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Combinatorics Difficulty 7.7 National olympiad, round 2 Prove it

Let M={1,2,,n}M=\{1,2,\cdots,n\}, each element of MM is colored in either red, blue or yellow. Set
A={(x,y,z)M×M×Mx+y+z0modnA=\{(x,y,z)\in M\times M\times M|x+y+z\equiv 0\mod n, x,y,zx,y,z are of same color},\},
B={(x,y,z)M×M×Mx+y+z0modn,B=\{(x,y,z)\in M\times M\times M|x+y+z\equiv 0\mod n, x,y,zx,y,z are of pairwise distinct color}.\}.
Prove that 2AB2|A|\geq |B|.

Solution

1. Define the sets and polynomials:
Let M={1,2,,n} M = \{1, 2, \ldots, n\} be a set where each element is colored either red, blue, or yellow. Define the sets:
A={(x,y,z)M×M×Mx+y+z0(modn), and x,y,z are of the same color} A = \{(x, y, z) \in M \times M \times M \mid x + y + z \equiv 0 \pmod{n}, \text{ and } x, y, z \text{ are of the same color} \}
B={(x,y,z)M×M×Mx+y+z0(modn), and x,y,z are of pairwise distinct colors} B = \{(x, y, z) \in M \times M \times M \mid x + y + z \equiv 0 \pmod{n}, \text{ and } x, y, z \text{ are of pairwise distinct colors} \}

2. Introduce the polynomials:
Define the polynomials R(x),B(x),Y(x) R(x), B(x), Y(x) where:
R(x)=rRedxr,B(x)=bBluexb,Y(x)=yYellowxy R(x) = \sum_{r \in \text{Red}} x^r, \quad B(x) = \sum_{b \in \text{Blue}} x^b, \quad Y(x) = \sum_{y \in \text{Yellow}} x^y
Here, r,b,y r, b, y are elements of M M colored red, blue, and yellow respectively.

3. Use roots of unity:
Let ω \omega be a primitive n n -th root of unity. For k≢0(modn) k \not\equiv 0 \pmod{n} , we have:
R(ωk)+B(ωk)+Y(ωk)=ωk+ω2k++ωnk=0 R(\omega^k) + B(\omega^k) + Y(\omega^k) = \omega^k + \omega^{2k} + \cdots + \omega^{nk} = 0
This follows from the fact that the sum of all n n -th roots of unity is zero.

4. Analyze the polynomials:
Each term in R(x)3 R(x)^3 represents a triplet from the set of red points. Specifically, the term ckxk c_k x^k indicates there are ck c_k red triplets with sum k k . The same applies to B(x)3 B(x)^3 and Y(x)3 Y(x)^3 .

5. Consider the product polynomial:
The polynomial R(x)B(x)Y(x) R(x) \cdot B(x) \cdot Y(x) gives the number of ordered triplets (x,y,z) (x, y, z) with colors red, blue, and yellow respectively.

6. Apply Euler's identity:
Using Euler's identity, we have:
R(x)3+B(x)3+Y(x)33R(x)B(x)Y(x)=12(R(x)+B(x)+Y(x))((R(x)B(x))2+(B(x)Y(x))2+(Y(x)R(x))2) R(x)^3 + B(x)^3 + Y(x)^3 - 3R(x)B(x)Y(x) = \frac{1}{2} \left( R(x) + B(x) + Y(x) \right) \left( (R(x) - B(x))^2 + (B(x) - Y(x))^2 + (Y(x) - R(x))^2 \right)

7. Combine the results:
For k≢0(modn) k \not\equiv 0 \pmod{n} , combining the results, we get:
R(ωk)3+B(ωk)3+Y(ωk)3=3R(ωk)B(ωk)Y(ωk) R(\omega^k)^3 + B(\omega^k)^3 + Y(\omega^k)^3 = 3R(\omega^k)B(\omega^k)Y(\omega^k)
When k=n k = n , it becomes an inequality because R(1),B(1),Y(1)N R(1), B(1), Y(1) \in \mathbb{N} .

8. Use the root of unity filter:
By the root of unity filter, we have:
1nk=0n1(R(ωk)3+B(ωk)3+Y(ωk)33R(ωk)B(ωk)Y(ωk))=A3B0 \frac{1}{n} \sum_{k=0}^{n-1} \left( R(\omega^k)^3 + B(\omega^k)^3 + Y(\omega^k)^3 - 3R(\omega^k)B(\omega^k)Y(\omega^k) \right) = |A| - 3|B'| \geq 0
Here, B B' is the set of ordered triplets with colors red, blue, and yellow.

9. **Relate B B and B B' :**
Each triplet in B B' can be permuted in 3!=6 3! = 6 ways to get a triplet in B B . Thus, B=16B |B'| = \frac{1}{6} |B| .

10. Conclude the inequality:
Substituting B=16B |B'| = \frac{1}{6} |B| into the inequality, we get:
A3(16B)0    A12B |A| - 3 \left( \frac{1}{6} |B| \right) \geq 0 \implies |A| \geq \frac{1}{2} |B|
Therefore, we have:
2AB 2|A| \geq |B|

The final answer is 2AB \boxed{ 2|A| \geq |B| } .

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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.