HMMT 2006 C7
- Combinatorics
- Answer
Let be a positive integer, and let Pushover be a game played by two players, standing squarely facing each other, pushing each other, where the first person to lose balance loses. At the HMPT, competitors, numbered 1 through clockwise, stand in a circle. They are equals in Pushover: whenever two of them face off, each has a probability of victory. The tournament unfolds in rounds. In each round, the referee randomly chooses one of the surviving players, and the players pair off going clockwise, starting from the chosen one. Each pair faces off in Pushover, and the losers leave the circle. What is the probability that players 1 and face each other in the last round? Express your answer in terms of .
Dataset text NuminaMath olympiads. Quoted with source.
Show the answer
\frac{2^{n}-1}{8^{n}}
Solutions
No solution is on olymmath yet. Official and human solutions come first when they arrive. AI solutions come after them, with a label.