Maths Olympiad Prep

Library / /28 of 84

, 2013

Algebra Difficulty 5.1 AIME, harder Prove it United States

Problem:
Let a1,a2,a3,a4,a5a_{1}, a_{2}, a_{3}, a_{4}, a_{5} be real numbers whose sum is 2020. Determine with proof the smallest possible value of
1i<j5ai+aj. \sum_{1 \leq i<j \leq 5}\left\lfloor a_{i}+a_{j}\right\rfloor.

Solution

Solution:
Answer: 7272

We claim that the minimum is 7272. This can be achieved by taking a1=a2=a3=a4=0.4a_{1}=a_{2}=a_{3}=a_{4}=0.4 and a5=18.4a_{5}=18.4.

To prove that this is optimal, note that
1i<j5ai+aj=1i<j5(ai+aj){ai+aj}=801i<j5{ai+aj}, \sum_{1 \leq i<j \leq 5}\left\lfloor a_{i}+a_{j}\right\rfloor = \sum_{1 \leq i<j \leq 5} (a_{i}+a_{j}) - \{a_{i}+a_{j}\} = 80 - \sum_{1 \leq i<j \leq 5} \{a_{i}+a_{j}\},
so it suffices to maximize
1i<j5{ai+aj}=i=15{ai+ai+2}+i=15{ai+ai+1} \sum_{1 \leq i<j \leq 5} \{a_{i}+a_{j}\} = \sum_{i=1}^{5} \{a_{i}+a_{i+2}\} + \sum_{i=1}^{5} \{a_{i}+a_{i+1}\}
where a6=a1a_{6}=a_{1} and a7=a2a_{7}=a_{2}. Taking each sum modulo 11, it is clear that both are integers. Thus, the above sum is at most 24=82 \cdot 4 = 8, and our original expression is at least 808=7280-8=72, completing the proof.

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 reproduced verbatim; metadata (topic, difficulty) added by this project.