Optiver–styleQuant ResearcherGraduate Quantitative ResearcherQuestion #85

Provide a formal proof for the following: You have two groups of marbles—one group with 1 marble and the other with 2^n marbles. At each step, you can double the size of one group by taking marbles from the other group. Is it possible to reach a state where one group has 0 marbles and the other has 2^n + 1 marbles?

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State the assumptions, try a simple case, then work toward a general solution. Check the result and explain how it changes if an assumption changes.

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