Maths Olympiad Prep

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, 2021

Combinatorics Difficulty 6.7 National Olympiad Prove it Taiwan

The Fibonacci numbers F0,F1,F2,F_0, F_1, F_2, \dots are defined inductively by F0=0,F1=1F_0 = 0, F_1 = 1, and Fn+1=Fn+Fn1F_{n+1} = F_n + F_{n-1} for n1n \ge 1. Given n2n \ge 2, determine the smallest size of a set SS of integers such that for every k=2,3,,nk = 2, 3, \dots, n there exist some x,ySx, y \in S such that xy=Fkx - y = F_k.

Solution

The lower bound is Sd+1|S| \ge d+1, where dd is the smallest integer greater than or equal to n2\frac{n}{2}.

1. Estimation: Let us construct a graph GG using the elements of SS as vertices, with edges drawn as follows: for each 1kd1 \le k \le d, find a pair x,ySx, y \in S satisfying xy=F2k1|x - y| = F_{2k-1}, and draw an edge between xx and yy; if there is more than one pair (x,y)(x, y) satisfying xy=F2k1|x - y| = F_{2k-1}, take only one such pair to draw the edge. At the same time, define the length of the edge (x,y)(x, y) to be xy|x - y|.

We now prove that GG contains no cycle. Suppose GG has a cycle (x1,x2,,x)(x_1, x_2, \dots, x_\ell), and without loss of generality assume that the longest edge in this cycle is x1x=F2m+1|x_1 - x_\ell| = F_{2m+1}. Note that the lengths of the other edges in this cycle belong to {F1,F3,,F2m1}\{F_1, F_3, \dots, F_{2m-1}\} and are all distinct. But this implies
F2m+1=xx1i=11xi+1xi=F1+F3++F2m1=F2+(F4F2)++(F2mF2m2)=F2m<F2m+1, \begin{aligned} F_{2m+1} &= |x_{\ell} - x_{1}| \le \sum_{i=1}^{\ell-1} |x_{i+1} - x_{i}| \\ &= F_1 + F_3 + \dots + F_{2m-1} \\ &= F_2 + (F_4 - F_2) + \dots + (F_{2m} - F_{2m-2}) = F_{2m} < F_{2m+1}, \end{aligned}
which is a contradiction! Therefore, GG has at least dd edges and contains no cycle, so GG must have at least d+1d+1 vertices, that is, Sd+1|S| \ge d+1.

2. Construction: Consider S={F0,F2,,F2d}S = \{F_0, F_2, \dots, F_{2d}\}, then we have F2kF2k2=F2k1F_{2k} - F_{2k-2} = F_{2k-1} and F2kF0=F2kF_{2k} - F_0 = F_{2k}.

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