MY PUTNAM PROBLEMS

These are the problems I proposed when I was on the Putnam Problem
Committee for the 1984–86 Putnam Exams. Problems intended to be A1
or B1 (and therefore relatively easy) are marked accordingly. The problems
marked with asterisks actually appeared on the Putnam Exam (possibly
reworded). — R. Stanley

1. (A1 or B1 problem) Given that

1
log(1 + x) π2
Z
dx = ,
0 x 12
evaluate
1 y
log(1 + x)
Z Z
dx dy.
0 0 x

2.* (A1 or B1 problem) Let B be an a × b × c brick. Let C1 be the set of all

points p in R3 such that the distance from p to C (i.e., the minimum
distance between p and a point of C) is at most one. Find the volume
of C1 .

3.* (A1 or B1 problem) If n is a positive integer, then define

f (n) = 1! + 2! + · · · + n!.

Find polynomials P (n) and Q(n) such that

f (n + 2) = P (n)f (n + 1) + Q(n)f (n),

for all n ≥ 1.

4. (A1 or B1 problem) Let C be a circle of radius 1, and let D be a

diameter of C. Let P be the set of all points inside or on C such that
p is closer to D than it is to the circumference of C. Find a rational
number r such that the area of P is r.

5. Let n be a positive integer, let 0 ≤ j < n, and let fn (j) be the number
of subsets S of the set {0, 1, . . . , n−1} such that the sum of the elements

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 of S gives a remainder of j upon division by n. (By convention, the
sum of the elements of the empty set is 0.) Prove or disprove:
fn (j) ≤ fn (0),
for all n ≥ 1 and all 0 ≤ j < n.
6. Let P be the set of all real polynomials all of whose coefficients are
either 0 or 1. Find
inf{α ∈ R : ∃f ∈ P such that f (α) = 0}
and
sup{α ∈ R : ∃f ∈ P such that f (0) = 1 and f (α) = 0}.
Here inf denotes infinum (greatest lower bound) and sup denotes supre-
mum (least upper bound).
Somewhat more difficult:
sup{α ∈ R : ∃f ∈ P such that f (iα) = 0},
where i2 = −1.
7. Let n be a positive integer, and let Xn be the set of all n × n matrices
whose entries are +1 or −1. Call a nonempty subset S of Xn full if
whenever A ∈ S, then any matrix obtained from A by multiplying a
row or column by −1 also belongs to S. Let w(A) denote the number
of entries of A equal to 1. Find, as a function of n,
1 X
max w(A)3 ,
S |S|
A∈S

where S ranges over all full subsets of Xn . (Express your answer as a

polynomial in n.)
8.* Let R be the region consisting of all triples (x, y, z) of nonnegative real
numbers satisfying x + y + z ≤ 1. Let w = 1 − x − y − z. Express the
value of the triple integral
ZZZ
x1 y 9 z 8 w 4 dx dy dz
R

in the form a! b! c! d!/n!, where a, b, c, d, and n are positive integers.

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 9.* Let n be a positive integer, and let f (n) denote the last nonzero digit
in the decimal expansion of n!. For instance, f (5) = 2.
(a) Show that if a1 , a2 , . . . , ak are distinct positive integers, then f (5a1 +
5a2 + · · · + 5ak ) depends only on the sum a1 + a2 + · · · + ak .
(b) Assuming (a), we can define g(s) = f (5a1 + 5a2 + · · · + 5ak ), where
s = a1 + a2 + · · · + ak . Find the least positive integer p for which

g(s) = g(s + p), for all s ≥ 1,

or else show that no such p exists.

10.* A transversal of an n × n matrix is a set of n entries of A, no two in
the same row or column. Let f (n) be the number of n × n matrices A
satisfying the following two conditions:
(a) Each entry of A is either −1, 1, or 0.
(b) All transversals of A have the same sum of their elements.
Find a formula for f (n) of the form

a1 · bn1 + a2 · bn2 + a3 · bn3 + a4 ,

where ai , bi are rational numbers.

Easier version (not on Putnam Exam):
(a) Each entry of A is either 0 or 1.
(b) All transversals of A have the same number of 1’s.
11.* Let T be a triangle and R, S rectangles inscribed in T as shown:

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 Find the maximum value, or show that no maximum exists, of

A(R) + A(S)
,
A(T )

where T ranges over all triangles and R, S over all rectangles as above,
and where A denotes area.

12.* (A1 or B1 problem) Inscribe a rectangle of base b and height h and an

isosceles triangle of base b in a circle of radius one as shown.

h
b

For what value of h do the rectangle and triangle have the same area?

13.* If p(x) = m i
P
i=0 ai x is a polynomial with real coefficients ai , then set

m
X
Γ(p(x)) = a2i .
i=0

Let f (x) = 3x2 +7x+2. Find (with proof) a polynomial g(x) satisfying

g(0) = 1, and

Γ(f (x)n ) = Γ(g(x)n ) for every integer n ≥ 1.

14.* Define polynomials fn (x) for n ≥ 0 by

f0 (x) = 1
0
fn+1 (x) = (n + 1)fn (x + 1), n ≥ 0
fn (0) = 0, n ≥ 1.

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 Find (with proof) the explicit factorization of f100 (1) into powers of
distinct primes.
Variation (not on Putnam Exam): f0 (x) = 1, fn+1 (x) = xfn (x)+fn0 (x).
Find f2n (0).

15. Define r
πk πk
c(k, n) = cos + 1 + cos2 .
n n
Find (with proof) all positive integers n satisfying

c(1, n) = c(2, n)c(3, n).

16. Let R be a ring (not necessarily with identity). Suppose that there
exists a nonzero element x of R satisfying

x4 + x = 2x3 .

Prove or disprove: There exists a nonzero element y of R satisfying

y 2 = y.

