Problem

Source: Iran 3rd round 2012-Combinatorics exam-P3

Tags: combinatorics proposed, combinatorics



In a tree with $n$ vertices, for each vertex $x_i$, denote the longest paths passing through it by $l_i^1,l_i^2,...,l_i^{k_i}$. $x_i$ cuts those longest paths into two parts with $(a_i^1,b_i^1),(a_i^2,b_i^2),...,(a_i^{k_i},b_i^{k_i})$ vertices respectively. If $\max_{j=1,...,k_i} \{a_i^j\times b_i^j\}=p_i$, find the maximum and minimum values of $\sum_{i=1}^{n} p_i$. Proposed by Sina Rezaei