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Combinatorics Difficulty 7.7 National olympiad, round 2 Prove it

1. 138 Prove: There exist infinitely many natural numbers nn, such that the numbers 1,2,,3n1,2, \cdots, 3 n can be arranged into the following table:
a1,a2,,anb1,b2,,bnc1,c2,,cn\begin{array}{l} a_{1}, a_{2}, \cdots, a_{n} \\ b_{1}, b_{2}, \cdots, b_{n} \\ c_{1}, c_{2}, \cdots, c_{n} \end{array}

satisfying the following two conditions:
(1) a1+b1+c1=a2+b2+c2==an+bn+cna_{1}+b_{1}+c_{1}=a_{2}+b_{2}+c_{2}=\cdots=a_{n}+b_{n}+c_{n}, and it is a multiple of 6;
(2) a1+a2++an=b1+b2++bn=c1+c2++cna_{1}+a_{2}+\cdots+a_{n}=b_{1}+b_{2}+\cdots+b_{n}=c_{1}+c_{2}+\cdots+c_{n}, and it is a multiple of 6.

Solution

Let the set of natural numbers nn that satisfy the above two conditions be denoted as ss. If nsn \in s, by conditions (1) and (2), we know: there exist natural numbers ss and tt, such that
{3n(3n+1)2=6sn3n(3n+1)2=18t\left\{\begin{array}{l} \frac{3 n(3 n+1)}{2}=6 s n \\ \frac{3 n(3 n+1)}{2}=18 t \end{array}\right.

which implies {3n+1=4sn(3n+1)=12t\left\{\begin{array}{l}3 n+1=4 s \\ n(3 n+1)=12 t\end{array}\right.
Thus, {n1(mod4)n0(mod3)\left\{\begin{array}{ll}n \equiv 1 & (\bmod 4) \\ n \equiv 0 & (\bmod 3)\end{array}\right.
Therefore,
n=12k+9,kn=12 k+9, k is a non-negative integer.
Conversely, if n=12k+9,k=0,1,2,n=12 k+9, k=0,1,2, \cdots, and the sum of the rows and the sum of the columns in the number table formed by 1,2,,3n1,2, \cdots, 3 n are all equal, then
 Column sum =3(3n+1)2=3(36k+28)2=6(9k+7), Row sum =n(3n+1)2=n33(3n+1)2=(4k+3)6(9k+7).\begin{array}{l} \text { Column sum }=\frac{3(3 n+1)}{2}=\frac{3(36 k+28)}{2}=6(9 k+7), \\ \text { Row sum }=\frac{n(3 n+1)}{2}=\frac{n}{3} \cdot \frac{3(3 n+1)}{2}=(4 k+3) \cdot 6 \cdot(9 k+7) . \end{array}

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,n=9^{k}, k=1,2, \cdots, the numbers 1,2,,3n1,2, \cdots, 3 n can be arranged into a 3×n3 \times n number table such that the row sums are all equal and the column sums are all equal.

When k=1k=1, n=9,3n=27n=9, 3 n=27.
At this point, note that
(123231312)+(063306630)=(186537942)\left(\begin{array}{lll} 1 & 2 & 3 \\ 2 & 3 & 1 \\ 3 & 1 & 2 \end{array}\right)+\left(\begin{array}{lll} 0 & 6 & 3 \\ 3 & 0 & 6 \\ 6 & 3 & 0 \end{array}\right)=\left(\begin{array}{lll} 1 & 8 & 6 \\ 5 & 3 & 7 \\ 9 & 4 & 2 \end{array}\right)

The 3×33 \times 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 3×33 \times 3 number table as
α(3),β(3),γ(3)\alpha(3), \beta(3), \gamma(3)

i.e., α(3)=(1,8,6),β(3)=(5,3,7),γ(3)=(9,4,2)\alpha(3)=(1,8,6), \beta(3)=(5,3,7), \gamma(3)=(9,4,2). Construct a 3×93 \times 9 number table
A9=(α(3)β(3)+18γ(3)+9β(3)+9γ(3)α(3)+18γ(3)+18α(3)+9β(3))A_{9}=\left(\begin{array}{ccc} \alpha(3) & \beta(3)+18 & \gamma(3)+9 \\ \beta(3)+9 & \gamma(3) & \alpha(3)+18 \\ \gamma(3)+18 & \alpha(3)+9 & \beta(3) \end{array}\right)

i.e.,
A9=(186232125181311141216942192624272220101715537)A_{9}=\left(\begin{array}{ccccccccc} 1 & 8 & 6 & 23 & 21 & 25 & 18 & 13 & 11 \\ 14 & 12 & 16 & 9 & 4 & 2 & 19 & 26 & 24 \\ 27 & 22 & 20 & 10 & 17 & 15 & 5 & 3 & 7 \end{array}\right)

