Problem

Source: USA December TST for IMO 2023, Problem 1 and USA TST for EGMO 2023, Problem 1

Tags: combinatorics, USA TST



There are $2022$ equally spaced points on a circular track $\gamma$ of circumference $2022$. The points are labeled $A_1, A_2, \ldots, A_{2022}$ in some order, each label used once. Initially, Bunbun the Bunny begins at $A_1$. She hops along $\gamma$ from $A_1$ to $A_2$, then from $A_2$ to $A_3$, until she reaches $A_{2022}$, after which she hops back to $A_1$. When hopping from $P$ to $Q$, she always hops along the shorter of the two arcs $\widehat{PQ}$ of $\gamma$; if $\overline{PQ}$ is a diameter of $\gamma$, she moves along either semicircle. Determine the maximal possible sum of the lengths of the $2022$ arcs which Bunbun traveled, over all possible labellings of the $2022$ points. Kevin Cong