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Combinatorics Difficulty 5.5 AIME, harder Prove it Mongolia

Let n1n \ge 1. Let a1,,a2n+2a_1, \dots, a_{2n+2} be a sequence of pairwise distinct integers. Prove that a2n+2a1a_{2n+2} - a_1 is divisible by 2n+12n+1 if we have aiajn|a_i - a_j| \le n whenever ijn|i-j| \le n.

Solution

Let aka_k with 1k2n+21 \le k \le 2n+2 denote the minimum. Translating the sequence by a constant, we may assume that ak=0a_k = 0. Moreover, reversing the order of the sequence if necessary, we may assume that 1kn+11 \le k \le n+1. By the minimality of aka_k, we have ak+1,,ak+n1a_{k+1}, \dots, a_{k+n} \ge 1 and from the distance assumption we have ak+1,,ak+nak+n=na_{k+1}, \dots, a_{k+n} \le a_k + n = n. Thus the pairwise distinct integers ak+1,,ak+na_{k+1}, \dots, a_{k+n} form a permutation of 1,2,,n1, 2, \dots, n.

Assuming k2k \ge 2 gives a contradiction: n+1ak1n+ak=nn+1 \le a_{k-1} \le n + a_k = n, thus k=1k = 1. Similarly, a2n+2a_{2n+2} is the maximum and since all the numbers are distinct integers, we have a2n+22n+1a_{2n+2} \ge 2n+1. Let al=1a_l = 1 for 2ln+12 \le l \le n+1. Then a2n+2n+an+l2n+al=2n+1a_{2n+2} \le n + a_{n+l} \le 2n + a_l = 2n+1, thus a2n+2=2n+1a_{2n+2} = 2n+1. This completes the solution.

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Source: MathNet, licensed CC-BY-4.0. Statement reproduced verbatim; metadata (topic, difficulty) added by this project.