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Number theory Difficulty 6.1 National Olympiad Prove it Saudi Arabia

Let us call a set of positive integers nice if the number of its elements equals to the average of its numbers. Call a positive integer nn an amazing number if the set {1,2,,n}\{1, 2, \ldots, n\} can be partitioned into nice subsets.

a) Prove that every perfect square is amazing

b) Show that there are infinitely many positive integers which are not amazing.

Solution

a) Let A={1,2,,n}A = \{1, 2, \dots, n\} and n=k2n = k^2 for some positive integer kk. Denote BB as the set of first mm odd positive integers. It's clear that BB is nice. Assume that n2m1n \ge 2m-1, let C=ABC = A \setminus B. CC is nice if and only if
(1+2++n)m2nm=nm    n=n24mn+4m2    m=nk2. \frac{(1 + 2 + \cdots + n) - m^2}{n - m} = n - m \iff n = n^2 - 4mn + 4m^2 \iff m = \frac{n-k}{2}.
Therefore, we can choose mm so that CC is nice. Hence, nn is amazing.

b) We prove that if n=4k+2n = 4k + 2 for some positive integer kk, then nn is not amazing. Assume that A={1,2,,n}A = \{1, 2, \dots, n\} can be partitioned into nice subsets A1,A2,,AmA_1, A_2, \dots, A_m with cardinality a1,a2,,ama_1, a_2, \dots, a_m respectively. Therefore,
n(n+1)2=xAx=i=1mxAix=i=1mai2=i=1mai=n(mod2), \frac{n(n+1)}{2} = \sum_{x \in A} x = \sum_{i=1}^{m} \sum_{x \in A_i} x = \sum_{i=1}^{m} a_i^2 = \sum_{i=1}^{m} a_i = n \pmod{2},
that yields contradiction. \square

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