Let be the set of all lattice points in the plane (i.e. points with integer coordinates, in a fixed Cartesian coordinate system). For any point we call the points , , , neighbors of . Let be a finite subset of . A one-to-one mapping of onto is called perfect if is a neighbor of , for any . Prove that if such a mapping exists, then there exists also a perfect mapping with the additional property for .
Problem 1470
Official solution
1. Define the problem and the given conditions:
- Let be the set of all lattice points in the plane, i.e., points with integer coordinates .
- For any point , the neighbors of are the points , , , and .
- Let be a finite subset of .
- A one-to-one mapping of onto is called perfect if is a neighbor of for any .
2. Objective:
- Prove that if such a perfect mapping exists, then there also exists a perfect mapping with the additional property for all .
3. **Consider the orbit of a point under :**
- Define the orbit of a point as .
- Since is finite and is one-to-one, the sequence must eventually repeat, implying that for some .
4. **Partition into disjoint orbits:**
- The set can be partitioned into disjoint orbits for .
- Each orbit is a cycle of points under the mapping .
5. Properties of the orbits:
- Since is a perfect mapping, each point in an orbit is mapped to one of its neighbors.
- The length of each orbit must be even. This is because each point has exactly one neighbor it maps to, and the cycle must return to the starting point, requiring an even number of steps.
6. **Construct the mapping :**
- For each orbit , define such that and .
- This ensures that for all .
7. **Verify the properties of :**
- is a one-to-one mapping of onto because it is defined in terms of the one-to-one mapping .
- is a neighbor of because is a neighbor of .
- by construction.
Thus, we have constructed a perfect mapping with the desired properties.