Maths Olympiad Prep

Track / Stage 8 / 165 of 180 #1865 of 1964

Problem 1865

IMO Shortlist mid-range; USAMO P2/P5
Algebra Difficulty 8.7 Find the answer china_team_selection_test

Let C={zC:z=1}C=\{ z \in \mathbb{C} : |z|=1 \} be the unit circle on the complex plane. Let z1,z2,,z240Cz_1, z_2, \ldots, z_{240} \in C (not necessarily different) be 240240 complex numbers, satisfying the following two conditions:
(1) For any open arc Γ\Gamma of length π\pi on CC, there are at most 200200 of j (1j240)j ~(1 \le j \le 240) such that zjΓz_j \in \Gamma.
(2) For any open arc γ\gamma of length π/3\pi/3 on CC, there are at most 120120 of j (1j240)j ~(1 \le j \le 240) such that zjγz_j \in \gamma.

Find the maximum of z1+z2++z240|z_1+z_2+\ldots+z_{240}|.

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

Official solution

Let C={zC:z=1} C = \{ z \in \mathbb{C} : |z| = 1 \} be the unit circle on the complex plane. Let z1,z2,,z240C z_1, z_2, \ldots, z_{240} \in C (not necessarily different) be 240 complex numbers satisfying the following two conditions:
1. For any open arc Γ\Gamma of length π\pi on CC, there are at most 200 of j (1j240) j ~(1 \le j \le 240) such that zjΓ z_j \in \Gamma .
2. For any open arc γ\gamma of length π/3\pi/3 on CC, there are at most 120 of j (1j240) j ~(1 \le j \le 240) such that zjγ z_j \in \gamma .

We aim to find the maximum of z1+z2++z240 |z_1 + z_2 + \ldots + z_{240}| .

To solve this, we consider the following setup:
Let the 240 complex numbers be zk=eiθk z_k = e^{i \theta_k} for k=1,2,,240 k = 1, 2, \ldots, 240 , where 0θ1θ2θ240<2π 0 \leq \theta_1 \leq \theta_2 \leq \cdots \leq \theta_{240} < 2\pi .

We define ωk=zk+zk+40+zk+80+zk+120+zk+160+zk+200 \omega_k = z_k + z_{k+40} + z_{k+80} + z_{k+120} + z_{k+160} + z_{k+200} for 1k40 1 \leq k \leq 40 . Each ωk \omega_k sums six complex numbers spaced by 2π6=π3 \frac{2\pi}{6} = \frac{\pi}{3} radians apart.

Given the conditions:
1. For any open arc Γ\Gamma of length π\pi on the unit circle, at most 5 of zi z_i (where 1i6 1 \leq i \leq 6 ) are on Γ\Gamma.
2. For any open arc γ\gamma of length π/3\pi/3 on the unit circle, at most 3 of zi z_i (where 1i6 1 \leq i \leq 6 ) are on γ\gamma.

We can bound the magnitude of ωk \omega_k :
ωk=zk+zk+40+zk+80+zk+120+zk+160+zk+200. |\omega_k| = |z_k + z_{k+40} + z_{k+80} + z_{k+120} + z_{k+160} + z_{k+200}|.

Using the properties of complex numbers on the unit circle and the given conditions, we find:
ωk2+3. |\omega_k| \leq 2 + \sqrt{3}.

Thus, the sum of all zi z_i can be bounded by:
z1+z2++z240=k=140ωk40×(2+3). |z_1 + z_2 + \ldots + z_{240}| = \left| \sum_{k=1}^{40} \omega_k \right| \leq 40 \times (2 + \sqrt{3}).

The maximum value is achieved when the configuration of zi z_i is such that the sum reaches this bound. One such configuration is:
- z1=z2==z40=i z_1 = z_2 = \cdots = z_{40} = i ,
- z41=z42==z80=i z_{41} = z_{42} = \cdots = z_{80} = -i ,
- z81=z82==z120=32+12i z_{81} = z_{82} = \cdots = z_{120} = \frac{\sqrt{3}}{2} + \frac{1}{2}i ,
- z121=z122==z160=3212i z_{121} = z_{122} = \cdots = z_{160} = \frac{\sqrt{3}}{2} - \frac{1}{2}i ,
- z161=z162==z240=1 z_{161} = z_{162} = \cdots = z_{240} = 1 .

In this configuration, we have:
z1+z2++z240=80+403. |z_1 + z_2 + \ldots + z_{240}| = 80 + 40\sqrt{3}.

Therefore, the maximum of z1+z2++z240 |z_1 + z_2 + \ldots + z_{240}| is:
80+403. \boxed{80 + 40\sqrt{3}}.

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