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Saudi Arabian Mathematical Competitions, 2015

Combinatorics Difficulty 6.7 National Olympiad Prove it Saudi Arabia

Let SS be a positive integer divisible by all the integers 1,2,…,20151, 2, \ldots, 2015 and a1,a2,…,aka_{1}, a_{2}, \ldots, a_{k} numbers in {1,2,…,2015}\{1, 2, \ldots, 2015\} such that
2S≤a1+a2+…+ak, 2S \leq a_{1} + a_{2} + \ldots + a_{k},
Prove that we can select from a1,…,aka_{1}, \ldots, a_{k} some numbers so that the sum of these selected numbers is equal to SS.

Solution

Notice that because SS is divisible by 20132013, 20142014 and 20152015, we have S≥2013×2014×2015S \geq 2013 \times 2014 \times 2015.

Assume that each integer 1,2,…,20151, 2, \ldots, 2015 appears at most 20132013 times in the list of numbers a1,a2,…,aka_{1}, a_{2}, \ldots, a_{k}. We have
2S≤a1+⋯+ak≤2013(1+2+⋯+2015)<2013×2014×2015, 2S \leq a_{1} + \cdots + a_{k} \leq 2013(1 + 2 + \cdots + 2015) < 2013 \times 2014 \times 2015,
which is a contradiction.

Therefore, there exists an integer ss which appears at least 20142014 times in the list of numbers a1,a2,…,aka_{1}, a_{2}, \ldots, a_{k}. Put 20142014 of this number ss aside from the list. The sum of the remaining numbers in the list is equal to 2S−2014s≥2S−2014×2015>S2S - 2014s \geq 2S - 2014 \times 2015 > S.

Start from the empty set and choose randomly ss integers b1,b2,…,bsb_{1}, b_{2}, \ldots, b_{s} from the remaining numbers in the list. If there exists 1≤i≤s1 \leq i \leq s such that b1+b2+⋯+bib_{1} + b_{2} + \cdots + b_{i} is divisible by ss, put b1,b2,…,bib_{1}, b_{2}, \ldots, b_{i} in the set and put back the other numbers in the remaining list of numbers. If not, by the pigeonhole principle, there exist 1≤i<j≤s1 \leq i < j \leq s such that b1+b2+⋯+bi≡b1+b2+⋯+bj(mods)b_{1} + b_{2} + \cdots + b_{i} \equiv b_{1} + b_{2} + \cdots + b_{j} \pmod{s} and therefore bi+1+bi+2+⋯+bjb_{i+1} + b_{i+2} + \cdots + b_{j} is divisible by ss. In this case, put bi+1,bi+2,…,bjb_{i+1}, b_{i+2}, \ldots, b_{j} in the set and put back the other numbers in the remaining list of numbers. Keep repeating this process whenever the sum of the numbers in the set is less or equal to S−2015sS - 2015s.

Notice that each time the sum of the numbers in the set is divisible by ss and each time it increases by a number which is less or equal to 2015s2015s. Moreover, whenever the sum of the numbers in the set is less or equal to S−2015sS - 2015s it is always possible to choose randomly ss integers from the remaining numbers. Indeed, the sum of the remaining numbers is less or equal to 2S−2014s−(S−2015s)=S+s>2015×2015≥2015s2S - 2014s - (S - 2015s) = S + s > 2015 \times 2015 \geq 2015s.

Once the sum TT of the numbers in the set is strictly greater than S−2015sS - 2015s, in this case we have S≥T>2015sS \geq T > 2015s. Because both SS and TT are divisible by ss, we have S−T=msS - T = ms where m∈{0,1,2,…,2014}m \in \{0, 1, 2, \ldots, 2014\}. Take mm from the 20142014 of the number ss put aside and put them in the set to obtain a sum equal to SS.

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