By the given conditions we obtain
i=1∑n(2∣Ai∣)=(2n).(1)
Let di=∣{k∣i∈Ak}∣. Clearly,
i=1∑ndi=k=1∑n∣Ak∣.(2)
From the "existence and uniqueness" property, we obtain
i=1∑n(2di)=1≤i<j≤n∑∣Ai∩Aj∣.
Also, ∣Ai∩Aj∣≤1 (otherwise the "uniqueness" property of the problem would be violated). To prove Ai∩Aj=∅ is equivalent to proving ∣Ai∩Aj∣=1, which is equivalent to
i=1∑n(2di)=(2n).
By (1) and (2), together with the definition of the binomial coefficient (2x)=(x2−x)/2, the above equality is in turn equivalent to
i=1∑ndi2=k=1∑n∣Ak∣2.(3)
Next, consider ordered pairs (i,k) where i∈/Ak. Suppose Ak={j1,j2,…,jt}, then {i,y1},{i,y2},…,{i,yt} are t distinct two-element subsets of some Aj (since the two-element set {ya,yb} is uniquely contained in Ak), so di≥∣Ak∣, and we also have
n−didi≥n−∣Ak∣∣Ak∣.
Summing the above inequality over all required (i,k), we obtain
i=1∑ndi=i=1∑nk∣i∈/Ak∑n−didi≥i=1∑nk∣i∈/Ak∑n−∣Ak∣∣Ak∣=k=1∑ni∣i∈/Ak∑n−∣Ak∣∣Ak∣=k=1∑n∣Ak∣.
By equality (2), the above must be an equality, and finally we get di=∣Ak∣ when i∈/Ak. Next, consider the equality
i=1∑n(n−di)di=i=1∑nk∣i∈/Ak∑di=i=1∑nk∣i∈/Ak∑∣Ak∣=k=1∑ni∣i∈/Ak∑∣Ak∣=k=1∑n(n−∣Ak∣)∣Ak∣.
Combined with equality (2), this yields (3). This completes the proof!