17. Find the largest real number λ for which there exists a 10 × 10 matrix
A = (aij ), with each entry aij equal to 0 or 1, and with exactly 84
0’s, and there exists a nonzero column vector x of length 10 with real
entries, such that Ax = λx.

18. Choose two points p and q independently and uniformly from the square
0 ≤ x ≤ 1, 0 ≤ y ≤ 1 in the (x, y)-plane. What is the probability
that there exists a circle C contained entirely within the first quadrant
x ≥ 0, y ≥ 0 such that C contains x and√ y in its interior? Express your
answer in the form 1 − (a + bπ)(c + d e) for rational numbers a, b, c,
d, e.

19.* (A1 or B1 problem) Let k be the smallest positive integer with the
following property:

There are distinct integers m1 , m2 , m3 , m4 , m5 such that the poly-

nomial p(x) = (x − m1 )(x − m2 )(x − m3 )(x − m4 )(x − m5 ) has
exactly k nonzero coefficients.

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 Find, with proof, a set of integers m1 , m2 , m3 , m4 , m5 for which this
minimum k is achieved.
Note. The original version of this problem was considerably more
difficult (and was not intended for A1 or B1). It was as follows:
Let P (x) = x11 + a10 x10 + · · · + a0 be a monic polynomial of degree
eleven with real coefficients ai , with a0 6= 0. Suppose that all the zeros
of P (x) are real, i.e., if α is a complex number such that P (α) = 0,
then α is real. Find (with proof) the least possible number of nonzero
coefficients of P (x) (including the coefficient 1 of x11 ).

20. Find (with proof) the largest integer k for which there exist three 9-
element subsets X1 , X2 , X3 of real numbers and k triples (a1 , a2 , a3 )
satisfying ai ∈ Xi and a1 + a2 + a3 = 0.

21. Let X 1
S= ,
m2 n2
where the sum ranges over all pairs (m, n) of positive integers such that
the largest power of 2 dividing m is different from the largest power of
2 dividing n. Express S in the form απ k , where k is an integer and α
is rational. You may assume the formula
∞
X 1 π2
= .
n=1
n 2 6

22. Let a and b be nonnegative integers with binary expansions a = a0 +

2a1 + · · · and b = b0 + 2b1 + · · · (so ai , bi = 0 or 1), and define
X
a ∧ b = a0 b0 + 2a1 b1 + 4a2 b2 + · · · = 2 i a i bi .

Given an integer n ≥ 0, define f (n) to be the number of pairs (a, b) of

nonnegative integers satisfying n = a + b + (a ∧ b). Find a polynomial
P (x) for which
∞
X ∞
Y  k
f (n)xn = P x2 , |x| < 1,
n=0 k=0

or show that no such P (x) exists.

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23. Given v = (v1 , . . . , vn ) where each vi = 0 or 1, let f (v) be the number
of even numbers among the n numbers

v1 + v2 + v3 , v2 + v3 + v4 , . . . , vn−2 + vn−1 + vn , vn−1 + vn + v1 , vn + v1 + v2 .

For which
positive integers n is the following true: for all 0 ≤ k ≤ n,

exactly nk vectors of the 2n vectors v ∈ {0, 1}n satisfy f (v) = k?

24. Let p be a prime number. Let ck denote the coefficient of x2k in the
polynomial
Pp−1 (1 + x + x3 + x4 )k . Find the remainder when the number
k
k=0 (−1) ck is divided by p. Your answer should depend only on
the remainder obtained when p is divided by some fixed number n
(independent of p).

25. Let x(t) and y(t) be real-valued functions of the real variable t satisfying
the differential equations
dx
= −xt + 3yt − 2t2 + 1
dt
dy
= xt + yt + 2t2 − 1,
dt
with the initial conditions x(0) = y(0) = 1. Find x(1) + 3y(1). (This
problem was later withdrawn for having an easier than intended solu-
tion.)

26.* Let a1 , . . . , an , b1 , . . . , bn be real numbers with 1 ≤ b1 < b2 < · · · < bn .

Suppose that there is a polynomial f (x) satisfying
n
X
n
(1 − x) f (x) = 1 + a i xb i .
i=1

Express f (1) in terms of b1 , . . . , bn and n (but independent from a1 , . . . , an ).

27. Given positive integers n and i, let x be the unique real number ≥ i
satisfying xx−i = n. Define f (n, i) = (x + 1)x−i , and set f (0, i) = 0
for all i. Suppose that a1 , a2 , . . . is a nonnegative integer sequence
satisfying ai+1 ≤ f (ai , i) for all i ≥ 1. Prove or disprove: ai is a
polynomial function of i for i sufficiently large.

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28. Let 0 ≤ x ≤ 1. Let the binary expansion of x be

x = a1 2−1 + a2 2−2 + · · ·

(where, say, we never choose the expansion ending in infinitely many

1’s). Define
f (x) = a1 3−1 + a2 3−2 + · · · .

RIn1 other words, write x in binary and read x in ternary. Evaluate

0
f (x)dx.

29.* Let f (x, y, z) = x2 +y 2 +z 2 +xyz. Let p(x, y, z), q(x, y, z), and r(x, y, z)
be polynomials satisfying

f (p(x, y, z), q(x, y, z), r(x, y, z)) = f (x, y, z).

Prove or disprove: (p, q, r) consists of some permutation of (±x, ±y, ±z),

where the number of minus signs is even.

30. Let
∞
1 X
= f (r, s, t)xr y s z t
1 − x − y − z − 6(xy + xz + yz) r,s,t=0

(convergent for |x|, |y|, |z| sufficiently small). Find the largest real num-
ber R for which the power series
∞
X
F (u) = f (n, n, n)un
n=0

converges for all |u| < R.