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Combinatorics Difficulty 6.9 National Olympiad Prove it Iran

Suppose 2n2n subsets of the set {0,1,,2n1}\{0, 1, \dots, 2n-1\} are chosen such that the sum of the cardinals (i.e., total number of elements) of these subsets equals (2n+12)\binom{2n+1}{2}. Prove that we can choose exactly one element from each subset such that the sum of the chosen numbers equals (2n2)\binom{2n}{2}.

Solution

We prove the statement using the following lemmas.

Lemma 1. If Ai+Aj=2n+1r|A_i| + |A_j| = 2n + 1 - r for a non-negative rr, then there exist aiAi,ajAja_i \in A_i, a_j \in A_j such that 2n1rai+aj2n1+r2n - 1 - r \le a_i + a_j \le 2n - 1 + r.
Proof. Assume the contrary. Let Ai={x1x2xAi}A_i = \{x_1 \le x_2 \le \cdots \le x_{|A_i|}\} and let yt=2n1xty_t = 2n - 1 - x_t be the complement of xtx_t. Since AjA_j is non-empty, there exists yAjy \in A_j.
If y>y1y > y_1 then we also have yy1+ry \ge y_1 + r. Now consider the following values:
yAi,yAi1,,y2,y1,y1+1,y1+2,,y1+r y_{|A_i|}, y_{|A_i|-1}, \cdots, y_2, y_1, y_1+1, y_1+2, \cdots, y_1+r
They are Ai+r|A_i|+r distinct numbers; all of them belong to [0,2n1][0, 2n-1]. Moreover AjA_j cannot contain any of them. So the size of AjA_j is at most 2n(Ai+r)2n - (|A_i| + r) which is a contradiction.
If y<y1y < y_1 then let tt be the smallest index such that y<yty < y_t. Indeed, we also have y<ytry < y_t - r. Now consider the following numbers:
yAi,yAi1,,yt+1,ytr,yt(r1),,yt,yt1,yt2,,y1, y_{|A_i|}, y_{|A_i|-1}, \dots, y_{t+1}, y_t - r, y_t - (r-1), \dots, y_t, y_{t-1}, y_{t-2}, \dots, y_1,
which are Ai+r|A_i| + r distinct numbers and all of them belong to [0,2n1][0, 2n-1], moreover AjA_j cannot contain any of them. So the size of AjA_j is at most 2n(Ai+r)2n - (|A_i| + r) which is a contradiction.

Lemma 2. If Ai+Aj=2n+1+r|A_i| + |A_j| = 2n + 1 + r for a non-negative rr, then for every 2n1rs2n1+r2n-1-r \le s \le 2n-1+r there exist aiAi,ajAja_i \in A_i, a_j \in A_j such that ai+aj=sa_i + a_j = s.
Proof. First take a number s[2n1r,2n1]s \in [2n-1-r, 2n-1], and let h=2n1sh = 2n-1-s. Ai,AjA_i, A_j in total at most have 2h2h elements from the set {s+1,s+2,,2n1}\{s+1, s+2, \dots, 2n-1\}. So the number of elements of Ai,AjA_i, A_j in the interval [0,s][0, s] is at least 2n+1+r2hs+22n+1+r-2h \ge s+2 in total. Applying Pigeonhole principle for s+1s+1 pairs (0,s),(1,s1),,(s,0)(0, s), (1, s-1), \dots, (s, 0) we can easily get ss as the sum of two elements, one from AiA_i and one from AjA_j. The proof for s[2n,2n+r]s \in [2n, 2n+r] is similar.

Comment 1. This means we can cover the whole interval [2n1r,2n1+r][2n-1-r, 2n-1+r] by the bi-sums of elements, one from AiA_i and one from AjA_j.

Lemma 3. If we have 2k2k subsets such that the sum of their sizes is k(2n+1)+rk(2n + 1) + r for a non-negative rr, then for every k(2n1)rsk(2n1)+rk(2n-1) - r \le s \le k(2n-1) + r there exist 2k2k elements, one from each subset, whose sum is ss.

Comment 2. This means we can cover the whole interval [k(2n1)r,k(2n1)+r][k(2n-1) - r, k(2n-1) + r] by the sums of elements of these 2k2k subsets.
Proof. We proceed the proof through induction kk, with base k=1k=1 being Lemma 2. As for the inductive step, we consider Ai,AjA_i, A_j as the two subsets with minimum size among those 2k2k subsets.
If Ai+Aj=2n+1+r|A_i| + |A_j| = 2n+1+r' for a non-negative rr' then rrr' \le r and by Lemma 2 Ai,AjA_i, A_j can cover the interval [2n1r,2n1+r][2n-1-r', 2n-1+r']. Also by induction the other 2k22k-2 subsets cover the interval [(k1)(2n1)(rr),(k1)(2n1)+(rr)][(k-1)(2n-1) - (r-r'), (k-1)(2n-1) + (r-r')]. By combining the two intervals we can cover the whole interval [k(2n1)r,k(2n1)+r][k(2n-1)-r, k(2n-1)+r].
If Ai+Aj=2n+1r|A_i| + |A_j| = 2n+1-r' for a positive rr' then by Lemma 1 there exist aiAi,ajAja_i \in A_i, a_j \in A_j such that 2n1rai+aj=s2n1+r2n-1-r' \le a_i + a_j = s \le 2n-1+r'. Also by induction, the other 2k22k-2 subsets cover the interval [(k1)(2n1)(r+r),(k1)(2n1)+(r+r)][(k-1)(2n-1) - (r+r'), (k-1)(2n-1) + (r+r')]. By adding ss to the numbers in this interval we can cover the whole interval [k(2n1)r,k(2n1)+r][k(2n-1)-r, k(2n-1)+r].

The statement of the problem is indeed a special case of Lemma 3 where k=nk = n and r=0r = 0.

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