ISL 2008 C4
- Answer
Let and be fixed positive integers of the same parity, . We are given lamps numbered 1 through ; each of them can be on or off. At the beginning all lamps are off. We consider sequences of steps. At each step one of the lamps is switched (from off to on or from on to off). Let be the number of -step sequences ending in the state: lamps on, lamps off. Let be the number of -step sequences leading to the same state and not touching lamps at all. Find the ratio .
Official text Transcription from NuminaMath olympiads, checked word for word against the official paper. Quoted with source.
Official text: IMO 2008 Shortlist booklet, page 26.
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2^{k-n}
Solutions
Official solution Solution 1 by the IMO Problem Selection Committee
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