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Let n2 n \geq 2 be a positive integer and λ \lambda a positive real number. Initially there are n n fleas on a horizontal line, not all at the same point. We define a move as choosing two fleas at some points A A and B B, with A A to the left of B B, and letting the flea from A A jump over the flea from B B to the point C C so that BC AB\text{BC AB}.

Determine all values of λ \lambda such that, for any point M M on the line and for any initial position of the n n fleas, there exists a sequence of moves that will take them all to the position right of M M.

A number or a short expression. Fractions can be typed as 3/2, and spacing doesn't matter.

Solution

Let n2 n \geq 2 be a positive integer and λ \lambda a positive real number. There are n n fleas on a horizontal line, and we need to find the values of λ \lambda for which, given any point M M and any initial positions of the fleas, there is a sequence of moves that can place all fleas to the right of M M .

### Move Description:

A move consists of selecting two fleas located at points A A and B B (with A A to the left of B B ), and moving the flea from A A to a new point C C such that BCAB=λ \frac{BC}{AB} = \lambda .

### Analysis:

- Assume the leftmost flea is initially at position x1 x_1 and the rightmost flea is at position xn x_n .
- The goal is to transform the system such that all fleas are located at some position greater than M M .

### Considerations:

1. Move Effect:
- If a flea initially at A A jumps to C C , then:
C=A+λ(BA)=(1λ)A+λB. C = A + \lambda(B - A) = (1 - \lambda)A + \lambda B.
- This replaces A A with a point closer to B B (if λ>0 \lambda > 0 ).

2. Bounding Fleas to the Right:
- We need each flea to eventually move past M M . Since fleas consecutively jump rightward, the greatest possible accumulation of fleas past M M occurs when effective λ\lambda allows maximal stretching of intervals.

3. **Condition on λ\lambda:**
- Starting with fleas positioned in a finite interval covering x1 x_1 to xn x_n, progressively applying transformations:
- If λ \lambda is too small, the rightward jumps might be insufficient to clear M M in finite steps.

4. Sufficient Condition:
- Sufficiently large λ\lambda ensures that the accumulative forward motion possible among successive intervals exceeds the necessary coverage over distance xnM x_n - M .
- Analyzing proportion:
- For m m iterations to push gaps from x1 x_1 through to beyond xn x_n , having λ1n1 \lambda \ge \frac{1}{n-1} guarantees accumulative growth beyond necessary jumps.

### Conclusion:

With the above reasoning, we conclude that the values of λ \lambda that ensure an eventual placement of all fleas to the right of any point M M , for any initial configuration of fleas, are:

λ1n1 \boxed{\lambda \ge \frac{1}{n-1}}

This bound arises from ensuring that progressive cumulative extensions with each move can bridge the intervals ensuring encompassment reaches past any arbitrary point M M .

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