Problem:
Let be the set of points in such that , and are positive integers less than or equal to . Let be a bijective map between and the that satisfies the following property: if , and , then . Define
Determine the minimum value of .
Solution
Solution:
We examine the planes, their intersections and the lines between points in one of the three pairs of parallel planes. The expression is equivalent to summing differences in values along all these lines. We examine the planes intersections. There is one cube, squares and lines. The minimum value of the difference along a line is . For a square, to minimize the differences we take four consecutive numbers, and the minimum value is . To find the minimum value along a cube, we take consecutive numbers. Since we are taking differences, we can add or subtract any constant to the numbers, so we assume the numbers are -. Examining the cube, we see there's spot where the number is multiplied by , spots where the number is multiplied by , spot where the number is multiplied by , and spots where the number is multiplied by . and must go in the corners, and must go in spots multiplied by , respectively. To minimize the differences we put in the final spot multiplied by , and in the spot multiplied by opposite . Then the sum of all the differences is , so the minimum for a cube is . So the answer is . It is clear that this value can be obtained.