Maths Olympiad Prep

Library / /8 of 9

Algebra Difficulty 8.3 Shortlist Prove it Singapore

Determine all finite sets AA of non-negative real numbers, containing at least four elements, and such that for all distinct a,b,c,dAa, b, c, d \in A, ab+cdAab + cd \in A.

Solution

Let a1>a2>a3>a4a_1 > a_2 > a_3 > a_4 be the four largest elements in AA. Let a=a1a2+a3a4a = a_1a_2 + a_3a_4, b=a1a3+a2a4b = a_1a_3 + a_2a_4 and c=a1a4+a2a3c = a_1a_4 + a_2a_3. Then a>b>ca > b > c by the rearrangement inequality. We also know that a,b,cAa, b, c \in A.

If there is a fifth term a5a_5, then as before, the 4 terms a2,a3,a4,a5a_2, a_3, a_4, a_5 generate 3 numbers a>b>ca' > b' > c' and we have c=a1a4+a2a3>a=a2a3+a4a5c = a_1a_4 + a_2a_3 > a' = a_2a_3 + a_4a_5. Thus we have 6 distinct numbers. In general, if we have n+4n + 4 terms, n1n \ge 1, then every 4 consecutive terms generate 3 distinct elements, giving a total of 3(n+1)>n+4=A\ge 3(n+1) > n + 4 = |A|. Thus A={a1,a2,a3,a4}A = \{a_1, a_2, a_3, a_4\}.

Suppose a4>0a_4 > 0. If c=a4c = a_4, then
(1a1)a4=a2a31a1>a2a2<12a4<12a<a1+a32<a1. (1 - a_1)a_4 = a_2a_3 \Rightarrow 1 - a_1 > a_2 \Rightarrow a_2 < \frac{1}{2} \Rightarrow a_4 < \frac{1}{2} \Rightarrow a < \frac{a_1+a_3}{2} < a_1.
Hence a=a2a = a_2. Therefore
1=a1+a3a4a2=a1+a2a3a4a2=a4, contradiction. 1 = a_1 + \frac{a_3a_4}{a_2} = a_1 + \frac{a_2a_3}{a_4} \Rightarrow a_2 = a_4, \text{ contradiction.}
If c>a4c > a_4, then a1=a=a1a2+a3a4a_1 = a = a_1a_2 + a_3a_4, a2=b=a1a3+a2a4a_2 = b = a_1a_3 + a_2a_4, a3=c=a1a4+a2a3a_3 = c = a_1a_4 + a_2a_3. Therefore
1=a2+a3a4a1=a2+a1a4a3a4=0, contradiction. 1 = a_2 + \frac{a_3a_4}{a_1} = a_2 + \frac{a_1a_4}{a_3} \Rightarrow a_4 = 0, \text{ contradiction.}
Hence a4=0a_4 = 0 and since c>0c > 0, c=a3c = a_3, b=a2b = a_2 and a=a1a = a_1. Thus
a3=a4a1+a2a3=a2a3a2=1;a2=a1a3+a2a4a1a3=1. a_3 = a_4a_1 + a_2a_3 = a_2a_3 \Rightarrow a_2 = 1; \quad a_2 = a_1a_3 + a_2a_4 \Rightarrow a_1a_3 = 1.
It is easy to check that A={x,1,1x,0}A = \{x, 1, \frac{1}{x}, 0\}, satisfies the conditions given.

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.