Let $n\ge 2$ be an integer. Show that there exists a subset $A\in \{1,2,\ldots ,n\}$ such that: i) The number of elements of $A$ is at most $2\lfloor\sqrt{n}\rfloor+1$ ii) $\{ |x-y| \mid x,y\in A, x\not= y\} = \{ 1,2,\ldots n-1 \}$ Radu Todor
Source: Romanian TST 1998
Tags: floor function, combinatorics proposed, combinatorics
Let $n\ge 2$ be an integer. Show that there exists a subset $A\in \{1,2,\ldots ,n\}$ such that: i) The number of elements of $A$ is at most $2\lfloor\sqrt{n}\rfloor+1$ ii) $\{ |x-y| \mid x,y\in A, x\not= y\} = \{ 1,2,\ldots n-1 \}$ Radu Todor