The row sums of this number table are clearly equal, and the column sums are also clearly equal.
Assume that when m=9km=9^{k}, the numbers 1,2,,3m1,2, \cdots, 3 m can be arranged into a 3×m3 \times m number table
Am=(a1a2amb1b2bmc1c2cm)A_{m}=\left(\begin{array}{llll} a_{1} & a_{2} & \cdots & a_{m} \\ b_{1} & b_{2} & \cdots & b_{m} \\ c_{1} & c_{2} & \cdots & c_{m} \end{array}\right)

such that the row sums of AmA_{m} are all equal, and the column sums are all equal.
Then, when n=9m=9k+1n=9 m=9^{k+1}, we can construct a 3×3m3 \times 3 m number table as follows:
A3m=(α(m)β(m)+6mγ(m)+3mβ(m)+3mγ(m)α(m)+6mγ(m)+6mα(m)+3mβ(m))A_{3 m}=\left(\begin{array}{ccc} \alpha(m) & \beta(m)+6 m & \gamma(m)+3 m \\ \beta(m)+3 m & \gamma(m) & \alpha(m)+6 m \\ \gamma(m)+6 m & \alpha(m)+3 m & \beta(m) \end{array}\right)

where α(m),β(m),γ(m)\alpha(m), \beta(m), \gamma(m) are the first, second, and third rows of AmA_{m}, respectively. Clearly, the 9m9 m elements in A3mA_{3 m} are exactly 1,2,,9m1,2, \cdots, 9 m, and the column sums of A3mA_{3 m} are all equal, and the row sums of A3mA_{3 m} are all equal.

Next, we construct a 3×n3 \times n number table, i.e., a 3×9m3 \times 9 m number table as follows:
An=A9m=(α(3m)β(3m)+18mγ(3m)+9mβ(3m)+9mγ(3m)α(3m)+18mγ(3m)+18mα(3m)+9mβ(3m))A_{n}=A_{9 m}=\left(\begin{array}{ccc} \alpha(3 m) & \beta(3 m)+18 m & \gamma(3 m)+9 m \\ \beta(3 m)+9 m & \gamma(3 m) & \alpha(3 m)+18 m \\ \gamma(3 m)+18 m & \alpha(3 m)+9 m & \beta(3 m) \end{array}\right)

where α(3m),β(3m),γ(3m)\alpha(3 m), \beta(3 m), \gamma(3 m) are the first, second, and third rows of A3mA_{3 m}, respectively. Clearly, the column sums of A9mA_{9 m} are all equal, and the row sums of A9mA_{9 m} are all equal, and the 27m27 m elements in A9mA_{9 m} are exactly 1,2,,27m1,2, \cdots, 27 m.

According to the principle of mathematical induction, when n=9k,k=1,2,n=9^{k}, k=1,2, \cdots, the numbers 1,2,,3n1,2, \cdots, 3 n can be arranged into a 3×n3 \times n number table such that the row sums are all equal and the column sums are all equal.

Notice that when k=1k=1, 9k=99^{k}=9; and when k>1k>1,
n=9k=9k9+9=9(9k11)+9=98m+9=126m+9\begin{aligned} n & =9^{k}=9^{k}-9+9=9 \cdot\left(9^{k-1}-1\right)+9 \\ & =9 \cdot 8 \cdot m+9 \\ & =12 \cdot 6 m+9 \end{aligned}

where mm is an integer. Therefore, when n=9k,k=1,2,n=9^{k}, k=1,2, \cdots, nn can always be expressed in the form n=12l+9n=12 l+9 (where ll is an integer). Thus, the row sums and column sums of the number table AnA_{n} are all multiples of 6.

Hence, the original proposition is proved.

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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.