Let be a positive integer such that there exists a positive integer that is less than and does not divide . Let be an arbitrary permutation of . Let be its maximal increasing subsequence and let be its maximal decreasing subsequence. Prove that tuples and altogether contain at least one number that does not divide .
Solutions — 3
Solution 1
The first phase of the solution consists in showing that . For every , let denote the length of the longest increasing subsequence ending with , and let be the length of the longest decreasing subsequence ending with . For distinct indices , if then , and if then . Hence pairs of the form where are all distinct, i.e., there are different such pairs in total. By the conditions of the problem, the largest number of the form is and the largest number of the form is . Thus the number of pairs of the form is at most . Consequently, .
From this result, we deduce by AM-GM. At most one number can belong to an increasing and a decreasing subsequence simultaneously. Thus subsequences and together contain at least different natural numbers in total. By assumptions, number has at most divisors that are not larger than , the total number of divisors of satisfies the inequality . Consequently, subsequences and together contain at least one number that does not divide .
Solution 2
The inequality can be proven also in the following way. Let us partition the permutation into decreasing subsequences using the following algorithm. The first element of each new subsequence is the first unused element in the original permutation, the next is the first following to it in the original permutation unused element smaller than it etc., until no more elements can be chosen this way. Let these subsequences be in the order of forming.
For every and every element of , there exists an element in such that and . Indeed, suppose the contrary. Then all elements of such that are greater than . This means that should have been chosen into , a contradiction.
Hence, starting from an arbitrary element of , we can choose an element from , an element from , etc, until from , in such a way that . This is an increasing subsequence of length of the original permutation. As every element of the original permutation belongs to one of , there exists a decreasing subsequence of length at least . Now and together give .
Solution 3
Another algorithm can be used for partitioning the permutation into decreasing subsequences in such a way that there exists an increasing subsequence with each element representing a different part. Let the first element of each new subsequence be the largest among the unused elements, the next be the largest following to it in the original sequence unused element etc., until no more elements can be chosen this way. Let these subsequences be in the order of forming.
For every and every from , there exists an element from such that and . Indeed, suppose the contrary. Then all elements in such that are smaller than . This means that should have been chosen into , contradiction.
Hence, starting from an arbitrary element of , we can choose an element from , an element from etc., until from , in such a way that . The rest is as in Solution 2.