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Combinatorics Difficulty 8.3 Shortlist Prove it Hong Kong

For every positive integer nn, let f(n)f(n) be the number of all positive integers with exactly 2n2n digits, each having exactly nn of the digits equal to 11 and the other nn digits equal to 22. Let g(n)g(n) be the number of all positive integers with exactly nn digits, each of its digits can only be 11, 22, 33 or 44 and the number of 11's equals the number of 22's. Prove that f(n)=g(n)f(n) = g(n).

Solution

We consider the following mapping between the set SS of all positive integers formed by nn 11's and nn 22's and the set TT of all positive integers with nn digits formed by 11, 22, 33, 44 such that the numbers of 11's and 22's are equal.

For each mSm \in S, we can pair up every two consecutive digits of mm from left to right. This gives nn pairs in total. Then we replace the pairs 1111, 2222, 1212, 2121 by 11, 22, 33, 44 respectively. If there are aa, bb, cc, dd pairs of 1111, 2222, 1212, 2121 respectively, then there are 2a+c+d2a + c + d 11's and 2b+c+d2b + c + d 22's in mm. Thus, we must have a=ba = b. This shows the numbers of 11's and 22's in the image are the same, and so the image belongs to TT.

Clearly, the mapping is reversible. For each mTm \in T, we just need to replace the digits 11, 22, 33, 44 in mm by 1111, 2222, 1212, 2121 respectively. If there are aa, aa, cc, dd copies of 11, 22, 33, 44 respectively, then there are 2a+c+d2a + c + d 11's and 2a+c+d2a + c + d 22's in the image, and so the image belongs to SS. This shows the mapping is a bijection, and hence
f(n)=S=T=g(n). f(n) = |S| = |T| = g(n).

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