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Combinatorics Difficulty 6.6 National olympiad Prove it Estonia

Prove that the set of integers {0,1,2,,2n1}\{0, 1, 2, \dots, 2^n - 1\} can be partitioned into n+1n + 1 disjoint subsets A0,A1,,AnA_0, A_1, \dots, A_n such that both of the following hold:

a) If k+l=nk + l = n, then the subsets AkA_k and AlA_l have the same number of elements.

b) If ss and tt are non-negative integers and s+tns + t \le n, then for an arbitrary element zz in the set As+tA_{s+t}, there exist elements xx and yy from the sets AsA_s and AtA_t, respectively, such that x+y=zx + y = z.

Solutions — 2

Solution 1

Divide the set AA into subsets such that the subset AkA_k consists of only those numbers which have exactly kk ones in their binary representation. Then A0={0},A1={1,2,4,,2n1},,An={2n1}A_0 = \{0\}, A_1 = \{1, 2, 4, \dots, 2^{n-1}\}, \dots, A_n = \{2^n - 1\}. Let us show that both conditions are met.

The first condition is met because the numbers with kk ones are in one-to-one correspondence with the numbers with nkn-k ones: given a number, simply replace all ones in its binary representation by zeros and vice versa.

To show that the second condition is met, choose an arbitrary number zz from the set As+tA_{s+t}. Its binary representation contains exactly s+ts+t ones. Construct a binary number xx by choosing ss ones from the binary representation of zz and filling all other binary places by zeros, analogously construct a second number yy based on remaining ones in zz. Then xAs,yAtx \in A_s, y \in A_t and x+y=zx + y = z.

Solution 2

Let us prove the statement by induction. If n=1n = 1, then A={0,1}A = \{0, 1\}, and taking A0={0}A_0 = \{0\} and A1={1}A_1 = \{1\} we get a partition that satisfies both of the requirements.

Assume now that we have a partition C0,C1,,CnC_0, C_1, \dots, C_n for the set C={0,1,,2n1}C = \{0, 1, \dots, 2^n - 1\}. Construct a partition of the set A={0,1,,2n+11}A = \{0, 1, \dots, 2^{n+1} - 1\} based on that. First, generate the sets B0,B1,,BnB_0, B_1, \dots, B_n as follows: the elements of the subset BiB_i are derived from the elements of the subset CiC_i by adding 2n2^n to them. The subsets B0,B1,,BnB_0, B_1, \dots, B_n form a partition of the set AC={2n,2n+1,,2n+11}A \setminus C = \{2^n, 2^n+1, \dots, 2^{n+1}-1\} and from the construction for all i=0,1,,ni=0, 1, \dots, n the corresponding subsets BiB_i and CiC_i have the same number of elements.

Now, let Ai=CiBi1A_i = C_i \cup B_{i-1} for all i=1,2,,ni = 1, 2, \dots, n and in addition to that, A0=C0A_0 = C_0 and An+1=BnA_{n+1} = B_n. Then, A0=An+1=1|A_0| = |A_{n+1}| = 1, and if k+l=n+1k+l=n+1, then also k,l0k, l \neq 0, Ak=Bk1+Ck=Ck1+Ck|A_k| = |B_{k-1}| + |C_k| = |C_{k-1}| + |C_k| and Al=Bl1+Cl=Cl1+Cl|A_l| = |B_{l-1}| + |C_l| = |C_{l-1}| + |C_l|. As (k1)+l=k+(l1)=n(k-1)+l=k+(l-1)=n, we see that Ck1=Cl|C_{k-1}| = |C_l| and Ck=Cl1|C_k| = |C_{l-1}|; thus Ak=Al|A_k| = |A_l|.

To verify that the second condition is met, let zz be an arbitrary element of As+tA_{s+t}. If t=0t=0, then As=As+tA_s = A_{s+t} and At=A0={0}A_t = A_0 = \{0\}, so we can take x=zx=z and y=0y=0. Now assume t1t \ge 1. If z<2nz < 2^n, then zz is an element of Cs+tC_{s+t} and thus there exist elements xx and yy in the sets CsAsC_s \subset A_s and CtAtC_t \subset A_t, respectively, such that x+y=zx+y=z. If z2nz \ge 2^n, then zz is an element of Bs+t1B_{s+t-1}, i.e. z2nz-2^n is an element of the set Cs+t1C_{s+t-1} and thus the sets CsC_s and Ct1C_{t-1} contain elements xx and yy, respectively, such that x+y=z2nx+y=z-2^n. But now x+(y+2n)=zx+(y+2^n)=z, where xx and y+2ny+2^n are elements of the sets CsAsC_s \subset A_s and Bt1AtB_{t-1} \subset A_t, respectively. So the statement holds for all positive nn.

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Source: MathNet, licensed CC-BY-4.0. Statement and solution reproduced as published; topic and difficulty added by this site.