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Combinatorics Difficulty 4.7 AIME Prove it Bulgaria

Problem:
Is there a set A{1,2,,2004}A \supset \{1,2, \ldots, 2004\} of positive integers such that the product of its elements is equal to the sum of their squares?

Solution

Solution:
There exists. Let us take a0=1a_{0}=1, ai=2004!a0a1ai11a_{i}=2004!a_{0} a_{1} \ldots a_{i-1}-1, i1i \geq 1 and Ai={2,3,,2004,a0,a1,,ai}A_{i}=\{2,3, \ldots, 2004, a_{0}, a_{1}, \ldots, a_{i}\}, i0i \geq 0. Then
(aAi1aaAi1a2)(aAiaaAia2)1=ai21(ai1)aAi1a=(ai1)(ai+12004!a0a1ai1)=0 \begin{gathered} \left(\prod_{a \in A_{i-1}} a-\sum_{a \in A_{i-1}} a^{2}\right)-\left(\prod_{a \in A_{i}} a-\sum_{a \in A_{i}} a^{2}\right)-1 \\ \quad=a_{i}^{2}-1-\left(a_{i}-1\right) \prod_{a \in A_{i-1}} a \\ \quad=\left(a_{i}-1\right)\left(a_{i}+1-2004!a_{0} a_{1} \ldots a_{i-1}\right)=0 \end{gathered}
Hence
aAna=aAna2 for n=aA0aaA0a2 \prod_{a \in A_{n}} a=\sum_{a \in A_{n}} a^{2} \text{ for } n=\prod_{a \in A_{0}} a-\sum_{a \in A_{0}} a^{2}

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