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Algebra Difficulty 7.6 National Olympiad, round 2 Prove it Philippines

Problem:

For a real number xx, let x\lfloor x\rfloor denote the greatest integer not exceeding xx. Consider the function

f(x,y)=M(M+1)(xm+ym) f(x, y)=\sqrt{M(M+1)}(|x-m|+|y-m|)
where M=max(x,y)M=\max (\lfloor x\rfloor,\lfloor y\rfloor) and m=min(x,y)m=\min (\lfloor x\rfloor,\lfloor y\rfloor). The set of all real numbers (x,y)(x, y) such that 2x,y20222 \leq x, y \leq 2022 and f(x,y)2f(x, y) \leq 2 can be expressed as a finite union of disjoint regions in the plane. The sum of the areas of these regions can be expressed as a fraction a/ba / b in lowest terms. What is the value of a+ba+b ?

Solution

Solution:

Fix m2m \geq 2. First note that x,ymx, y \geq m, and that M2M \geq 2, implying M(M+1)2\sqrt{M(M+1)} \geq 2. Thus, f(x,y)2f(x, y) \leq 2 necessarily implies xm+ym1|x-m|+|y-m| \leq 1, and so xm,ym1|x-m|,|y-m| \leq 1. This implies x[m1,m+1]x \in [m-1, m+1], and so x[m,m+1]x \in [m, m+1]. Similarly, y[m,m+1]y \in [m, m+1]. Now if x=m+1x=m+1, then 1xm+ym2M(M+1)<11 \leq |x-m|+|y-m| \leq \frac{2}{\sqrt{M(M+1)}} < 1, contradiction. Using the same argument for yy, it follows that x,y[m,m+1)x, y \in [m, m+1). Thus, x=y=m\lfloor x\rfloor=\lfloor y\rfloor=m always, and so M=mM=m.

The inequality is then equivalent to xm+ym2m(m+1)|x-m|+|y-m| \leq \frac{2}{\sqrt{m(m+1)}}. Let r1r \leq 1 be the upper bound in the inequality. Keeping in mind the fact that x,ymx, y \geq m, this region is a right-triangle with vertices (m,m)(m, m), (m+r,m)(m+r, m) and (m,m+r)(m, m+r), which then has area r22=2m(m+1)\frac{r^{2}}{2}=\frac{2}{m(m+1)}. This region is within the set for 2m20212 \leq m \leq 2021, so the desired sum is

m=220212m(m+1)=2m=22021(1m1m+1)=2(1212022)=10101011 \sum_{m=2}^{2021} \frac{2}{m(m+1)}=2 \sum_{m=2}^{2021}\left(\frac{1}{m}-\frac{1}{m+1}\right)=2\left(\frac{1}{2}-\frac{1}{2022}\right)=\frac{1010}{1011}

It then follows that a+b=2021a+b=2021.

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Source: MathNet, licensed CC-BY-4.0. Statement reproduced verbatim; metadata (topic, difficulty) added by this project.