Let m,n be positive integers. There are n piles of gold coins, where the ith pile contains ai(>0) coins (i=1,…,n). Consider the following game: Step 1 Bob selects sets B1,B2,…,Bn such that each set Bi is a nonempty subset of {1,2,…,m}. Step 2 Alice selects a set S such that S is a nonempty subset of {1,2,…,m}, knowing the sets B1,B2,…,Bn that Bob has selected in Step 1. Step 3 The gold coins in the ith pile (i=1,2,…,n) is given to Bob if the number of elements in Bi∩S is even. Otherwise, they will be given to Alice. Show that no matter how Bob selects the sets B1,B2,…,Bn, Alice will be able to select a set S so as to receive more gold coins than Bob in total.
Solution
At the end of the game, the number of gold coins received by Bob less that of Alice is equal to ∑i=1n(−1)∣Bi∩S∣⋅ai. The number of Alice coins is greater than that of Bob if and only if ∑i=1n(−1)∣Bi∩S∣⋅ai<0.
Suppose (for contradiction purposes) that for each nonempty set S, the number of Alice's coins is less that that of Bob, i.e., i=1∑n(−1)∣Bi∩S∣⋅ai≥0. Observe that if S=∅, then ∑i=1n(−1)∣Bi∩S∣⋅ai=∑i=1nai>0. Adding over all possible sets S, we get S:S⊆{1,2,…,m}∑i=1∑n(−1)∣Bi∩S∣⋅ai>0.(1) Consider the sum ∑S:S⊆{1,2,…,m}(−1)∣B∩S∣ when B is a nonempty subset of {1,…,m}. Writing S=C∪DwhereC=S∖B,D=S∩B,C∩D=∅, we have S:S⊆{1,2,…,m}∑(−1)∣B∩S∣=C:C⊆{1,2,…,m}∖B∑D:D⊆B∑(−1)∣B∩(C∪D)∣=C:C⊆{1,2,…,m}∖B∑D:D⊆B∑(−1)∣D∣. As ∣B∣>0, we have ∑D:D⊆B(−1)∣D∣=∑r=0∣B∣(−1)r(∣B∣r)=0. Thus, ∑S:S⊆{1,2,…,m}(−1)∣B∩S∣=0 for each nonempty set B⊆{1,…,m}. Consequently, S:S⊆{1,2,…,m}∑i=1∑n(−1)∣Bi∩S∣⋅ai=i=1∑naiS:S⊆{1,2,…,m}∑(−1)∣Bi∩S∣=0, which contradicts (1).
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