Maths Olympiad Prep

Library / /346 of 520

Algebra Difficulty 6.7 National olympiad Prove it

Let a1,a2,,a2na_{1}, a_{2}, \ldots, a_{2 n} be real numbers such that a1+a2++a2n=0a_{1}+a_{2}+\cdots+a_{2 n}=0.
Prove that there exist at least 2n12 n-1 pairs (ai,aj)\left(a_{i}, a_{j}\right) with i<ji<j such that ai+aj0a_{i}+a_{j} \geqslant 0.

Solution

Without loss of generality, we can assume that a1a2a2na_{1} \leq a_{2} \leq \cdots \leq a_{2 n}. We distinguish two cases:

- If an+a2n10a_{n}+a_{2 n-1} \geq 0 then we have ai+a2n10a_{i}+a_{2 n-1} \geq 0 for i=n,,2n2i=n, \cdots, 2 n-2, and ai+a2n0a_{i}+a_{2 n} \geq 0 for i=n,2n1i=n \cdots, 2 n-1. This provides at least 2n12 n-1 non-negative sums.
- If an+a2n1<0a_{n}+a_{2 n-1} < 0
0>an+a2n1an1+a2n2a2+an+1, 0 > a_{n}+a_{2 n-1} \geq a_{n-1}+a_{2 n-2} \geq \cdots \geq a_{2}+a_{n+1},
then
a2+a3++an1+an+1++a2n2<0. a_{2}+a_{3}+\cdots+a_{n-1}+a_{n+1}+\cdots+a_{2 n-2} < 0.
Let \ell be the number of non-negative terms among a1,,a2na_{1}, \ldots, a_{2 n}. Then there are at least (1)2n(n+1)2\frac{\ell(\ell-1)}{2} \geq \frac{n(n+1)}{2} pairs (ai,aj)\left(a_{i}, a_{j}\right) with i<j,ai0i<j, a_{i} \geqslant 0 and aj0a_{j} \geqslant 0. Since n(n+1)2(2n1)=n23n+22=(n1)(n2)20\frac{n(n+1)}{2}-(2 n-1)=\frac{n^{2}-3 n+2}{2}=\frac{(n-1)(n-2)}{2} \geqslant 0, there are at least 2n12 n-1 pairs (ai,aj)\left(a_{i}, a_{j}\right) with i<ji<j such that ai+aj0a_{i}+a_{j} \geqslant 0.
First case: >n\ell > n. Then there are at least (1)2n(n+1)2\frac{\ell(\ell-1)}{2} \geq \frac{n(n+1)}{2} pairs (ai,aj)\left(a_{i}, a_{j}\right) with i<j,ai0i<j, a_{i} \geqslant 0 and aj0a_{j} \geqslant 0. Since n(n+1)2(2n1)=n23n+22=(n1)(n2)20\frac{n(n+1)}{2}-(2 n-1)=\frac{n^{2}-3 n+2}{2}=\frac{(n-1)(n-2)}{2} \geqslant 0, there are at least 2n12 n-1 pairs (ai,aj)\left(a_{i}, a_{j}\right) with i<ji<j such that ai+aj0a_{i}+a_{j} \geqslant 0.
Second case: n\ell \leqslant n. Let c1cc_{1} \leqslant \cdots \leqslant c_{\ell} be the smallest integers among a1,,a2na_{1}, \ldots, a_{2 n}. Since n\ell \leqslant n, we have c<0c_{\ell}<0. Moreover, i=12nai\sum_{i=1}^{2 n} a_{i} is equal to the sum of i=1(bi+ci)\sum_{i=1}^{\ell}\left(b_{i}+c_{i}\right) and negative terms, so i=1(bi+ci)0\sum_{i=1}^{\ell}\left(b_{i}+c_{i}\right) \geqslant 0. Since b+cbi+cib_{\ell}+c_{\ell} \geqslant b_{i}+c_{i} for all ii, we have b+c0b_{\ell}+c_{\ell} \geqslant 0.
Thus, we already have 2n2 n-\ell pairs (ai,aj)\left(a_{i}, a_{j}\right) by taking aj=ba_{j}=b_{\ell} and aia_{i} other than c1,,c1,bc_{1}, \ldots, c_{\ell-1}, b_{\ell}.
Furthermore, for all k=1,,1k=1, \ldots, \ell-1, we have i=1(bi+ci+k)0\sum_{i=1}^{\ell}\left(b_{i}+c_{i+k}\right) \geqslant 0 (where by convention c+1=c1c_{\ell+1}=c_{1}, c+2=c2c_{\ell+2}=c_{2}, etc.), so for all kk there exists ii such that bi+ci+k0b_{i}+c_{i+k} \geqslant 0. This provides another 1\ell-1 pairs.

Want a route through all this instead of an archive? The track puts 2,000 problems in a working order, from AMC 10 level to the IMO shortlist.

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