CombinatoricsDifficulty 7.7National olympiad, round 2Prove it
1. 138 Prove: There exist infinitely many natural numbers n, such that the numbers 1,2,⋯,3n can be arranged into the following table: a1,a2,⋯,anb1,b2,⋯,bnc1,c2,⋯,cn
satisfying the following two conditions: (1) a1+b1+c1=a2+b2+c2=⋯=an+bn+cn, and it is a multiple of 6; (2) a1+a2+⋯+an=b1+b2+⋯+bn=c1+c2+⋯+cn, and it is a multiple of 6.
Solution
Let the set of natural numbers n that satisfy the above two conditions be denoted as s. If n∈s, by conditions (1) and (2), we know: there exist natural numbers s and t, such that {23n(3n+1)=6sn23n(3n+1)=18t
which implies {3n+1=4sn(3n+1)=12t Thus, {n≡1n≡0(mod4)(mod3) Therefore, n=12k+9,k is a non-negative integer. Conversely, if n=12k+9,k=0,1,2,⋯, and the sum of the rows and the sum of the columns in the number table formed by 1,2,⋯,3n are all equal, then Column sum =23(3n+1)=23(36k+28)=6(9k+7), Row sum =2n(3n+1)=3n⋅23(3n+1)=(4k+3)⋅6⋅(9k+7).
It is evident that both the column sum and the row sum are multiples of 6. Next, we will prove that when n=9k,k=1,2,⋯, the numbers 1,2,⋯,3n can be arranged into a 3×n number table such that the row sums are all equal and the column sums are all equal.
When k=1, n=9,3n=27. At this point, note that 123231312+036603360=159834672
The 3×3 number table on the right side of the above equation has row sums all equal to 15, and column sums all equal to 15. Denote the three rows of this 3×3 number table as α(3),β(3),γ(3)
i.e., α(3)=(1,8,6),β(3)=(5,3,7),γ(3)=(9,4,2). Construct a 3×9 number table A9=α(3)β(3)+9γ(3)+18β(3)+18γ(3)α(3)+9γ(3)+9α(3)+18β(3)
The row sums of this number table are clearly equal, and the column sums are also clearly equal. Assume that when m=9k, the numbers 1,2,⋯,3m can be arranged into a 3×m number table Am=a1b1c1a2b2c2⋯⋯⋯ambmcm
such that the row sums of Am are all equal, and the column sums are all equal. Then, when n=9m=9k+1, we can construct a 3×3m number table as follows: A3m=α(m)β(m)+3mγ(m)+6mβ(m)+6mγ(m)α(m)+3mγ(m)+3mα(m)+6mβ(m)
where α(m),β(m),γ(m) are the first, second, and third rows of Am, respectively. Clearly, the 9m elements in A3m are exactly 1,2,⋯,9m, and the column sums of A3m are all equal, and the row sums of A3m are all equal.
Next, we construct a 3×n number table, i.e., a 3×9m number table as follows: An=A9m=α(3m)β(3m)+9mγ(3m)+18mβ(3m)+18mγ(3m)α(3m)+9mγ(3m)+9mα(3m)+18mβ(3m)
where α(3m),β(3m),γ(3m) are the first, second, and third rows of A3m, respectively. Clearly, the column sums of A9m are all equal, and the row sums of A9m are all equal, and the 27m elements in A9m are exactly 1,2,⋯,27m.
According to the principle of mathematical induction, when n=9k,k=1,2,⋯, the numbers 1,2,⋯,3n can be arranged into a 3×n number table such that the row sums are all equal and the column sums are all equal.
Notice that when k=1, 9k=9; and when k>1, n=9k=9k−9+9=9⋅(9k−1−1)+9=9⋅8⋅m+9=12⋅6m+9
where m is an integer. Therefore, when n=9k,k=1,2,⋯, n can always be expressed in the form n=12l+9 (where l is an integer). Thus, the row sums and column sums of the number table An are all multiples of 6.
Hence, the original proposition is proved.
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