From three boys and three girls, every boy knows exactly two girls and every girl knows exactly two boys. Prove that we can arrange boys and girls in pairs such that in every pair people know each other
Problem 1438
Official solution
1. Define the sets and relationships:
Let the boys be and the girls be . According to the problem, each boy knows exactly two girls and each girl knows exactly two boys. We can represent these relationships as follows:
- knows and
- knows and
- knows and
2. Construct a bipartite graph:
We can represent this problem using a bipartite graph where one set of vertices represents the boys and the other set represents the girls. An edge between a boy and a girl indicates that they know each other. The graph can be visualized as follows:
- is connected to and
- is connected to and
- is connected to and
3. Check for a perfect matching:
A perfect matching in a bipartite graph is a matching that covers every vertex exactly once. In this case, we need to find a perfect matching where each boy is paired with a girl he knows, and each girl is paired with a boy she knows.
4. Find the perfect matching:
We can use the given relationships to find a perfect matching:
- Pair with
- Pair with
- Pair with
Let's verify that these pairs satisfy the conditions:
- knows
- knows
- knows
Each boy is paired with a girl he knows, and each girl is paired with a boy she knows. Therefore, this is a valid perfect matching.