Category Archives: problem

2022-21 A determinant of greatest common divisors

Let \(\varphi(x)\) be the Euler’s totient function. Let \(S = \{a_1,\dots, a_n\}\) be a set of positive integers such that for any \(a_i\), all of its positive divisors are also in \(S\). Let \(A\) be the matrix with entries \(A_{i,j} = gcd(a_i,a_j)\) being the greatest common divisors of \(a_i\) and \(a_j\). Prove that \(\det(A) = \prod_{i=1}^{n} \varphi(a_i)\).

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2022-20 4 by 4 symmetric integral matrices 

Let \(S\) be the set of all 4 by 4 integral positive-definite symmetric unimodular matrices. Define an equivalence relation \( \sim \) on \(S\) such that for any \( A,B \in S\), we have \(A \sim B\) if and only if \(PAP^\top = B\) for some integral unimodular matrix \(P\). Determine \(S ~/\sim \).

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2022-17 The smallest number of subsets

Let \(n, i\) be integers such that \(1 \leq i \leq n\). Each subset of \( \{ 1, 2, \ldots, n \} \) with \( i\) elements has the smallest number. We define \( \phi(n,i) \) to be the sum of these smallest numbers. Compute \[ \sum_{i=1}^n \phi(n,i).\]

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2022-15 A determinant of Stirling numbers of second kind

Let \(S(n,k)\) be the Stirling number of the second kind that is the number of ways to partition a set of \(n\) objects into \(k\) non-empty subsets. Prove the following equality \[ \det\left( \begin{matrix} S(m+1,1) & S(m+1,2) & \cdots & S(m+1,n) \\
S(m+2,1) & S(m+2,2) & \cdots & S(m+2,n) \\
\cdots & \cdots & \cdots & \cdots \\
S(m+n,1) & S(m+n,2) & \cdots & S(m+n,n) \end{matrix} \right) = (n!)^m \]

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2022-14 The number of eigenvalues of a symmetric matrix

For a positive integer \(n\), let \(B\) and \(C\) be real-valued \(n\) by \(n\) matrices and \(O\) be the \(n\) by \(n\) zero matrix. Assume further that \(B\) is invertible and \(C\) is symmetric. Define \[A := \begin{pmatrix} O & B \\ B^T & C \end{pmatrix}.\] What is the possible number of positive eigenvalues for \(A\)?

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