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Algebra Difficulty 6.5 National olympiad Prove it

The real numbers x1,,x2011x_{1}, \ldots, x_{2011} satisfy

x1+x2=2x1,x2+x3=2x2,,x2011+x1=2x2011 x_{1}+x_{2}=2 x_{1}^{\prime}, \quad x_{2}+x_{3}=2 x_{2}^{\prime}, \quad \ldots, \quad x_{2011}+x_{1}=2 x_{2011}^{\prime}

where x1,x2,,x2011x_{1}^{\prime}, x_{2}^{\prime}, \ldots, x_{2011}^{\prime} is a permutation of x1,x2,,x2011x_{1}, x_{2}, \ldots, x_{2011}. Prove that x1=x2==x2011x_{1}=x_{2}=\cdots=x_{2011}.

Solution

For convenience we call x2011x_{2011} also x0x_{0}. Let kk be the largest of the numbers x1,,x2011x_{1}, \ldots, x_{2011}, and consider an equation xn1+xn=2kx_{n-1}+x_{n}=2 k, where 1n20111 \leq n \leq 2011. Hence we get 2max(xn1,xn)xn1+xn=2k2 \max \left(x_{n-1}, x_{n}\right) \geq x_{n-1}+x_{n}=2 k, so either xn1x_{n-1} or xnx_{n}, say xn1x_{n-1}, satisfies xn1kx_{n-1} \geq k. Since also xn1kx_{n-1} \leq k, we then have xn1=kx_{n-1}=k, and then also xn=2kxn1=2kk=kx_{n}=2 k-x_{n-1}=2 k-k=k. That is, in such an equation both variables on the left equal kk. Now let E\mathcal{E} be the set of such equations, and let S\mathcal{S} be the set of subscripts on the left of these equations. From xn=knSx_{n}=k \forall n \in \mathcal{S} we get SE|\mathcal{S}| \leq|\mathcal{E}|. On the other hand, since the total number of appearances of these subscripts is 2E2|\mathcal{E}| and each subscript appears on the left in no more than two equations, we have 2E2S2|\mathcal{E}| \leq 2|\mathcal{S}|. Thus 2E=2S2|\mathcal{E}|=2|\mathcal{S}|, so for each nSn \in \mathcal{S} the set E\mathcal{E} contains both equations with the subscript nn on the left. Now assume 1S1 \in \mathcal{S} without loss of generality. Then the equation x1+x2=2kx_{1}+x_{2}=2 k belongs to E\mathcal{E}, so 2S2 \in \mathcal{S}. Continuing in this way we find that all subscripts belong to S\mathcal{S}, so x1=x2==x2011=kx_{1}=x_{2}=\cdots=x_{2011}=k.

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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.