Problem

Source: IMO Shortlist 1997, Q3

Tags: vector, combinatorics, combinatorial geometry, IMO Shortlist, Extremal combinatorics, geometry



For each finite set $ U$ of nonzero vectors in the plane we define $ l(U)$ to be the length of the vector that is the sum of all vectors in $ U.$ Given a finite set $ V$ of nonzero vectors in the plane, a subset $ B$ of $ V$ is said to be maximal if $ l(B)$ is greater than or equal to $ l(A)$ for each nonempty subset $ A$ of $ V.$ (a) Construct sets of 4 and 5 vectors that have 8 and 10 maximal subsets respectively. (b) Show that, for any set $ V$ consisting of $ n \geq 1$ vectors the number of maximal subsets is less than or equal to $ 2n.$