Maths Olympiad Prep

Library / /667 of 841

Combinatorics Difficulty 5.4 AIME, harder Find the answer

Each lattice point with nonnegative coordinates is labeled with a nonnegative integer in such a way that the point (0,0)(0,0) is labeled by 0 , and for every x,y0x, y \geq 0, the set of numbers labeled on the points (x,y),(x,y+1)(x, y),(x, y+1), and (x+1,y)(x+1, y) is \{n, n+1, n+2\} for some nonnegative integer nn. Determine, with proof, all possible labels for the point (2000,2024)(2000,2024).

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

Solution

We claim the answer is all multiples of 3 from 0 to 2000+22024=60482000+2 \cdot 2024=6048. First, we prove no other values are possible. Let (x,y)\ell(x, y) denote the label of cell (x,y)(x, y). * The\text{* The} label is divisible by 3.} Observe that for any xx and y,(x,y),(x,y+1)y, \ell(x, y), \ell(x, y+1), and (x+1,\ell(x+1, y) are all distinct mod 3 . Thus, for any aand and b, (a+1,\ell(a+1, b+1)cannotmatch(a+1,b) cannot match \ell(a+1, b) or (a,\ell(a, b+1) mod\bmod 3,soitmustbeequivalentto(a,b), so it must be equivalent to \ell(a, b) modulo 3 . Since (a,\ell(a, b+1), (a,\ell(a, b+2), (a+1,\ell(a+1, b+1)arealldistinctmod3 are all distinct \bmod 3, and (a+1,\ell(a+1, b+1)and(a,b) and \ell(a, b) are equivalent mod\bmod 3,then(a,b),(a,b+1),(a,b+2), then \ell(a, b), \ell(a, b+1), \ell(a, b+2) are all distinct mod\bmod 3,andthussimilarly(a,b+, and thus similarly \ell(a, b+ 1),(a,b+2),(a,b+3)1), \ell(a, b+2), \ell(a, b+3) are all distinct mod\bmod 3,whichmeansthat(a,b+3), which means that \ell(a, b+3) must be neither (a,\ell(a, b+1)or(a,b+2)mod3 or \ell(a, b+2) \bmod 3, and thus must be equal to (a,\ell(a, b) mod\bmod 3. These together imply that (w,x)(y,z)mod3wxyzmod3\ell(w, x) \equiv \ell(y, z) \bmod 3 \Longleftrightarrow w-x \equiv y-z \bmod 3Itfollowsthat(2000,2024) It follows that \ell(2000,2024) must be equivalent to (0,0)mod\ell(0,0) \bmod 3, which is a multiple of 3 . * The\text{* The} label is at most 6048 .} Note that since (x+1,\ell(x+1, y), (x,\ell(x, y+1), and (x,\ell(x, y)are3consecutivenumbers,(x+1,y)(x,y) are 3 consecutive numbers, \ell(x+1, y)-\ell(x, y) and (x,y+1)(x,\ell(x, y+1)-\ell(x, y)areboth2 are both \leq 2. Moreover, since (x+1,\ell(x+1, y+1) (x,\leq \ell(x, y)+4, since it is also the same mod 3 , it must be at most (x,\ell(x, y)+3. Thus, (2000,2000)(0,0)+3\ell(2000,2000) \leq \ell(0,0)+3 \cdot 2000,and(2000,2024)(2000,2000)+224, and \ell(2000,2024) \leq \ell(2000,2000)+2 \cdot 24, so (2000,2024)\ell(2000,2024) \leq 6048. * Construction. Consider lines n\text{. * Construction. Consider lines n} of the form x+2y=nx+2 y=n (so (2000,2024)(2000,2024) lies on 6048\ell_{6048} ). Then any three points of the form (x, y),(x, y+1),and, and (x+1, y)lieonthreeconsecutivelinesn,n+1,n+2 lie on three consecutive lines \ell_{n}, \ell_{n+1}, \ell_{n+2} in some order. Thus, for any kk which is a multiple of 3 , if we label every point on line i\ell_{i}withmax(imod3,ik) with \max (i \bmod 3, i-k), any three consecutive lines n,n+1,n+2\ell_{n}, \ell_{n+1}, \ell_{n+2} will either be labelled 0,1 , and 2 in some order, or n-k, n-k+1,, n-k+2, both of which consist of three consecutive numbers. Below is an example with k=6.8910111213141567891011121345678910112345678901234567120123452012012301201201Anysuchlabellingisvalid,andletting. \begin{array}{|l|l|l|l|l|l|l|l|l|} \hline 8 & 9 & 10 & 11 & 12 & 13 & 14 & 15 \\ \hline 6 & 7 & 8 & 9 & 10 & 11 & 12 & 13 \\ \hline 4 & 5 & 6 & 7 & 8 & 9 & 10 & 11 \\ \hline 2 & 3 & 4 & 5 & 6 & 7 & 8 & 9 \\ \hline 0 & 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 & 5 & 6 & 7 \\ \hline 1 & 2 & 0 & 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 & 5 \\ \hline 2 & 0 & 1 & 2 & 0 & 1 & 2 & 3 \\ \hline 0 & 1 & 2 & 0 & 1 & 2 & 0 & 1 \\ \hline \end{array} Any such labelling is valid, and letting krangefrom0to6048,wesee range from 0 to 6048 , we see (2000,2024) can take any label of the form 6048-k$, which spans all such multiples of 3 . Hence the possible labels are precisely the multiples of 3 from 0 to 6048.

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