Allen IMOTC BootCamp Arindam Bhattacharyya

ALLEN IMOTC BootCamp

April 1, 2023

Double Counting
Problem 1 (Erdős-Ko-Rado) Suppose that A is a family of distinct r-element subsets of an n-
element set with n ≥ 2r, and that each two subsets share at least one element. Then show that
n−1
A≤( ).
r−1
Problem 2 Let set M = {x1 , x2 , . . . , x4n+3 } and A1 , A2 , . . . , A4n+3 be its 4n + 3 subsets satisfying the
following conditions:
1. Any n + 1 elements of M belong exactly to a subset Ai (1 ≤ i ≤ 4n + 3);
2. ∣Ai ∣ ≥ 2n + 1(i = 1, 2, . . . , 4n + 3).

Prove that for any two subsets Ai , Aj (1 ≤ i < j ≤ 4n + 3), they have exactly n common elements.

Problem 3 There are n distinct √ points in the plane. Prove that the number of point pairs with the
1
unit distance is smaller than n4 + 22 n 2 .

Problem 4 (Sperner) Let F be a family of k-element subsets of {1, . . . , n}. Its shadow is the
family of all those (k − 1)-element subsets which lie entirely in at least one member of F. Show that
the shadow contains at least k∣F∣/(n − k + 1) sets.

Problem 5 Let X be a set of n elements, and let A1 , . . . , AN be subsets of X of average size at

least n/w. If N ≥ 2w2 , then show that there exist i ≠ j such that
n
∣Ai ∩ Aj ∣ ≥ .
2w2
Problem 6 Let A = (aij ) be an n × n matrix (n ≥ 4). The matrix is filled with integers and each
integer appears exactly twice. Show that there exists a permutation π of {1, . . . , n} such that all the
numbers ai,π(i) , i = 1, . . . , n are distinct. (Such a permutation π is also called a Latin transversal of
A.)

Problem 7 Given a family S1 , . . . , Sn of subsets of V = {1, . . . , n}, its intersection graph G = (V, E)
is defined by: {i, j} ∈ E if and only if Si ∩ Sj ≠ ∅. Suppose that: (i) the sets have average size at least
r, and (ii) the average size of their pairwise intersections does not exceed k. Show that ∣E∣ ≥ nk (2r).

Problem 8 Let S be a set of strings of length n over some alphabet. Suppose that every two strings
of S differ in at least d coordinates. Let k be such that d > n(1 − 1/(k2)). Show that any k distinct
strings v1 , . . . , vk of S attain k distinct values in at least one coordinate.

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Allen IMOTC BootCamp Arindam Bhattacharyya

Problem 9 (USA TST 2005) Let n be an integer greater than 1. For a positive integer m, let
Sm = {1, 2, . . . , mn}. Suppose that there exists a 2n-element set T such that
(a) each element of T is an m-element subset of Sm ;
(b) each pair of elements of T shares at most one common element; and
(c) each element of Sm is contained in exactly two elements of T .
Determine the maximum possible value of m in terms of n.
Problem 10 (USAMO 2011) Let A be a set with ∣A∣ = 225, meaning that A has 225 elements.
Suppose further that there are eleven subsets A1 , . . . , A11 of A such that ∣Ai ∣ = 45 for 1 ≤ i ≤ 11 and
∣Ai ∩ Aj ∣ = 9 for 1 ≤ i < j ≤ 11. Prove that ∣A1 ∪ A2 ∪ . . . ∪ A11 ∣ ≥ 165, and give an example for which
equality holds.
Problem 11 (IMO 2001) Twenty-one girls and twenty-one boys took part in a mathematical com-
petition. It turned out that each contestant solved at most six problems, and for each pair of a girl
and a boy, there was at least one problem that was solved by both the girl and the boy. Show that
there is a problem that was solved by at least three girls and at least three boys.
Problem 12 (USAMO 1995) Suppose that in a certain society, each pair of persons can be clas-
sified as either amicable or hostile. We shall say that each member of an amicable pair is a friend
of the other, and each member of a hostile pair is a foe of the other. Suppose that the society has
n persons and q amicable pairs, and that for every set of three persons, at least one pair is hostile.
Prove that there is at least one member of the society whose foes include q(1 − 4q/n2 ) or fewer
amicable pairs.
Problem 13 (2010 C5) n ≥ 4 players participated in a tennis tournament. Any two players have
played exactly one game, and there was no tie game. We call a company of four players bad if one
player was defeated by the other three players, and each of these three players won a game and lost
another game among themselves. Suppose that there is no bad company in this tournament. Let wi
and li be respectively the number of wins and losses of the i-th player. Prove that
n
3
∑ (wi − li ) ≥ 0.
i=1

Problem 14 (Italy TST 2005) A stage course is attended by n ≥ 4 students. The day before the
final exam, each group of three students conspire against another student
√ to throw him/her out of
the exam. Prove that there is a student against whom there are at least (n − 1)(n − 2)conspirators.
3

Problem 15 (2000 C3) Let n ≥ 4 be a fixed positive integer. Given a set S = {P1 , P2 , . . . , Pn } of
n points in the plane such that no three are collinear and no four concyclic, let at , 1 ≤ t ≤ n, be the
number of circles Pi Pj Pk that contain Pt in their interior, and let
m(S) = a1 + a2 + ⋯ + an .
Prove that there exists a positive integer f (n), depending only on n, such that the points of S are
the vertices of a convex polygon if and only if m(S) = f (n).
Problem 16 (2004 C4) Consider a matrix of size n × n whose entries are real numbers of absolute
value not exceeding 1. The sum of all entries of the matrix is 0. Let n be an even positive integer.
Determine the least number C such that every such matrix necessarily has a row or a column with
the sum of its entries not exceeding C in absolute value.
Problem 17 (Open conjecture, due to Peter Frankl) Let F be a family of nonempty subsets
of a finite set X that is closed under union (i.e., A, B ∈ F implies A ∪ B ∈ F). Prove or give a
counterexample: there exists x ∈ X such that d(x) ≥ ∣F∣/2.

