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International Mathematical Olympiad 51 Selection Test

Combinatorics Difficulty 7.7 National Olympiad, round 2 Prove it Mongolia

Let tt, kk, mm be positive integers and t>kmt > \sqrt{k} m. Prove that
(2m0)+(2m1)+⋯+(2mm−t−1)<22m2k \binom{2m}{0} + \binom{2m}{1} + \dots + \binom{2m}{m-t-1} < \frac{2^{2m}}{2k}
(proposed by B. Amarsanaa, folklore)

Solution

Lemma. For all integers 0≤t,s≤m0 \leq t, s \leq m such that t+s≤mt + s \leq m, (2mm−s)(2mm−t−s)>t2m\frac{\binom{2m}{m-s}}{\binom{2m}{m-t-s}} > \frac{t^2}{m}.
Proof of lemma.
A=(2mm−s)(2mm−t−s)=(m−t−s)!(m+t+s)!(m−s)!(m+s)!= A = \frac{\binom{2m}{m-s}}{\binom{2m}{m-t-s}} = \frac{(m-t-s)!(m+t+s)!}{(m-s)!(m+s)!} =
=((m+t+1)(m+t+2)…(m+t+s)(m−t−s+1)(m−t−s+2)…(m−s))==(1+t+2sm−t−s+1)(1−t+2sm−t−s+2)…(1+t+2sm−s). = \left( \frac{(m+t+1)(m+t+2)\dots(m+t+s)}{(m-t-s+1)(m-t-s+2)\dots(m-s)} \right) = \\ = \left( 1 + \frac{t+2s}{m-t-s+1} \right) \left( 1 - \frac{t+2s}{m-t-s+2} \right) \dots \left( 1 + \frac{t+2s}{m-s} \right).
Using the (m−t−s+1)<(m−t−s+2)<⋯<(m−s)(m-t-s+1) < (m-t-s+2) < \dots < (m-s) and Bernoulli's inequality:
A≥(1+t+2sm−s)t>1+(t+2sm−s)t>t2m. A \geq \left(1 + \frac{t+2s}{m-s}\right)^t > 1 + \left(\frac{t+2s}{m-s}\right)t > \frac{t^2}{m}.
This completes the proof of lemma.

Let us compare the sum
(2m0)+(2m1)+⋯+(2mm−t−1) \binom{2m}{0} + \binom{2m}{1} + \dots + \binom{2m}{m-t-1}
with the sum
(2mt)+(2mt+1)+⋯+(2mm−1)(1). \binom{2m}{t} + \binom{2m}{t+1} + \dots + \binom{2m}{m-1} \quad (1).
Sum in (1) is clearly less than 22m2\frac{2^{2m}}{2}. t≤[km]t \leq [\sqrt{km}] implies t2m≤k\frac{t^2}{m} \leq k and we have (2mm−t−1)≤12(2mm−1)\binom{2m}{m-t-1} \leq \frac{1}{2}\binom{2m}{m-1} by lemma. Similarly, (2mm−t−2)≤1k(2mm−2)\binom{2m}{m-t-2} \leq \frac{1}{k}\binom{2m}{m-2}, …\dots, (2m0)1k(2mt)\binom{2m}{0}\frac{1}{k}\binom{2m}{t}.
Hence we get that,
(2m0)+(2m1)+⋯+(2mm−t−1)<1k((2mt)+(2m0)+(2m1)+⋯+(2mm−t−1))<1k((2mt)+(2mt+1)+⋯+(2mm−1))<22m2k. \begin{aligned} & \binom{2m}{0} + \binom{2m}{1} + \dots + \binom{2m}{m-t-1} < \\ & \frac{1}{k} \left( \binom{2m}{t} + \binom{2m}{0} + \binom{2m}{1} + \dots + \binom{2m}{m-t-1} \right) < \\ & \frac{1}{k} \left( \binom{2m}{t} + \binom{2m}{t+1} + \dots + \binom{2m}{m-1} \right) < \frac{2^{2m}}{2k}. \end{aligned}

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