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Combinatorics Difficulty 7.2 National olympiad, round 2 Prove it South Korea

When there is a link from a webpage ii to a webpage jj, you can move from the webpage ii to the webpage jj directly. For n2n \ge 2, there are nn many webpages numbered from 11 to nn, and for all i{1,2,,n1}i \in \{1, 2, \dots, n-1\}, there is a link from the webpage ii to the webpage (i+1)(i+1).
Now you are allowed to add new links to the webpages so that new links can connect two webpages from ii to jj when i<ji < j. Prove that there exist a way to add at most 3(n1)log2(log2n)3(n-1) \log_2(\log_2 n) many such new links so that for any two integers 1i<jn1 \le i < j \le n, you can move from the webpage ii to the webpage jj using at most 3 links.

Solution

Let T(n)T(n) be smallest number of new links so that the property holds. By using mathematical induction we will show that for all n2n \ge 2,
T(n)3(n1)log2log2n. T(n) \le 3(n-1) \log_2 \log_2 n.

It is trivial that T(2)=03(21)log2log22T(2) = 0 \le 3(2-1)\log_2\log_2 2, and T(3)=03(31)log2log23T(3) = 0 \le 3(3-1)\log_2\log_2 3.
Let n4n \ge 4. When 2m<n2 \le m < n, suppose that
T(m)3(m1)log2log2m.(1) T(m) \le 3(m - 1) \log_2 \log_2 m. \qquad (1)
Now we will show that (1) is true when m=nm = n. Let k2k \ge 2 be an integer so that k2n<(k+1)2k^2 \le n < (k+1)^2. Since TT is an increasing function, T(n)T((k+1)21)T(n) \le T((k+1)^2 - 1).
Imagine a partition of the webpages {1,2,,(k+1)21}\{1, 2, \dots, (k+1)^2 - 1\} into (k+1)(k+1) many groups of (k+1)(k+1) many webpages. Only the last group has kk many webpages. Precisely, {1,2,3,,k+1}\{1, 2, 3, \dots, k+1\} is the first group, {k+2,k+3,,2(k+1)}\{k+2, k+3, \dots, 2(k+1)\} is the second group, and {k(k+1)+1,k(k+1)+2,,(k+1)21}\{k(k+1)+1, k(k+1)+2, \dots, (k+1)^2 - 1\} is the last group.
Now, for each r=0,1,2,,k1r = 0, 1, 2, \dots, k-1, for all 1ik11 \le i \le k-1, add a new link from the webpage r(k+1)+ir(k+1)+i to the webpage r(k+1)+(k+1)r(k+1)+(k+1). The total number of new links of this type is (k1)k(k-1)k. Similarly for each r=1,2,,kr = 1, 2, \dots, k, for all 2ik2 \le i \le k, add a new link from the webpage r(k+1)r(k+1) to the webpage r(k+1)+ir(k+1)+i. The total number of new links of this type is also (k1)k(k-1)k. Also add (k2)\binom{k}{2} many new links between all two webpages whose numbers are multiples of (k+1)(k+1).
Using these new links, any two webpages that belong to different groups are connected by at most 3 links, by taking webpages whose numbers are multiples of (k+1)(k+1) as webpages in the middle of the link path. From the definition of T(k)T(k), if we add T(k)T(k) many links to the kk many webpages in each group, the required property holds. Hence,
T(n)T(k2+2k)2k(k1)+k(k1)2+(k+1)T(k). T(n) \le T(k^2 + 2k) \le 2k(k-1) + \frac{k(k-1)}{2} + (k+1)T(k).
Since
3(k21)log2log2k23(n1)log2log2n. 3(k^2 - 1) \log_2 \log_2 k^2 \le 3(n - 1) \log_2 \log_2 n.
to finish the induction argument, it is enough to show that
2k(k1)+k(k1)2+(k+1)T(k)3(k21)log2log2k2.(2) 2k(k-1) + \frac{k(k-1)}{2} + (k+1)T(k) \le 3(k^2 - 1) \log_2 \log_2 k^2. \qquad (2)
By applying the induction hypothesis on T(k)T(k) to (2), it is enough to show that
2k(k1)+k(k1)2+(k+1)3(k1)log2log2k3(k21)log2log2k2.(3) 2k(k-1) + \frac{k(k-1)}{2} + (k+1)3(k-1)\log_2\log_2 k \le 3(k^2-1)\log_2\log_2 k^2. \quad (3)
(3) is equivalent to the following, which is true for all k2k \ge 2.
    2k22k+k2k23(k21)    k22+52k30. \begin{align*} & \iff 2k^2 - 2k + \frac{k^2 - k}{2} \le 3(k^2 - 1) \\ & \iff \frac{k^2}{2} + \frac{5}{2}k - 3 \ge 0. \end{align*}
Hence (1) holds for m=nm = n, which proves the mathematical induction. \square

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