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Combinatorics Difficulty 6.8 National olympiad Prove it

Assume that S (a 1, a 2, , a n)\text{S (a 1, a 2, , a n)} consists of 0 0 and 1 1 and is the longest sequence of number, which satisfies the following condition: Every two sections of successive 5 5 terms in the sequence of numbers S S are different, i.e., for arbitrary 1 i<j n 4\text{1 i<j n 4}, (a i, a i 1 , a i 2 , a i 3 , a i 4 )\text{(a i, a i 1 , a i 2 , a i 3 , a i 4 )} and (a j, a j 1 , a j 2 , a j 3 , a j 4 )\text{(a j, a j 1 , a j 2 , a j 3 , a j 4 )} are different. Prove that the first four terms and the last four terms in the sequence are the same.

Solution

1. Assume for contradiction: Suppose that the first four terms and the last four terms in the sequence S S are not the same. That is, assume (a1,a2,a3,a4)(an3,an2,an1,an)(a_1, a_2, a_3, a_4) \neq (a_{n-3}, a_{n-2}, a_{n-1}, a_n).

2. **Maximality of n n **: Since n n is maximal, the sequence S S is the longest possible sequence where every two sections of successive 5 terms are different. This implies that any extension of S S by adding either a 0 or a 1 at the end would result in a repeated 5-term sequence.

3. Consider the extensions: Consider the sequences formed by appending 0 and 1 to the end of S S :
(an3,an2,an1,an,0)and(an3,an2,an1,an,1) (a_{n-3}, a_{n-2}, a_{n-1}, a_n, 0) \quad \text{and} \quad (a_{n-3}, a_{n-2}, a_{n-1}, a_n, 1)
Since n n is maximal, both of these sequences must have already occurred somewhere in S S .

4. Position of the sequences: Since (a1,a2,a3,a4)(an3,an2,an1,an)(a_1, a_2, a_3, a_4) \neq (a_{n-3}, a_{n-2}, a_{n-1}, a_n), there must be some element before these two 5-sequences. By definition, it cannot be an4 a_{n-4} .

5. Contradiction: Thus, the element right before both 5-sequences must be 1an4 1 - a_{n-4} . This means that the sequence:
(1an4,an3,an2,an1,an) (1 - a_{n-4}, a_{n-3}, a_{n-2}, a_{n-1}, a_n)
occurs twice in S S , which contradicts the condition that every two sections of successive 5 terms in S S are different.

6. Conclusion: Therefore, our assumption that (a1,a2,a3,a4)(an3,an2,an1,an)(a_1, a_2, a_3, a_4) \neq (a_{n-3}, a_{n-2}, a_{n-1}, a_n) must be false. Hence, the first four terms and the last four terms in the sequence S S must be the same.

\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.