Mathematics Competition Shortlist - 2023

Nicolas Bourbaki Mathematical

Competition
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Notations and definitions

• N = {0,1,2,3,. . . }
• det(A) denotes the determinant of the matrix A
• In is the identity matrix.

• If (an ) and (bn ) are two sequences:

an = o(bn ) ⇐⇒ ∀ε > 0, ∃N ∈ N|∀n ≥ N, |an | ≤ ε|bn |.
If bn is not equal to zero for n ≥ N where N is a positive integer, this is
equivalent to saying abnn → 0
• Two sequences (an ) and (bn ) are said to be equivalent (denoted as an ∼ bn )
if and only if an = bn + o(bn ). If bn is not equal to zero for n ≥ N where
N is a positive integer, this is equivalent to saying abnn → 1
• Tr denotes the trace i.e the sum of the diagonal entries of a matrix.
• Sn (also denoted as Sn ) is the symmetric group i.e the group of bijections
from {1, . . . , n} onto {1, . . . , n}. Its elements are called permutations.

• The signature ε is the unique non-trivial group homomorphism from Sn

onto {−1, 1}.
• If a permutation σ ∈ Sn has no fixed points
(ie satisfies ∀i ∈ {1, . . . , n}, σ(i) ̸= i), it is called a derangement.

• The set Sn (R) is a vector space. Its elements are the symmetric matrices
ie the matrices A that satisfy AT = A where T is the transposition.
• The set S+n (R) is a subset of Sn (R). Its elements are the symmetric ma-
trices with positive eigenvalues.
Equivalently, these matrices are exactly the symmetric matrices A that
satisfy ∀x ∈ Rn , ⟨Ax, x⟩ ≥ 0 where ⟨., .⟩ denotes the canonical inner prod-
uct of Rn .
• A matrix A is said to be skew-symmetric if and only if it satisfies AT = −A
where T denotes the transposition function.
• A real number x is said to be a cluster point of a sequence (an ) if and only
if there exists a strictly increasing function ϕ : N 7→ N such that aϕ(n) → x
as n goes to infinity.
 Problems
Problem 1
Let n ≥ 1 be an integer and Xn be a random variable uniformly distributed over {1, . . . , n}.
Rn
Let Rn be the remainder in the euclidean division of n by Xn . Let Yn = Xn
. Compute:

1
lim P(Yn ≥ ).
n→∞ 2

Problem 2
Let A be a skew-symmetric matrix. Prove that :

det(In + A) ≥ 1

Problem 3
Let Xn and Yn be two independent and uniform random variables on the group Sn .
Let Gn =< Xn , Yn > be the group generated by Xn and Yn .

1) Prove that P(∃j ∈ {1 . . . , n}| ∀σ ∈ Gn , σ(1) ̸= j) goes to 0 as n goes to infinity.

2) Does one have P(Gn = Sn ) → 1 as n goes to infinity?

Problem 4

Let (un )n∈N be a sequence defined by

un
u0 > 0, ∀ n ∈ N, un+1 = sin( ).
2
Find an asymptotic development of (un ) of order 2.

NB : by asymptotic development of order 2, we mean find non zero sequences (an ) and (bn )
such that un = an + bn + o(bn ) where bn = o(an )

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 Problems
Problem 5
Compute the limit as n tends to infinity of :
n  
1 X
k n
(−1) ln(k)
ln ln(n) k=1 k

Problem 6
Let M be a matrix with only zeros in its diagonal entries and either 1s or -1s in its non-
diagonal entries. Prove that M is invertible.

Problem 7

Let (un ) be an injective sequence of integers.

Define an = lcm(u1 , . . . , un ). Does the following series converge ?

X 1
an

Problem 8
1 √
Does there exist P ∈ Z[X] such that P ( √ ) = 3 ?
2
Problem 9

If σ ∈ Sn , let ν(σ) denote the number of fixed points σ has, and ε(σ) its signature. Compute :

X ε(σ)
σ∈Sn
ν(σ) + 1

Problem 10
Let V be the vector space of continuous functions from [0, 1] to R. For f ∈ V and x ∈ [0, 1],
define :
Rx R1
Af (x) = 0 f (t)dt + 0 tf (t)dt
Which strictly positive constant C optimally satisfies for all f ∈ V :
∥Af ∥∞ ≤ C∥f ∥∞

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 Problems
Problem 11
How many zeros does the n-th derivative of the following function have in R ?
f : x 7→ exp(−x2 )

Problem 12
√ √ 2
Let A, B ∈ S+
n (R). Denote A as the unique matrix of S+
n (R) such that A = A.Suppose
+
that B − A ∈ Sn (R). Prove that :
√ √
B − A ∈ S+ n (R)

Problem 13
Let A be a subset of N∗ (ie strictly positive integers). Let Bn be the intersection between A
and {1, . . . , n}. Suppose:
X ln(k)
∼ ln(n)
k∈B
k
n

Find a simple sequence (an ) such that :

X 1
∼ an
k∈B
k
n

NB: an ∼ bn ⇐⇒ an = bn (1 + o(1)) as n goes to infinity.

Problem 14
What are the cluster points of the following sequence :
∀n ∈ N, un = {ln(n!)}

NB: {x} = x − ⌊x⌋

Problem 15
Let d ∈ N∗ . Let (ε1 , . . . , εd−1 ) be Bernoulli random variables of parameter 21 . Let pd be the
d−1
X
d
probability that the polynomial X + εi X i + 1 has a rational root. Prove that :
r k=1
2
pd ∼ as d goes to infinity.
πd

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 Problems
Problem 16
Let ϕ be Euler’s totient function and let n ≥ 5 be an integer. Let Fn be the Fibonacci
sequence (with F0 = 0 and F1 = 1). Prove that :
4 divides ϕ(Fn )

Problem 17
Let p be a prime number and A ∈ Mn (Fp ).

1) Let x ∈ Fnp . Prove that there exists unique monic polynomials πx and π such that for all
P ∈ Fp [X] :
P (A) = 0 ⇐⇒ π divides P and , P (A)x = 0 ⇐⇒ πx divides P
2) Suppose that x is a random variable uniformly distributed in Fnp . Show that:
n
P(πx = π) ≤
p

Problem 18
Let p be a prime number. Consider the following matrix:
 
X0 X1 . . . Xp−1
Xp−1 X0 . . . Xp−2 
 
 .. .. . . .. 
 . . . . 
X1 X2 . . . X 0

where each Xi denotes a Bernoulli variable of parameter 12 . Suppose that these random
variables are independent. Compute the probability for this matrix to be invertible.

Problem 19
Are there more derangements with signature 1 or more derangements with signature -1 in
the group Sn ?

Problem 20

Prove that the following function is convex:

Γ : Sn (R) → R, S 7→ T r(exp S)