Problem

Source: 2013 USAJMO Problem 2

Tags: algorithm, JMO, grids



Each cell of an $m\times n$ board is filled with some nonnegative integer. Two numbers in the filling are said to be adjacent if their cells share a common side. (Note that two numbers in cells that share only a corner are not adjacent). The filling is called a garden if it satisfies the following two conditions: (i) The difference between any two adjacent numbers is either $0$ or $1$. (ii) If a number is less than or equal to all of its adjacent numbers, then it is equal to $0$. Determine the number of distinct gardens in terms of $m$ and $n$.