Maths Olympiad Prep

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, 2014

Algebra Difficulty 5.0 AIME Prove it Romania

Consider real numbers a1,a2,,a2na_1, a_2, \dots, a_{2n} whose sum is 00. Prove that among the pairs (ai,aj)(a_i, a_j), i<ji < j, with i,j{1,2,,2n}i, j \in \{1, 2, \dots, 2n\}, there exist at least 2n12n - 1 pairs such that ai+aj0a_i + a_j \ge 0.

Solution

* If an+a2n10a_n + a_{2n-1} \ge 0, then all the sums ai+a2n1a_i + a_{2n-1} with i=n,2n2i = \overline{n}, 2n-2 as well as all the sums ai+a2na_i + a_{2n} with i=n,2n1i = \overline{n}, 2n-1 are non-negative. In total, there are at least (n1)+n=2n1(n-1)+n = 2n-1 non-negative sums.

* If an+a2n1<0a_n + a_{2n-1} < 0, then a1++an1+an+1++a2n2+a2n>0a_1 + \dots + a_{n-1} + a_{n+1} + \dots + a_{2n-2} + a_{2n} > 0. (1)
We have 0>an+a2n1an1+a2n2a2+an+10 > a_n + a_{2n-1} \ge a_{n-1} + a_{2n-2} \ge \dots \ge a_2 + a_{n+1}. It follows that a2+a3++an1+an+1++a2n3+a2n2<0a_2 + a_3 + \dots + a_{n-1} + a_{n+1} + \dots + a_{2n-3} + a_{2n-2} < 0. Combining this with (1) gives a1+a2n0a_1 + a_{2n} \ge 0, hence all the sums ai+a2na_i + a_{2n} with i=1,2n1i = \overline{1, 2n-1} are non-negative.

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