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62nd Ukrainian National Mathematical Olympiad, Third Round, First Tour

Ukraine number theory

Problem

We chose several numbers among . It turned out that sum of any two of the chosen numbers isn't divisible by the difference between any two of the chosen numbers. What largest possible number of numbers could be selected?

(Oleksii Masalitin)
Solution
Suppose that more than numbers were chosen. Then there exists a triple , among which at least two numbers were chosen, so the absolute difference between some two of the chosen numbers doesn't exceed . Clearly, there exist some two chosen numbers with the same parity, so their sum will be divisible by that difference not exceeding . So, not more than numbers were chosen.

Let's show that we can choose a given number of numbers. Consider the set , consisting of numbers. As the difference between any two of these numbers is divisible by , and the sum of any two of these numbers isn't divisible by , this set satisfies the conditions from the statement.
Final answer
674

Techniques

Divisibility / FactorizationPigeonhole principleColoring schemes, extremal arguments