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Combinatorics Difficulty 7.5 National olympiad, round 2 Find the answer

Let Ω={(x,y,z)Z3:y+1xyz0}\Omega=\left\{(x, y, z) \in \mathbb{Z}^{3}: y+1 \geq x \geq y \geq z \geq 0\right\}. A frog moves along the points of Ω\Omega by jumps of length 1. For every positive integer nn, determine the number of paths the frog can take to reach (n,n,n)(n, n, n) starting from (0,0,0)(0,0,0) in exactly 3n3 n jumps.

A number or a short expression. Spacing and $ signs are ignored.

Solution

Let Ψ={(u,v)Z3:v0,u2v}\Psi=\left\{(u, v) \in \mathbb{Z}^{3}: v \geq 0, u \geq 2 v\right\}. Notice that the map π:ΩΨ\pi: \Omega \rightarrow \Psi, π(x,y,z)=(x+y,z)\pi(x, y, z)=(x+y, z) is a bijection between the two sets; moreover π\pi projects all allowed paths of the frogs to paths inside the set Ψ\Psi, using only unit jump vectors. Hence, we are interested in the number of paths from π(0,0,0)=(0,0)\pi(0,0,0)=(0,0) to π(n,n,n)=(2n,n)\pi(n, n, n)=(2 n, n) in the set Ψ\Psi, using only jumps (1,0)(1,0) and (0,1)(0,1). For every lattice point (u,v)Ψ(u, v) \in \Psi, let f(u,v)f(u, v) be the number of paths from (0,0)(0,0) to (u,v)(u, v) in Ψ\Psi with u+vu+v jumps. Evidently we have f(0,0)=1f(0,0)=1. Extend this definition to the points with v=1v=-1 and 2v=u+12 v=u+1 by setting f(u,1)=0,f(2v1,v)=0f(u,-1)=0, \quad f(2 v-1, v)=0. To any point (u,v)(u, v) of Ψ\Psi other than the origin, the path can come either from (u1,v)(u-1, v) or from (u,v1)(u, v-1), so f(u,v)=f(u1,v)+f(u,v1)f(u, v)=f(u-1, v)+f(u, v-1). If we ignore the boundary condition, there is a wide family of functions that satisfy this recurrence; namely, for every integer c,(u,v)(u+vv+c)c,(u, v) \mapsto\binom{u+v}{v+c} is such a function, with defining this binomial coefficient to be 0 if v+cv+c is negative or greater than u+vu+v. Along the line 2v=u+12 v=u+1 we have (u+vv)=(3v1v)=2(3v1v1)=2(u+vv1)\binom{u+v}{v}=\binom{3 v-1}{v}=2\binom{3 v-1}{v-1}=2\binom{u+v}{v-1}. Hence, the function f(u,v)=(u+vv)2(u+vv1)f^{*}(u, v)=\binom{u+v}{v}-2\binom{u+v}{v-1} satisfies the recurrence and boundary conditions and f(0,0)=1f(0,0)=1. These properties uniquely define the function ff, so f=ff=f^{*}. In particular, the number of paths of the frog from (0,0,0)(0,0,0) to (n,n,n)(n, n, n) is f(π(n,n,n))=f(2n,n)=(3nn)2(3nn1)=(3nn)2n+1f(\pi(n, n, n))=f(2 n, n)=\binom{3 n}{n}-2\binom{3 n}{n-1}=\frac{\binom{3 n}{n}}{2 n+1}.

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Source: Omni-MATH, licensed Apache-2.0. Statement and solution reproduced as published; topic and difficulty added by this site.