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Combinatorics Difficulty 7.1 National olympiad, round 2 Prove it

(SWE1)(SWE 1) Six points P1,...,P6P_1, . . . , P_6 are given in 33-dimensional space such that no four of them lie in the same plane. Each of the line segments PjPkP_jP_k is colored black or white. Prove that there exists one triangle PjPkPlP_jP_kP_l whose edges are of the same color.

Solution

1. Initial Setup and Pigeonhole Principle Application:
- We are given six points P1,P2,P3,P4,P5,P6 P_1, P_2, P_3, P_4, P_5, P_6 in 3-dimensional space such that no four of them lie in the same plane.
- Each line segment PjPk P_jP_k is colored either black or white.
- We need to prove that there exists a triangle PjPkPl P_jP_kP_l whose edges are all the same color.
- Consider one point, say P1 P_1 . There are five line segments from P1 P_1 to the other points P2,P3,P4,P5,P6 P_2, P_3, P_4, P_5, P_6 .

2. Application of the Pigeonhole Principle:
- By the pigeonhole principle, among the five line segments P1P2,P1P3,P1P4,P1P5,P1P6 P_1P_2, P_1P_3, P_1P_4, P_1P_5, P_1P_6 , at least three of them must be of the same color. Without loss of generality, assume these three segments are P1P2,P1P3,P1P4 P_1P_2, P_1P_3, P_1P_4 and they are colored black.

3. Formation of Tetrahedron and Analysis:
- Consider the tetrahedron formed by points P1,P2,P3,P4 P_1, P_2, P_3, P_4 .
- We need to check the colors of the edges P2P3,P2P4,P3P4 P_2P_3, P_2P_4, P_3P_4 .

4. Case Analysis:
- If any of the edges P2P3,P2P4,P3P4 P_2P_3, P_2P_4, P_3P_4 is black, then we have a monochromatic triangle. For example, if P2P3 P_2P_3 is black, then P1P2P3 \triangle P_1P_2P_3 is a monochromatic triangle.
- Suppose none of the edges P2P3,P2P4,P3P4 P_2P_3, P_2P_4, P_3P_4 are black. This means all these edges are white.

5. Conclusion:
- If P2P3,P2P4,P3P4 P_2P_3, P_2P_4, P_3P_4 are all white, then P2P3P4 \triangle P_2P_3P_4 is a monochromatic triangle with all edges white.
- Therefore, in either case, we have found a monochromatic triangle.

\blacksquare

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Source: NuminaMath-1.5, licensed Apache-2.0. Statement and solution reproduced as published; topic and difficulty added by this site.