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Taiwan IMO Selection Camp

Algebra Difficulty 6.0 National Olympiad Prove it Taiwan

Let Z\mathbb{Z} and Q\mathbb{Q} be the sets formed by integers and rational numbers, respectively. For subsets X,YX, Y of Q\mathbb{Q}, define X+YX + Y as:
X+Y:={x+y∣x∈X,y∈Y}. X + Y := \{x + y \mid x \in X, y \in Y\}.
(a) Can Z\mathbb{Z} be partitioned into three nonempty subsets A,B,CA, B, C such that A+B,B+C,C+AA+B, B+C, C+A are pairwise disjoint?
(b) Can Q\mathbb{Q} be partitioned into three nonempty subsets A,B,CA, B, C such that A+B,B+C,C+AA+B, B+C, C+A are pairwise disjoint?

Solution

(a) Yes. Here is an example:
A={3k∣k∈Z},B={3k+1∣k∈Z},C={3k+2∣k∈Z}. A = \{3k \mid k \in \mathbb{Z}\}, \quad B = \{3k + 1 \mid k \in \mathbb{Z}\}, \quad C = \{3k + 2 \mid k \in \mathbb{Z}\}.

(b) No. Suppose Q\mathbb{Q} can be partitioned into three nonempty subsets A,B,CA, B, C such that A+B,B+C,C+AA+B, B+C, C+A are pairwise disjoint. Note that for all a∈A,b∈B,c∈Ca \in A, b \in B, c \in C we have
a+b−c∈C,b+c−a∈A,c+a−b∈B.(1) a + b - c \in C, \quad b + c - a \in A, \quad c + a - b \in B. \qquad (1)
Indeed a+b−c∉Aa + b - c \notin A since (A+B)∩(A+C)=∅(A+B) \cap (A+C) = \emptyset, and likewise a+b−c∉Ba + b - c \notin B, hence a+b−c∈Ca + b - c \in C. That is, A+B⊂C+CA+B \subset C+C. Similarly, we have B+C⊂A+AB+C \subset A+A, C+A⊂B+BC+A \subset B+B.
The reverse inclusion also holds. Let a,a′∈A,b∈B,c∈Ca, a' \in A, b \in B, c \in C. By (1) we get a′+c−b∈Ba' + c - b \in B, and since a∈A,c∈Ca \in A, c \in C, applying (1) again gives
a+a′−b=a+(a′+c−b)−c∈C. a + a' - b = a + (a' + c - b) - c \in C.

A+B=C+CA + B = C + C, B+C=A+AB + C = A + A, C+A=B+BC + A = B + B.
Furthermore, without loss of generality assume 0∈A0 \in A. Then B={0}+B⊂A+BB = \{0\} + B \subset A + B and C={0}+C⊂A+CC = \{0\} + C \subset A + C. Since B+CB + C is disjoint from A+BA + B and A+CA + C respectively, B+CB + C is disjoint from BB and CC respectively. Hence B+CB + C is contained in Z∖(B∪C)=A\mathbb{Z}\setminus(B \cup C) = A. Since B+C=A+AB + C = A + A, we obtain A+A⊂AA + A \subset A. On the other hand, A={0}+A⊂A+AA = \{0\} + A \subset A + A, so we obtain A=A+A=B+CA = A + A = B + C.
Therefore A+B+C=A+A+A=AA+B+C = A+A+A = A, and B+B=C+A,C+C=A+BB+B = C+A, C+C = A+B
from which we can derive B+B+B=A+B+C=A,C+C+C=A+B+C=AB+B+B = A+B+C = A, C+C+C = A+B+C = A.
In particular, if for any r∈Q=A∪B∪Cr \in \mathbb{Q} = A \cup B \cup C then 3r∈A3r \in A.
But this conclusion is impossible. Take any b∈Bb \in B (BB being a nonempty subset) and let r=b3∈Qr = \frac{b}{3} \in \mathbb{Q}, then
b=3r∈Ab = 3r \in A yields a contradiction.

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Source: MathNet, licensed CC-BY-4.0. Statement translated into English from zh; metadata (topic, difficulty) added by this project.