Problem

Source: Romanian TST 1978, Day 4, P3

Tags: set theory, partitions



Let $ p $ be a natural number and let two partitions $ \mathcal{A} =\left\{ A_1,A_2,...,A_p\right\} ,\mathcal{B}=\left\{ B_1,B_2,...B_p\right\} $ of a finite set $ \mathcal{M} . $ Knowing that, whenever an element of $ \mathcal{A} $ doesn´t have any elements in common with another of $ \mathcal{B} , $ it holds that the number of elements of these two is greater than $ p, $ prove that $ \big| \mathcal{M}\big|\ge\frac{1}{2}\left( 1+p^2\right) . $ Can equality hold?