Maths Olympiad Prep

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Algebra Difficulty 5.6 AIME, harder Prove it Bulgaria

Problem:
Find the maximum possible value of the product of different positive integers with sum 20042004.

Solution

Solution:
Let x1+x2++xk=2004x_{1} + x_{2} + \cdots + x_{k} = 2004, x1,x2,,xkNx_{1}, x_{2}, \ldots, x_{k} \in \mathbb{N}, x1<x2<<xkx_{1} < x_{2} < \cdots < x_{k} and the product x1x2xkx_{1} x_{2} \ldots x_{k} is maximal. Assume that for some i,ji, j, 1i<jk1 \leq i < j \leq k one has that xixi+12x_{i} \leq x_{i+1} - 2 and xjxj+12x_{j} \leq x_{j+1} - 2. Then replacing xix_{i} and xjx_{j} by xi+1x_{i} + 1 and xj1x_{j} - 1, respectively (the sum is the same, i.e. 20042004), we get a larger product since
(xi+1)(xj1)=xixj+xjxi1>xixj (x_{i} + 1)(x_{j} - 1) = x_{i} x_{j} + x_{j} - x_{i} - 1 > x_{i} x_{j}
a contradiction. Hence x1,x2,,xkx_{1}, x_{2}, \ldots, x_{k} are consecutive integers but at most one.

Let the numbers be {x1,x2,,xk}={x,x+1,,x+,x++n,x++n+1,,x+k+n2}\{x_{1}, x_{2}, \ldots, x_{k}\} = \{x, x+1, \ldots, x+\ell, x+\ell+n, x+\ell+n+1, \ldots, x+k+n-2\} and k=n+2k = n + \ell - 2. If n3n \geq 3, we replace x+x+\ell and x++nx+\ell+n by x++1x+\ell+1 and x++n1x+\ell+n-1, respectively, and, as above, we get a larger product.

Let n=1n = 1 and the numbers be x,x+1,,x+k1x, x+1, \ldots, x+k-1. If x5x \geq 5 we replace xx by the numbers x2x-2 and 22. The sum remains 20042004 and the product increases, since 2(x2)>x2(x-2) > x. If 1x41 \leq x \leq 4, a direct verification shows that either we have a larger product or the sum is not equal to 20042004 (for x=2x=2 and x=3x=3).

It remains to consider the case n=2n=2. Let the numbers be
x,x+1,,x+,x++2,x++3,,x+k,0,k+2 x, x+1, \ldots, x+\ell, x+\ell+2, x+\ell+3, \ldots, x+k, \quad \ell \geq 0, k \geq \ell+2
As above, we get a larger product for x=1x=1 and x4x \geq 4.

If x=2x=2, then 2+3++(+2)+(+4)++(k+2)=20042+3+\cdots+(\ell+2)+(\ell+4)+\cdots+(k+2)=2004 and hence (k+2)(k+3)=2(2008+)(k+2)(k+3)=2(2008+\ell). Since 0k20 \leq \ell \leq k-2, it follows that 4016(k+2)(k+3)4012+2k4016 \leq (k+2)(k+3) \leq 4012+2k and then k=61,=8k=61, \ell=8. So the numbers are 2,3,,10,12,13,,632,3, \ldots, 10,12,13, \ldots, 63 with product 63!11\frac{63!}{11}.

For x=3x=3 we get analogously k=60,=5k=60, \ell=5 and the numbers are 3,4,,8,10,11,,633,4, \ldots, 8,10,11, \ldots, 63 with product 63!18\frac{63!}{18} which is smaller than 63!11\frac{63!}{11}.

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