Let's generalize the problem by replacing 2025 with n and 66 with m. For any positive integers m≤n, define:
fm(n)=a1+a2+⋯+am=na1,a2,…,am are positive integersmin(a11+a21+⋯+am1).
We prove the lemma by induction on m. For m=1, fm(n+m−1)=f1(n)=n1, and the statement holds. Assume the statement holds for m−1, and consider the case with m colors.
For i=1,2,…,n, let xi be the weight of the first color ball for person Pi, and assume without loss of generality that x1≤x2≤⋯≤xn. Choose non-negative integer k such that
x1+x2+⋯+xk≤A,x1+x2+⋯+xk+xk+1>A.
Then xk+1≥k+1x1+⋯+xk+1>k+1A. Therefore, for people Pk+1,Pk+2,…,Pn (n−k people), the total weight of their m−1 balls (colors 2,3,…,m) is at most
fm(n+m−1)⋅A−k+1A≤fm−1(n−k+m−2)⋅A.
This inequality holds because
b1+⋯+bm−1=n−k+m−2min(b11+⋯+bm−11)+k+11≥a1+⋯+am=n+m−1min(a11+⋯+am1).
By the induction hypothesis, we can select one ball (from colors 2,3,…,m) from each of Pk+1,Pk+2,…,Pn such that the total weight of each color among the selected balls is at most A. This completes the induction.
Substituting A=fm(n+m−1)1 in the lemma, we see that C=fm(n+m−1)1 satisfies the requirement.
Suppose fm(n+m−1)=a11+⋯+am1 where a1+⋯+am=n+m−1.
If C<fm(n+m−1)1, consider the following scenario: For each person, the weight of their k-th color ball is
ak1×a11+⋯+am11(>ak1×C),
and the total weight of each person's m balls is 1. In this case, the number of selected balls of color k is at most ak−1, so the total number of selected balls would be at most (a1−1)+⋯+(am−1)=n−1, which is a contradiction.
Therefore, the minimal C is Cmin=fm(n+m−1)1.
Let n=mq+r where 1≤r≤m, i.e., n+m−1=m(q+1)+(r−1)=(r−1)(q+2)+(m+1−r)(q+1). Since x1 is convex, the sum a11+⋯+am1 is minimized when a1,…,am consist of (r−1) copies of (q+2) and (m+1−r) copies of (q+1). Thus,
Cmin=fm(n+m−1)1=q+2r−1+q+1m+1−r1.
In particular, when n=2025 and m=66, the required C is 517248.
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