Given a convex polyhedron with 2022 faces. In 3 arbitrary faces, there are already numbers 26, 4 and 2022 (each face contains one number). One wants to fill in each other face a real number which is the arithmetic mean of every number in faces that share a common edge with that face. Prove that there is exactly one way to fill all the numbers in that polyhedron.
Solution
First, we will prove the following lemma:
Lemma. Given a positive integer n. Prove that the system of linear equations with n variables (x1,x2,…,xn) ⎩⎨⎧a11x1+⋯+a1nxn=b1,⋯an1x1+⋯+annxn=bn(4.1) has exactly one solution if the associated homogeneous system (which means b1=⋯=bn=0) has only one solution x1=⋯=xn=0.
Proof. Assume that both of (x1,…,xn) and (y1,…,yn) are the solutions of this system, we have ⎩⎨⎧a11(x1−y1)+⋯+a1n(xn−yn)=0,⋯an1(x1−y1)+⋯+ann(xn−yn)=0 hence by the given condition, we obtain that x1−y1=x2−y2=⋯=xn−yn=0, which means the system has at most one solution.
We will prove this system always has a solution by induction for n. It is obvious for n=1. Assume that the lemma is proved for n−1. It is clear that if aij=0 for all pairs (i,j) then the associated homogeneous system has infinite solutions, hence there must exist aij=0. Without loss of generality, assume that ann=0. The system can be rewritten as follows ⎩⎨⎧i=1∑n−1(a1i−anianna1n)xi=b1−bnanna1n,i=1∑n−1(a2i−anianna2n)xi=b2−bnanna2n,⋯i=1∑n−1(an−1,i−aniannan−1,n)xi=bn−1−bnannan−1,n,i=1∑nanixi=bn Clearly, if the system ⎩⎨⎧i=1∑n−1(a1i−anianna1n)xi=0,i=1∑n−1(a2i−anianna2n)xi=0,⋯i=1∑n−1(an−1,i−aniannan−1,n)xi=0 has a solution (y1,y2,…,yn−1)=(0,0,…,0) then the homogeneous system with n variables (x1,x2,…,xn) ⎩⎨⎧i=1∑n−1(a1i−anianna1n)xi=0,i=1∑n−1(a2i−anianna2n)xi=0,⋮i=1∑n−1(an−1,i−aniannan−1,n)xi=0,i=1∑nanixi=0 has a root (y1,y2,…,yn−1,0), which is a contradiction. Thus, applying the assumption for n−1, the system ⎩⎨⎧i=1∑n−1(a1i−anianna1n)xi=b1−bnanna1n,i=1∑n−1(a2i−anianna2n)xi=b2−bnanna2n,⋮i=1∑n−1(an−1,i−aniannan−1,n)xi=bn−1−bnannan−1,n has exactly one solution (z1,…,zn−1) and note that xn=annbn−∑i=1n−1anibi, which implies that the lemma is also true for n. □
Back to our problem, let a1,a2,…,a2019 be the remaining numbers on 2019 faces and denote a2020=4,a2021=26,a2022=2022. Next, we write bi,j=1 if the face containing ai has a common edge with the face containing aj, otherwise we write bi,j=0. Denote bii=−j=1,j=i∑nbij. By the given conditions, we have the following system ⎩⎨⎧j=1∑2019b1,jaj=−4b1,2020−26b1,2021−2022b1,2022,j=1∑2019b2,jaj=−4b2,2020−26b2,2021−2022b2,2022,⋮j=1∑2019b2019,jaj=−4b2019,2020−26b2019,2021−2022b2019,2022. Applying the lemma, it is clear that we only need to prove the system ⎩⎨⎧j=1∑2019b1,jaj=0,j=1∑2019b2,jaj=0,⋮j=1∑2019b2019,jaj=0, has exactly one solution a1=a2=⋯=a2019=0. Assume that this system has another solution, which means there exists j such that aj=0. Without loss of generality, assume that a1=max{ai:1≤i≤2019}>0. We observe that M(i=2∑2019b1,i)≥i=2∑2019b1,iai=a1(i=2∑2022b1,i)≥M(i=2∑2019b1,j), which means all the equalities must attain, or ai=M if b1,i=1 and b1,2020=b1,2021=b1,2022=0. Similarly, we obtain that for every ai=M then all the faces that have a common edge with ai contain M and the face that contains ai has no common edge with the faces that contain a2022,a2021 and a2020. Denote A={i≥2019:ai=M},B={1,2,…,2022}∖A. Clearly, there exists i∈A,j∈B such that the face containing ai has a common edge with the face containing aj, which is a contradiction. Hence, the assumption is wrong, which means there exists a1 such that a1<0. Consider the solution (c1,c2,…,c2019)=(−a1,−a2,…,−a2019), we have a solution with the biggest number positive, which is a contradiction. Thus, ai=0 for all i from 1 to 2019 is the only solution of that homogeneous system. Applying the lemma, the system has exactly one solution. □
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