Maths Olympiad Prep

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Combinatorics Difficulty 6.4 National Olympiad Prove it New Zealand

Problem:
Let n,mn, m be positive integers. Let A1,A2,A3,,AmA_{1}, A_{2}, A_{3}, \ldots, A_{m} be sets such that Ai{1,2,3,,n}A_{i} \subseteq \{1,2,3,\ldots, n\} and Ai=3|A_{i}| = 3 for all ii (i.e. AiA_{i} consists of three different positive integers each at most nn). Suppose for all i<ji < j we have
AiAj1|A_{i} \cap A_{j}| \leqslant 1
(i.e. AiA_{i} and AjA_{j} have at most one element in common).

a. Prove that mn(n1)6m \leqslant \frac{n(n - 1)}{6}.

b. Show that for all n3n \geq 3 it is possible to have m(n1)(n2)6m \geqslant \frac{(n - 1)(n - 2)}{6}.

Solution

Solution:
Each set AiA_{i} has exactly three pairs of elements. But each unordered pair chosen from {1,2,,n}\{1,2,\ldots, n\} can be in at most one such set. Therefore
(n2)3m.\binom{n}{2} \geq 3m.
This establishes the required upper bound on the size of mm.

Let TT be the set of all triples, i.e.
T={(a,b,c)1a<b<cn}.T = \{(a, b, c) \mid 1 \leq a < b < c \leq n\}.
We now partition TT into nn parts, T=T0T1T2Tn1T = T_{0} \cup T_{1} \cup T_{2} \cup \dots \cup T_{n-1} based on the residue of a+b+ca + b + c modulo nn, i.e.
Ti={(a,b,c)(a,b,c)T and a+b+ci (mod n)}T_{i} = \{(a, b, c) \mid (a, b, c) \in T \mathrm{~and~} a + b + c \equiv i \mathrm{~(mod~} n)\}
So we have (n3)\binom{n}{3} triples (our pigeons) and nn pigeonholes (the parts T0,T1,T2,,Tn1T_{0}, T_{1}, T_{2}, \ldots, T_{n-1}) therefore by the pigeonhole principle at least one part TkT_{k} must have at least
1n×(n3)\frac{1}{n} \times \binom{n}{3}
triples in it. Now it suffices to show that TkT_{k} satisfies the problem. For the sake of contradiction, assume there exists two triples (a,b,c),(a,b,c)Tk(a, b, c), (a', b', c') \in T_{k} such that a=aa = a' and b=bb = b' but ccc \neq c'. This would imply
a+b+cja+b+c(modn).a + b + c \equiv j \equiv a' + b' + c' \pmod{n}.
Hence ccc \equiv c' (mod nn) and thus c=cc = c' and so we get (a,b,c)=(a,b,c)(a, b, c) = (a', b', c'), contradiction. Therefore no such pair (a,b,c),(a,b,c)Tk(a, b, c), (a', b', c') \in T_{k} exists. Therefore, letting the elements of TkT_{k} be our sets AiA_{i}, we achieve
m1n×(n3)=(n1)(n2)6m \geq \frac{1}{n} \times \binom{n}{3} = \frac{(n - 1)(n - 2)}{6}
as required.

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