Maths Olympiad Prep

Track / Stage 7 / 249 of 300 #1649 of 1964

Problem 1649

National Olympiad second round; IMO P1/P4
Combinatorics Difficulty 7.4 Find the answer

Is it possible to colour all integers greater than 11{} in three colours (each integer in one colour, all three colours must be used) so that the colour of the product of any two differently coloured numbers is different from the colour of each of the factors?

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Official solution

1. Assume the contrary: Suppose it is possible to color all integers greater than 1 in three colors (red, green, blue) such that the product of any two differently colored numbers is colored differently from each of the factors.

2. Define sets:
- Let A={x∈N∖{1}∣x is red} A = \{ x \in \mathbb{N} \setminus \{1\} \mid x \text{ is red} \}
- Let B={y∈N∖{1}∣y is green} B = \{ y \in \mathbb{N} \setminus \{1\} \mid y \text{ is green} \}
- Let C={z∈N∖{1}∣z is blue} C = \{ z \in \mathbb{N} \setminus \{1\} \mid z \text{ is blue} \}

From the problem statement, we have:
A∪B∪C=N∖{1} A \cup B \cup C = \mathbb{N} \setminus \{1\}
A∩B=A∩C=B∩C=∅ A \cap B = A \cap C = B \cap C = \emptyset
x∈A,y∈B  ⟹  xy∈C x \in A, y \in B \implies xy \in C
x∈A,z∈C  ⟹  xz∈B x \in A, z \in C \implies xz \in B
y∈B,z∈C  ⟹  yz∈A y \in B, z \in C \implies yz \in A

3. Claim 1: Let p∈A p \in A be a prime number. Then pn∈A p^n \in A for all n∈N n \in \mathbb{N} .

Proof:
- Assume there exists k∈N∖{1} k \in \mathbb{N} \setminus \{1\} such that pk∈B p^k \in B .
- Since p∈A p \in A and pk∈B p^k \in B , it follows that pk+1∈C p^{k+1} \in C .
- Since p∈A p \in A and pk+1∈C p^{k+1} \in C , it follows that pk+2∈B p^{k+2} \in B .
- By induction, pm∈B∪C p^m \in B \cup C for all m≥k m \ge k .

On the other hand:
- Since pk∈B p^k \in B and pk+1∈C p^{k+1} \in C , it follows that p2k+1∈A p^{2k+1} \in A , which contradicts the previous statement that pm∈B∪C p^m \in B \cup C for all m≥k m \ge k .

Hence, the assumption is false, and pn∈A p^n \in A for all n∈N n \in \mathbb{N} .

4. Claim 2: Let p∈A p \in A be a prime number. Then qn∈A q^n \in A for all prime numbers q q and for all n∈N n \in \mathbb{N} .

Proof:
- Assume there exists a prime number q q such that q∈B q \in B .
- Since p∈A p \in A and q∈B q \in B , it follows that pq∈C pq \in C .
- Since p∈A p \in A and pq∈C pq \in C , it follows that p2q∈B p^2q \in B .
- By Claim 1, p2∈A p^2 \in A .
- Since p2∈A p^2 \in A and q∈B q \in B , it follows that p2q∈C p^2q \in C , which contradicts the previous statement that p2q∈B p^2q \in B .

Hence, the assumption is false, and q∈A q \in A for all prime numbers q q .

5. Conclusion from Claims 1 and 2:
- All prime numbers and their powers belong to the same set A A .

6. Contradiction:
- Assume pn∈A p^n \in A for all prime numbers p p and n∈N n \in \mathbb{N} , and let N∈B N \in B .
- Then N N can be expressed as N=p1α1p2α2⋯pmαm N = p_1^{\alpha_1} p_2^{\alpha_2} \cdots p_m^{\alpha_m} where p1,p2,…,pm p_1, p_2, \ldots, p_m are pairwise distinct prime numbers and α1,α2,…,αm∈N \alpha_1, \alpha_2, \ldots, \alpha_m \in \mathbb{N} .
- Since p1∈A p_1 \in A and N∈B N \in B , it follows that p1α1+1p2α2⋯pmαm∈C p_1^{\alpha_1+1} p_2^{\alpha_2} \cdots p_m^{\alpha_m} \in C .
- Since N∈B N \in B and p1α1+1p2α2⋯pmαm∈C p_1^{\alpha_1+1} p_2^{\alpha_2} \cdots p_m^{\alpha_m} \in C , it follows that p12α1+1p22α2⋯pm2αm∈A p_1^{2\alpha_1+1} p_2^{2\alpha_2} \cdots p_m^{2\alpha_m} \in A .

On the other hand:
- Since p1α1+1∈A p_1^{\alpha_1+1} \in A and N∈B N \in B , it follows that p12α1+1p2α2⋯pmαm∈C p_1^{2\alpha_1+1} p_2^{\alpha_2} \cdots p_m^{\alpha_m} \in C .
- Since p2α2∈A p_2^{\alpha_2} \in A and p12α1+1p2α2⋯pmαm∈C p_1^{2\alpha_1+1} p_2^{\alpha_2} \cdots p_m^{\alpha_m} \in C , it follows that p12α1+1p22α2p3α3⋯pmαm∈B p_1^{2\alpha_1+1} p_2^{2\alpha_2} p_3^{\alpha_3} \cdots p_m^{\alpha_m} \in B .

Using the same reasoning for p3α3,…,pmαm∈A p_3^{\alpha_3}, \ldots, p_m^{\alpha_m} \in A , we finally obtain p12α1+1p22α2⋯pm2αm∈B∪C p_1^{2\alpha_1+1} p_2^{2\alpha_2} \cdots p_m^{2\alpha_m} \in B \cup C , which contradicts the previous statement that p12α1+1p22α2⋯pm2αm∈A p_1^{2\alpha_1+1} p_2^{2\alpha_2} \cdots p_m^{2\alpha_m} \in A .

Conclusion:
It is not possible to color all integers greater than 1 in three colors such that the color of the product of any two differently colored numbers is different from the color of each of the factors. ■\blacksquare

Source: NuminaMath-1.5, licensed Apache-2.0. Statement reproduced verbatim; metadata (topic, difficulty, ordering) added by this project.