Problem

Source: St Petersburg 2022 10.2~11.4

Tags: combinatorics



We will say that a set of real numbers $A = (a_1,... , a_{17})$ is stronger than the set of real numbers $B = (b_1, . . . , b_{17})$, and write $A >B$ if among all inequalities $a_i > b_j$ the number of true inequalities is at least $3$ times greater than the number of false. Prove that there is no chain of sets $A_1, A_2, . . . , A_N$ such that $A_1>A_2> \cdots A_N>A_1$. Remark: For 11.4, the constant $3$ is changed to $2$ and $N=3$ and $17$ is changed to $m$ and $n$ in the definition (the number of elements don't have to be equal).