Olympiad Maths Prep

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Problem 850

AIME late
Combinatorics Difficulty 5.6 Find the answer

16. Find the smallest positive integer k\mathrm{k}, such that among any k\mathrm{k} integers, one can always select an even number of them whose sum is a multiple of 2020.

Official solution

Lemma: In any mm integers, there must be some whose sum is a multiple of m\mathbf{m}.
Proof: Let m\mathrm{m} integers be x1,x2,,xm,Si=x1+x2++xi(i=1,2,,m)\mathrm{x}_{1}, \mathrm{x}_{2}, \cdots, \mathrm{x}_{\mathrm{m}}, \mathrm{S}_{\mathrm{i}}=\mathrm{x}_{1}+\mathrm{x}_{2}+\cdots+\mathrm{x}_{\mathrm{i}}(\mathrm{i}=1,2, \ldots, \mathrm{m}). If S1, S2,,Sm\mathrm{S}_{1}, \mathrm{~S}_{2}, \cdots, \mathrm{S}_{\mathrm{m}} have distinct remainders when divided by m\mathrm{m}, then there must be mSi\mathrm{m} \mid \mathrm{S}_{\mathrm{i}}; otherwise, there must be 1i<jm1 \leqslant \mathrm{i}<\mathrm{j} \leqslant \mathrm{m} such that Si=Sj\mathrm{S}_{\mathrm{i}}=\mathrm{S}_{\mathrm{j}} (modm), then mSjSi=xi+1++xj\mathrm{m} \mid \mathrm{S}_{\mathrm{j}}-\mathrm{S}_{\mathrm{i}}=\mathrm{x}_{\mathrm{i}+1}+\cdots+\mathrm{x}_{\mathrm{j}}, proving the lemma. Returning to the original problem.
2020=2×10102020=2 \times 1010, the sum of 2019 ones and 1 zero is 2019,2020202012019,2020 \nmid 2020-1, so there does not exist an even number of 1s in 2019 ones and 1 zero whose sum is a multiple of 2020, hence k2021\mathrm{k} \geqslant 2021.

Taking any 2021 integers, let there be t\mathrm{t} odd numbers a1,a2,,ata_{1}, a_{2}, \ldots, a_{\mathrm{t}}, and s\mathrm{s} even numbers b1,b2,,bsb_{1}, b_{2}, \ldots, b_{\mathrm{s}} where t+s=2021\mathrm{t}+\mathrm{s}=2021. If t\mathrm{t} is odd, then s\mathrm{s} is even. Let x1=a1+a22,x2=a3+a42,,xt12=at2+at12x_{1}=\frac{a_{1}+a_{2}}{2}, x_{2}=\frac{a_{3}+a_{4}}{2}, \cdots, x_{\frac{t-1}{2}}=\frac{a_{t-2}+a_{t-1}}{2}, xt+12=b1+b22,xt+1+1+1=b3+b42,,x1010=bs1+bs2x_{\frac{t+1}{2}}=\frac{b_{1}+b_{2}}{2}, x_{\frac{t+1+1}{}+1}=\frac{b_{3}+b_{4}}{2}, \cdots, x_{1010}=\frac{b_{s-1}+b_{s}}{2}. By the lemma, x1,x2,,x1010x_{1}, x_{2}, \ldots, x_{1010} must have some whose sum is a multiple of 1010, i.e., a1,a2,,a1,b1,b2,,bsa_{1}, a_{2}, \ldots, a_{1}, b_{1}, b_{2}, \ldots, b_{\mathrm{s}} have an even number whose sum is a multiple of 2020. Therefore, k2021,k=2021\mathrm{k} \leqslant 2021, \mathrm{k}=2021. When t\mathrm{t} is even and s\mathrm{s} is odd, similarly k=2021\mathrm{k}=2021. In summary, k=2021\mathrm{k}=2021.

Source: NuminaMath-1.5, licensed Apache-2.0. Statement and solution reproduced as published; topic, difficulty and ordering added by this site.