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Iranian Mathematical Olympiad

Number theory Difficulty 6.7 National Olympiad Prove it Iran

Let A1,A2,…,AkA_1, A_2, \ldots, A_k be subsets of {1,2,3,…,n}\{1, 2, 3, \ldots, n\} such that for all 1≤i,j≤k:Ai∩Aj≠∅1 \le i, j \le k : A_i \cap A_j \ne \emptyset. Prove that there are nn distinct positive integers x1,x2,…,xnx_1, x_2, \ldots, x_n such that for each 1≤j≤k1 \le j \le k
lcm⁡i∈Aj{xi}>lcm⁡i∉Aj{xi} \operatorname{lcm}_{i \in A_j} \{x_i\} > \operatorname{lcm}_{i \notin A_j} \{x_i\}

Solution

Let p1,…,pkp_1, \dots, p_k be distinct prime numbers and for all 1≤i≤n1 \le i \le n define xix_i to be xi=∏j∈Ajpjx_i = \prod_{j \in A_j} p_j. We prove that these xix_i's satisfy the problem's conditions.

1≤i,j≤k  ⟹  Ai∩Aj≠∅  ⟹  ∃l:l∈Ai,l∈Aj  ⟹  pipj∣xll∈Ai  ⟹  pj∣xl∣lcm⁡m∈Ai{xm} 1 \le i, j \le k \implies A_i \cap A_j \ne \emptyset \implies \exists l : l \in A_i, l \in A_j \implies p_i p_j \mid x_l \\ l \in A_i \implies p_j \mid x_l \mid \operatorname{lcm}_{m \in A_i}\{x_m\}
So for every 1≤i,j≤k1 \le i, j \le k, pj∣xl∣lcm⁡m∈Ai{xm}p_j \mid x_l \mid \operatorname{lcm}_{m \in A_i}\{x_m\}, which results in xl∣lcm⁡m∈Ai{xm}=p1…pkx_l \mid \operatorname{lcm}_{m \in A_i}\{x_m\} = p_1 \dots p_k.

On the other hand,
pi∣lcm⁡m∉Ai{xm}  ⟺  ∃j:pi∣xj, j∉Ai  ⟺  j∈Ai, j∉Ai p_i \mid \operatorname{lcm}_{m \notin A_i}\{x_m\} \iff \exists j : p_i \mid x_j,\ j \notin A_i \iff j \in A_i,\ j \notin A_i
which clearly is a contradiction, therefore
lcm⁡m∉Ai{xm}≤p1…pkpi<p1…pk=lcm⁡m∈Ai{xm} \operatorname{lcm}_{m \notin A_i}\{x_m\} \le \frac{p_1 \dots p_k}{p_i} < p_1 \dots p_k = \operatorname{lcm}_{m \in A_i}\{x_m\}
which yields our result.

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