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Allen IMOTC BootCamp Arindam Bhattacharyya

Extremal Combinatorics
Definition (k-clique): A k-clique in a graph G is a subgraph G′ of G such that G′ is a complete
graph on k vertices.
Problem 18 (Zarankewicz) Let G be a graph without a (k + 1)-clique. Prove that G has a vertex
of degree at most ⌊ k−1
k
n⌋.
Problem 19 (Turán) Prove that a graph on n vertices containing no (k + 1)-clique contains at
most
n 2 k k−1 2
⌊( ) ( )⌋ = ⌊ n ⌋
k 2 2k
edges. Show that equality occurs if G is k-partite with all parts nearly equal size. (Hint: Use the
above problem.)
Problem 20 (Ore/Erdős) Let n be a fixed positive integer. Determine the smallest k such that
any graph with n vertices and k edges contains a Hamiltonian cycle.
√
Problem 21 Show that in a graph with m > 0 edges, there are fewer than 3
2 3/2
m triangles.
Problem 22 (Rademacher’s Theorem) Let G be a graph with 2n vertices and n2 +1 edges, where
n ≥ 2. Prove that G contains at least n triangles.
Problem 23 (China TST 2011) Fix an integer n ≥ 2. Consider connected graphs G on 3n2
vertices, with diameter at most 3, maximum degree at most 4n, and at least one vertex of degree 1.
2
Prove that minimum possible number of edges of G is exactly equal to 7n 2−3n .
Problem 24 (USAMO 2008) Let n be a positive integer. Denote by Sn the set of points (x, y)
with integer coordinates such that
1
∣x∣ + ∣y + ∣ < n.
2
A path is a sequence of distinct points (x1 , y1 ), (x2 , y2 ), . . . , (xℓ , yℓ ) in Sn such that, for i = 2, . . . , ℓ,
the distance between (xi , yi ) and (xi−1 , yi−1 ) is 1 (in other words, the points (xi , yi ) and (xi−1 , yi−1 )
are neighbors in the lattice of points with integer coordinates). Prove that the points in Sn cannot be
partitioned into fewer than n paths (a partition of Sn into m paths is a set P of m nonempty paths
such that each point in Sn appears in exactly one of the m paths in P).
Problem 25 (2001 C6) For a positive integer n define a sequence of zeros and ones to be balanced
if it contains n zeros and n ones. Two balanced sequences a and b are neighbors if you can move one
of the 2n symbols of a to another position to form b. For instance, when n = 4, the balanced sequences
01101001 and 00110101 are neighbors because the third (or fourth) zero in the first sequence can be
moved to the first or second position to form the second sequence. Prove that there is a set S of at
most n+11
(2n
n
) balanced sequences such that every balanced sequence is equal to or is a neighbor of at
least one sequence in S.
Problem 26 (PUMAC 2013) A graph consists of a set of vertices, some of which are connected
by (undirected) edges. A star of a graph is a set of edges with a common endpoint. A matching of a
graph is a set of edges such that no two have a common endpoint. Show that if the number of edges
of a graph G is larger than 2(k − 1)2 , then G contains a matching of size k or a star of size k.
Problem 27 (Math Prize for Girls Olympiad 2010) Let S be a set of n points in the coor-
dinate plane. Say that a pair of points is aligned if the two points have the same x-coordinate or
y-coordinate. Prove that S can be partitioned into disjoint subsets such that (a) each of these subsets
is a collinear set of points, and (b) at most n3/2 unordered pairs of distinct points in S are aligned
but not in the same subset.

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Allen IMOTC BootCamp Arindam Bhattacharyya

Problem 28 (India TST 2012) In a 2×n array we have positive reals s.t. the sum of the numbers
in each of the n columns is 1. Show that we can select a number in each column s.t. the sum of the
selected numbers in each row is at most n+1
4
.

Problem 29 (Iran 2004) We have a finite set of white points and black points in the plane. Sup-
pose that for any four points in the set, there exists a line ℓ with all the white points out of the four
on one side of ℓ and all the black points out of the four on the other side of ℓ. Prove that there is a
line in the plane such that every white point in the set lies on one side of the line and every black
point of the set lies on the other.

Definition (Induced subgraph): Let G = (V, E) be a graph, and let S ⊂ V be any subset of
vertices of G. Then the induced subgraph of S is the graph whose vertex set is S and whose edge
set consists of all the edges in E that have both endpoints in S.

Problem 30 (Russia 2011) Suppose a graph G has no K4 (complete subgraph on 4 vertices) and
is not 3-colorable. Prove that the vertices of G can be partitioned into two sets A and B such that
the induced subgraph of A is not 2-colorable and the induced subgraph of B is not 1-colorable.