olymmath

ISL 2017 C2

    Let nn be a positive integer. Define a chameleon to be any sequence of 3n3 n letters, with exactly nn occurrences of each of the letters a,ba, b, and cc. Define a swap to be the transposition of two adjacent letters in a chameleon. Prove that for any chameleon XX, there exists a chameleon YY such that XX cannot be changed to YY using fewer than 3n2/23 n^{2} / 2 swaps. (Australia)

    Dataset text NuminaMath olympiads. Quoted with source.

    Official text: IMO 2017 Shortlist booklet, page 8.

    Solutions

    Official solution Solution 1 by the IMO Problem Selection Committee

    The terms of the source let olymmath link to this solution but not copy it. Read the solution (IMO official site).

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