Maths Olympiad Prep

Library / /4 of 11

Combinatorics Difficulty 8.1 Shortlist Prove it Switzerland

Problem:
Let nn be a positive integer. Call a sequence of positive integers a1,a2,,ana_{1}, a_{2}, \ldots, a_{n} tame if it satisfies
1a12a2nan 1 \cdot a_{1} \leq 2 \cdot a_{2} \leq \ldots \leq n \cdot a_{n}
Determine the number of tame permutations of 1,2,,n1,2, \ldots, n.

Solutions — 2

Solution 1

Solution:
We prove that the number of possibilities is the nthn^{\text{th}} Fibonacci number FnF_{n} by induction (F0=1,F1=1)\left(F_{0}=1, F_{1}=1\right). For the base case, observe that there is 1 way to do it for n=1n=1 and 2 ways for n=2n=2 (all the arrangements work in both cases).

Now suppose this holds true up to n1n-1 and now consider the arrangements for nn. Where can we place nn in the sequence? Clearly, it can always go in the final position and placing the rest of the numbers is doable in Fn1F_{n-1} ways. If it goes in the penultimate position, then the last number must be n1n-1 (since no other number kk would satisfy n(n1)knn(n-1) \leq k n) and placing the rest is doable in Fn2F_{n-2} ways. We now prove nn cannot go anywhere else.

Let us place nn as aka_{k}, k<n1k < n-1. Now consider the smallest element of ak+1,,ana_{k+1}, \ldots, a_{n}. This element is at most kk and so must go in the last position (as it will not satisfy the inequality if it is placed any earlier.) However, we now cannot place anyone in the penultimate position, as the smallest number that can go there is k+1k+1 but (k+1)(n1)>kn(k+1)(n-1) > k n. You can also obtain a contradiction by trying to place n1n-1, as the earliest it can appear is as ak+1a_{k+1}.

Solution 2

Solution:
We prove that the problem is strictly equivalent to writing nn as a sum of 11's and 22's, which is a well known recurrence problem left to the reader :)

Consider a permutation that works that is not the identity, and let ii be the first index such that aiia_{i} \neq i. It follows that aj=ia_{j}=i for some j>ij>i. Now, where can we place jj? If jj appears before aja_{j}, it has to be aia_{i}, as otherwise the inequality is not satisfied. But if ji+1j \neq i+1 then we are not able to take any value for aj1a_{j-1}, as the smallest number that can go there is i+1i+1 but (i+1)(j1)>ij(i+1)(j-1) > i j. So either j=i+1j=i+1 and we have swapped around two consecutive terms, or jj appears after aja_{j}. In the latter case, just take the largest value in ai,ai+1,,aj1a_{i}, a_{i+1}, \ldots, a_{j-1}. This value is at least j+1j+1 but this immediately contradicts the inequality again. In the former case, the placement of jj and j+1j+1 do not actually affect our ability to place anything afterwards, so we can look at the next index not mapped to itself and conclude it has been swapped with the one immediately following it by the same reasoning, and continue onwards in this manner. Therefore the only changes we can make from the identity permutation are swapping two consecutive values, and this is equivalent to writing nn as a sum of 11's and 22's as desired; a 1 is an element mapped to itself and a 2 is a swap of two consecutive elements.

Want a route through all this instead of an archive? The track puts 2,000 problems in a working order, from AMC 10 level to the IMO shortlist.

Source: MathNet, licensed CC-BY-4.0. Statement reproduced verbatim; metadata (topic, difficulty) added by this project.