Let be a non-zero real number and be a positive integer. Let be real numbers (not necessarily distinct). Prove that there exist indices such that for any .
, 2021
Solution
Let be a graph with vertex set and edge set . Note that has no odd cycles. Indeed, if is a cycle, then for all the number differs from by or . Hence differs from by an even multiple of . Therefore there is no edge between and contradicting the assumption that is a cycle.
Since has no odd cycles, it is bipartite. Therefore can be split into two disjoint sets such that there is no edge between any two vertices of and there are no edges between any two vertices in . Since has elements, one of the sets has at least elements. Without loss of generality assume that has at least elements. Then for simply define to be the -th least element of .
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