Problem

Source: Thirty Third Irish Mathematical Olympiad 2020 P4/10

Tags: combinatorics, Tiling, Coloring



Let $n$ be a positive integer. An $n$-level honeycomb is a plane region covered with regular hexagons of side-length 1 connected along edges, such that the centres of the boundary hexagons are lined up along a regular hexagon of side-length $n \sqrt{3}$. The diagram shows a 2-level honeycomb from which the central hexagon has been removed. A trex is a sequence of 3 hexagons with collinear centres such that the middle hexagon shares an edge with each of its neighbours in the trex. An $n$-level honeycomb from which the central size-1 hexagon has been removed is to be completely covered by trexes without any overlaps. Find all values of $n$ for which this is possible.