Problem

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Tags: combinatorics unsolved, combinatorics



Let $a_1, a_2, \ldots , a_{11}$ be 11 pairwise distinct positive integer with sum less than 2007. Let S be the sequence of $1,2, \ldots ,2007$. Define an operation to be 22 consecutive applications of the following steps on the sequence $S$: on $i$-th step, choose a number from the sequense $S$ at random, say $x$. If $1 \leq i \leq 11$, replace $x$ with $x+a_i$ ; if $12 \leq i \leq 22$, replace $x$ with $x-a_{i-11}$ . If the result of operation on the sequence $S$ is an odd permutation of $\{1, 2, \ldots , 2007\}$, it is an odd operation; if the result of operation on the sequence $S$ is an even permutation of $\{1, 2, \ldots , 2007\}$, it is an even operation. Which is larger, the number of odd operation or the number of even permutation? And by how many? Here $\{x_1, x_2, \ldots , x_{2007}\}$ is an even permutation of $\{1, 2, \ldots ,2007\}$ if the product $\prod_{i > j} (x_i - x_j)$ is positive, and an odd one otherwise.