Maths Olympiad Prep

Library / /14 of 15

, 2022

Algebra Difficulty 7.3 National olympiad, round 2 Prove it China

Consider all sequences of real numbers x0,x1,x2,,x100x_0, x_1, x_2, \dots, x_{100} satisfying the following conditions:
(1) x0=0x_0 = 0;
(2) For any integer ii, 1i1001 \le i \le 100, 1xixi121 \le x_i - x_{i-1} \le 2 holds.
Find the largest positive integer k100k \le 100, such that
xk+xk+1++x100x0+x1++xk1 x_k + x_{k+1} + \dots + x_{100} \ge x_0 + x_1 + \dots + x_{k-1}
holds for every such sequence x0,x1,x2,,x100x_0, x_1, x_2, \dots, x_{100}.

Solution

The answer is 6767.

On one hand, if xi=2ix_i = 2i, 1i341 \le i \le 34, x34+j=x34+j=68+jx_{34+j} = x_{34} + j = 68 + j, 1j661 \le j \le 66, then the sequence satisfies the conditions of the problem. We have
j=68100xji=067xi=j=133(x67+jx34+j)i=134xi=33234×35<0. \sum_{j=68}^{100} x_j - \sum_{i=0}^{67} x_i = \sum_{j=1}^{33} (x_{67+j} - x_{34+j}) - \sum_{i=1}^{34} x_i = 33^2 - 34 \times 35 < 0.
This example shows that when k68k \ge 68, it does not satisfy the requirements.

On the other hand, for any sequence x1,x2,,x100x_1, x_2, \dots, x_{100} that satisfies the conditions of the problem, it is easy to know that xi2ix_i \le 2i, 1i1001 \le i \le 100. For 0s<t1000 \le s < t \le 100, there is the inequality xtxstsx_t - x_s \ge t - s. Therefore,
j=67100xji=066xi=j=134(x66+jx32+j)i=132xi342i=1322i=34232×33>0. \begin{aligned} \sum_{j=67}^{100} x_j - \sum_{i=0}^{66} x_i &= \sum_{j=1}^{34} (x_{66+j} - x_{32+j}) - \sum_{i=1}^{32} x_i \\ &\ge 34^2 - \sum_{i=1}^{32} 2i \\ &= 34^2 - 32 \times 33 > 0. \end{aligned}
In conclusion, the largest kk we seek is 6767. □

Want a route through all this instead of an archive? The track puts 2,000 problems in a working order, from AMC 10 level to the IMO shortlist.

Source: MathNet, licensed CC-BY-4.0. Statement and solution reproduced as published; topic and difficulty added by this site.