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Combinatorics Difficulty 8.8 Shortlist Prove it Taiwan

Let n3n \ge 3 be a positive integer. There are nn Jujutsushis in total from kk different schools, labeled from 1 to nn. It is known that when two Jujutsushis fight, the one with the smaller label will win. It is also known that if {x1,x2,,xn}\{x_1, x_2, \dots, x_n\} is a permutation of {1,2,,n}\{1, 2, \dots, n\}, then among the n1n-1 fights between Jujutsushi number x1x_1 and x2x_2, x2x_2 and x3x_3, \dots, xn1x_{n-1} and xnx_n, the set of winners will contains at least one Jujutsushi from each of the kk schools. Prove that n2kn \ge 2^k.

Solution

Consider the nn Jujutsushis as nn points A1,,AnA_1, \dots, A_n, color each point according to its school, and for all 1i<jn1 \le i < j \le n, connect AiAjA_iA_j with an edge colored with the color of AiA_i. We first prove the following key lemma.

Lemma: For the ii-th color, there exists 1pn1 \le p \le n such that among A1,A2,,ApA_1, A_2, \dots, A_p, the number of points of color ii is more than p/2p/2.

Proof: If not, then there exists ii such that for all 1pn1 \le p \le n, among the first pp points there are at most p/2\lfloor p/2 \rfloor points of color ii. Let Ax1,Ax2,,AxtA_{x_1}, A_{x_2}, \dots, A_{x_t} be all the points of color ii, and Ay1,Ay2,,AysA_{y_1}, A_{y_2}, \dots, A_{y_s} be all the points not of color ii, where x1<x2<<xtx_1 < x_2 < \dots < x_t, y1<y2<<ysy_1 < y_2 < \dots < y_s. Clearly s+t=ns + t = n, and by the assumption for contradiction tp/2t \le \lfloor p/2 \rfloor. Moreover, note that for 1jt1 \le j \le t, if yjxjy_j \ge x_j, then A1,A2,,AxjA_1, A_2, \dots, A_{x_j} would have jj points of color ii and fewer than jj points not of color ii, contradicting the assumption for contradiction, so we must have yj<xjy_j < x_j. But then,
Ax1Ay1,Ay1x2,Ax2y2,Ay2x3,,Axtyt,Aytyt+1,,Ays1ys A_{x_1}A_{y_1}, A_{y_1x_2}, A_{x_2y_2}, A_{y_2x_3}, \dots, A_{x_ty_t}, A_{y_ty_{t+1}}, \dots, A_{y_{s-1}y_s}
would contain no edge of color ii, a contradiction. Hence the original statement holds.

Now, for the ii-th color, let pip_i be the smallest pp satisfying the lemma. Note that for iji \ne j, if among the first pip_i points more than half are of color ii, then it is impossible for more than half to be of color jj, so pipjp_i \ne p_j, hence we may assume without loss of generality that
p1<p2<<pk. p_1 < p_2 < \dots < p_k.
At this point, when iji \le j, among the first pip_i points there are at least (pi+1)/2\lfloor (p_i + 1)/2 \rfloor points of color ii, and hence among the first pjp_j points there are at least (pi+1)/2\lfloor (p_i + 1)/2 \rfloor points of color ii. This means
pjthe number of points of the first j colors among the first pj pointsi=1j(pi+1)/2. p_j \ge \text{the number of points of the first } j \text{ colors among the first } p_j \text{ points} \ge \sum_{i=1}^{j} \lfloor (p_i + 1)/2 \rfloor.
The above can be used recursively to show pi2i1p_i \ge 2^i - 1, and hence npk2k1n \ge p_k \ge 2^k - 1.

Finally, we only need to prove n2k1n \ne 2^k - 1. If n=2k1n = 2^k - 1, all the equalities above must hold, that is, pi=2i1p_i = 2^i - 1 and there are exactly 2i12^{i-1} points of color ii. But note that the number of points of the first i1i-1 colors is
j=1i12j=2i11=pi1 \sum_{j=1}^{i-1} 2^j = 2^{i-1} - 1 = p_{i-1}
so all the points of color ii can only be the 2i2^i points from Api1+1A_{p_{i-1}+1} to ApiA_{p_i}. But then
Apk1+1Ap1,Ap1Apk1+2,Apk1+2A2,A2Apk1+3,,Apk1Apk A_{p_{k-1}+1}A_{p_1}, A_{p_1}A_{p_{k-1}+2}, A_{p_{k-1}+2}A_2, A_2A_{p_{k-1}+3}, \dots, A_{p_{k-1}}A_{p_k}
would contain no color kk, a contradiction. Hence n2kn \ge 2^k.

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Source: MathNet, licensed CC-BY-4.0. Statement translated into English from zh; metadata (topic, difficulty) added by this project.