Problem

Source: 2009 China Western Mathematic Olmpiad

Tags: combinatorics proposed, combinatorics



Given an integer $n\ge\ 3$, find the least positive integer $k$, such that there exists a set $A$ with $k$ elements, and $n$ distinct reals $x_{1},x_{2},\ldots,x_{n}$ such that $x_{1}+x_{2}, x_{2}+x_{3},\ldots, x_{n-1}+x_{n}, x_{n}+x_{1}$ all belong to $A$.