AT-OEMO-REG 2022 Problem 4

We are given the set $$M = \{-2^{2022}, -2^{2021}, . . . , -2^{2}, -2, -1, 1, 2, 2^2, . . . , 2^{2021}, 2^{2022}\}.$$ Let $T$ be a subset of $M$, such that neighbouring numbers have the same difference when the elements are ordered by size. (a) Determine the maximum number of elements that such a set $T$ can contain. (b) Determine all sets $T$ with the maximum number of elements.

(Walther Janous)