not change sign in (y, y + h) then we have
|I
2
|
_
y+h
y
|F
N
(x)|dx =

_
y+h
y
F
N
(x)dx

= |I
1
|.
Hence, it is enough to prove that
|I
2
| > |I
1
|.
Obviously, for each = 0 we have

_
y+h
y
cos (x)dx

2
||
.
Hence
(1) |I
1
| =

n=1
_
y+h
y
cos (xn
3
2
)dx

2
N

n=1
1
n
3
2
< 2
_
1 +
_

1
dt
t
3
2
_
= 6.
On the other hand we have
I
2
=
N

n=1
_
y+h
y
cos xcos (xn
3
2
)dx
=
1
2
_
y+h
y
(1 + cos (2x))dx +
+
1
2
N

n=2
_
y+h
y
_
cos
_
x(n
3
2
1)
_
+ cos
_
x(n
3
2
+ 1)
__
dx
=
1
2
h + ,
where
||
1
2
_
1 + 2
N

n=2
_
1
n
3
2
1
+
1
n
3
2
+ 1
__

1
2
+ 2
N

n=2
1
n
3
2
1
.
10
We use that n
3
2
1
2
3
n
3
2
for n 3 and we get
||
1
2
+
2
2
3
2
1
+ 3
N

n=3
1
n
3
2
<
1
2
+
2
2

2 1
+ 3
_

2
dt
t
3
2
< 6.
Hence
(2) |I
2
| >
1
2
h 6.
We use that h 24 and inequalities (1), (2) and we obtain |I
2
| > |I
1
|. The
proof is completed.
Problem 6. (20 points)
Suppose that {f
n
}

n=1
is a sequence of continuous functions on the inter-
val [0, 1] such that
_
1
0
f
m
(x)f
n
(x)dx =
_
1 if n = m
0 if n = m
and
sup{|f
n
(x)| : x [0, 1] and n = 1, 2, . . .} < +.
Show that there exists no subsequence {f
n
k
} of {f
n
} such that lim
k
f
n
k
(x)
exists for all x [0, 1].
Solution. It is clear that one can add some functions, say {g
m
}, which
satisfy the hypothesis of the problem and the closure of the nite linear
combinations of {f
n
} {g
m
} is L
2
[0, 1]. Therefore without loss of generality
we assume that {f
n
} generates L
2
[0, 1].
Let us suppose that there is a subsequence {n
k
} and a function f such
that
f
n
k
(x)
k
f(x) for every x [0, 1].
Fix m N. From Lebesgues theorem we have
0 =
_
1
0
f
m
(x)f
n
k
(x)dx
k
_
1
0
f
m
(x)f(x)dx.
Hence
_
1
0
f
m
(x)f(x)dx = 0 for every m N, which implies f(x) = 0 almost
everywhere. Using once more Lebesgues theorem we get
1 =
_
1
0
f
2
n
k
(x)dx
k
_
1
0
f
2
(x)dx = 0.
The contradiction proves the statement.