1.

(Nonuniform Fishers Inequality) Let V be a nonempty finite set and

F a family of subsets of V such that the cardinality of the intersection of any
two distinct members of F is the same positive integer. Prove that |F | |V |.
2. (The First Ray-Chaudhuri-Wilson Inequality) Let F be a family of subsets
of a set V with |V | = v. Let M be a set of non-negative integers with |M | = s.
Suppose that |A| = k is the same for all A F and |A B|
M for any
v

distinct A, B F and k > m for all m M . Then |F | s .
3. Let |V | = v and F be a family of subsets of V such that |A
B| takes at
P
most s values for distinct A, B F . Prove that |F | si=0 vi .
4. Let X be a family of subsets {x1 , ..., xv } such that xi 0, 1, 2 and for
every two distinct strings {x1 , ..., xv } and {y1 , ..., yv } in X there is j such
that xj yj + 1(mod3). Prove that |X| 2v .
5. Let n 3 and let An ,Bn be the sets of all even, respectively, odd
permutations of the set {1, 2, ..., n}. Prove the equality
P
Pn
P
Pn
Bn
i=1 |i (i)|.
An
i=1 |i (i)| =
6. Find the number of even permutations of the set {1, 2, ..., n} that do
not have fixed points.
7. Let A1 , A2 , ..., An+1 be distinct subsets of the set {1, 2, ..., n}, each of which
having exactly three elements. Prove that there are two distinct subsets
among them that have exactly one point in common.
8. Let n be an even number and A1 , A2 , ..., An be distinct subsets of the set
{1, 2, ..., n}, each of them having an even number of elements. Prove that
among these subsets there are two having an even number of elements in
common.
9. The squares of a n n table are colored with white and black. Suppose
that there exists a non-empty set of lines A such that any column of the
table has an even number of white squares that also belong to A. Prove that
there exists a non-empty set of columns B such that any line of the table
contains an even number of white squares that also belong to B.
10. Let n be a positive integer and let A1 , A2 , ..., An+1 be nonempty subsets
of the set {1, 2, ..., n}. Prove that there exist nonempty and disjoint index
sets I1 = {i1 , i2 , ..., ik } and I2 = {j1 , j2 , ..., jm } such that Ai1 Ai2 ...Aik =
Aj1 Aj2 ... Ajm .
11. In a society, acquaintance is mutual and even more, any two persons
have exactly one common friend. Then there is a person who knows all the
1

others.
12. Let A1 , A2 , . . . , Am and B1 , B2 , . . . , Bp be subsets of {1, 2, . . . , n} such
that Ai Bj is an odd number for all i and j. Then mp 2n1 .
13. Let p be an odd prime and n 2. For a permutation of the set
{1, 2, ..., n} define S() = (1) + 2(2) + + n(n). Let Aj be the set of
even permutations such that S() = j (mod p) and Bj be the set of odd
permutations for which S() = j (mod p). Prove that n > p if and only
if Aj and Bj have the same number of elements for all j.
14. Does there exist such a configuration of 22 circles and 22 point, that
any circle contains at leats 7 points and any point belongs at least to 7
circles?
15. A simple graph has the property: given any nonempty set H of its
vertices, there is a vertex x of the graph such that the number of edges
connecting x with the points in H is odd. Prove that the graph has an even
number of vertices.
16. A number of teams compete in a tournament, and each team plays
against any other team exactly once. In each game, 2 points are given to
the winner, 1 point for a draw, and 0 points for the loser. It is known that
for any subset S of teams, one can find a team (possibly in S) whose total
score in the games with teams in S is odd. Prove that n is even.
17. A handbook classifies plants by 100 attributes (each plant either has a
given attribute or does not have it). Two plants are dissimilar if they differ
in at least 51 attributes. Show that the handbook cannot give 51 plants all
dissimilar from each other.
18. Let A1 , A2 , . . . , Am be subsets
2, . . . , n}, \
m > n +\1. Then there
[ of {1,[
are disjoint sets I, J such that
Ai =
Aj and
Ai =
Aj .
iI

jJ

iI

jJ

19. In a contest consisting of n problems, the jury defines the difficulty of

each problem by assigning it a positive integral number of points (the same
number of points may be assigned to different problems). Any participant
who answers the problem correctly receives that number of points for the
problem; any other participant receives 0 points. After the participants
submitted their answers, the jury realizes that given any ordering of the
participants (where ties are not permitted), it could have defined the problems
difficulty levels to make that ordering coincide with the participants ranking
according to their total scores. Determine, in terms of n, the maximum

number of participants for which such a scenario could occur.

20. Let A1 , A2 , ..., An , B1 , B2 , ..., Bn be subsets of {1, 2, ..., n} such that:
a) for any nonempty subset T of A, there is an i A such that |Ai T |
is odd, and
b) for any i, j A, Ai and Bj have exactly one common element.
Prove that B1 = B2 = . . . = Bn .
21. A figure composed of 1 by 1 squares has the property that if the squares
of a fixed m by n rectangle are filled with numbers the sum of all of
which is positive, the figure can be placed on the rectangle (possibly after
being rotated by a multiple of 2 ) so that the numbers it covers also have
positive sum (however, the figure may not have any of its squares outside
the rectangle). Prove that a number of such figures can be placed on the
rectangle such that each square is covered by the same number of figures.
22. Light bulbs L1 , L2 , ..., Ln are controlled by switches S1 , S2 , ..., Sn . Switch
Si changes the on/off status of light Li and possibly the status of some other
lights. Suppose that if Si changes the status of Lj then Sj changes the status
of Li . Initially all lights are off. Is it possible to operate the switches in such
a way that all the lights are on?
23. In an m by n table, real numbers are written such that for any two
lines and any two columns, the sum of the numbers situated in the opposite
vertices of the rectangle formed by them is equal to the sum of the numbers
situated in the other two opposite vertices. Some of the numbers are erased,
but the remaining ones allow us to find the erased numbers using the above
property. Prove that at least n + m 1 numbers remained on the table.
24. The edges of a regular 2n -gon are colored red and blue. A step consists
of recoloring each edge which has the same color as both of its neighbors in
red, and recoloring each other edge in blue. Prove that after 2n1 steps all
of the edges will be red and that need not hold after fewer steps.
25. Let A1 , A2 , . . . , Am be distinct subsets of a set A with n 2 elements.
Suppose that any two of these subsets have exactly one element in common.
Prove that m n.