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@Agnishom
Created July 27, 2017 11:10
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Creating Problems

a[1], a[2], a[3], \cdots is an arithmetic progression. b[1], b[2], \cdots is also an arithmetic progression, such that b[i] \in \mathbb{N} for every [i]. Is a[b[1]], a[b[2]], \cdots an arithmetic progression as well?

  • What are we doing here?

    • Composing Sequences
      • How many sequences?
        • Two
      • Can we compose more sequences?
        • Yes, but let's try if we can do just two for now.
        • Also, more than two sequences look complicated.
      • Which two sequences should we compose?
        • Self composition seems like an interesting idea.
    • What else can we do on two sequences?
      • Do some pointwise operations on them
        • Add them
        • Multiply them
        • Compare them
          • Does the comparison flip at any point in the case of Arithmetic Progressions?
            • Yes, but at most once.
      • Some limiting stuff
        • Probably too hard for low level users
      • Convolute them
        • Hard to motivate them
  • Assuming we are going with composition, what is the directive?

    • Two arithmetic sequences. Is the composition also an arithmetic sequence?
    • What else could we ask along similar lines?
      • Ask what is the new common difference
      • Ask something about parity, or some residue
      • Does the composition commute?

Alice likes the natural numbers:

[ 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 \ldots ]

But he likes odd numbers more. So, he does the following

((*)) He chooses the numbers at odd positions, i.e, those at the first, third, fifth, seventh and so on positions, and removes the rest.

So, now he has

[ 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 15, 17, 19 \ldots ]


  • We are composing an arithmetic sequence with itself above.
  • Maybe we can compose it multiple times.
    • Should we compose it only finitely many times?
  • What can we ask?
    • Finite Case
      • What is the new common difference after doing ((*)) a few times?
      • Is a certain number removed after this process?
      • When is a certain number removed?
      • What is the next number after 1?
    • Infinite Case
      • Does anything other than other than 1 remain?

But he does ((*)) again, and has

[ 1, 5, 9, 13, 17, 21, 25, 29, 33, 37 \ldots ]

Alice does ((*)) 8 more times, (and thus 10 times in total). What is the next number after 1 in the sequence that he has now?


Alice likes the natural numbers:

[ 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 \ldots ]

But he likes odd numbers more. So, he does the following

((*)) He chooses the numbers at odd positions, i.e, those at the first, third, fifth, seventh and so on positions, and removes the rest.

So, now he has

[ 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 15, 17, 19 \ldots ]

But he does ((*)) again, and has

[ 1, 5, 9, 13, 17, 21, 25, 29, 33, 37 \ldots ]

Alice does ((*)) 8 more times, (and thus 10 times in total).

What is the next number after 1 in the sequence that he has now?

[ ] (1 + 2^{10}) [ ] (1 + 2 \times {10}) [ ] (2^{10})

A biologist has 5 cages. Birds in a cage are happy if there are at least 3 birds in that cage. The biologist has a supply of birds and he is putting in birds from the supply into the cages randomly. What is the minimum number of birds that need to be used in order to guarantee that there is at least one happy cage?

  • What is the underlying math here?

    • Pigeonhole Principle
    • Literally pigeons and holes. If there are 5 holes, how many pigeons do I need so that there is at least one hole with 3 pigeons?
  • What is the directive being used?

    • Given the number of holes, and the number of pigeons we want in a hole, find the number of pigeons.
    • What else could we ask?
      • Given the number of holes, and the number of pigeons, is it necessary that there is at least one hole with so many pigeons?
      • Or, is it better to ask about the number of holes instead?
  • What other setup can we use instead of birds and cages?

    • Socks and Colors
      • The colors are usually the holes here, and the socks are the pigeons and the numbers are 2.
    • Rooms and People
    • Shoes
    • Colored Balls
    • Officers going to places
  • What natural numbers are we using?

    • 5 holes, ? pigeons and 3 target
    • Maybe use less holes?
      • 3 holes work
    • Maybe use less target?
      • No, 2 is too trivial

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