Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2008 iii Paper 14 1 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Choose a uniformly random permutation of and take its initial segments. This produces a Uniformly random maximal chain in a Boolean lattice. A fixed -set belongs to this chain with probability . An antichain meets the chain at most once, so taking the expected value of the number of meetings proves the LYM inequality:In particular the Sperner theorem bound follows by multiplying each summand by at most the largest binomial coefficient.
For the vector request, an ordering by ordinary subset need not work: distinct vectors may cancel. Instead, write and construct a separated block decomposition for vector subset sums. A block is separated if distinct labeled members have subset sums at distance at least one. We prove that the labeled subsets of can be partitioned into separated blocks, withblocks of size , for , with .
For the one subset forms one block. Suppose a block of sums has already been constructed for vectors, and let . Choose minimizing in the block. Replace the two copies of the block, with and without the new coordinate, by the following two blocks:The old labels are retained, so these partition the two copies even if equal sums occur in different blocks. Translation preserves separation in the first translated portion, and the second block is a subset of the old separated block. For the new cross pairs, Cauchy-Schwarz inequality givesThus both new blocks are separated. Their sizes are and , omitting an empty block. The resulting size-profile recurrence is , and Pascal's identity verifies the displayed binomial-difference formula, including the even middle boundary. The total number of blocks telescopes to .
A signed sum associated with is . If two signed sums lie in the open ball of radius one, their difference has norm less than two, so their subset sums have distance less than one. At most one can therefore lie in any separated block. Hence the Littlewood-Offord inequality isThe counting is by sign choices, not by distinct numerical values of the sums. The open-ball condition handles the equality-distance boundary correctly.
For the last request take real coefficients. Absorb their signs into the choices , so all coefficients are positive and at least one. A signed-sum real interval of length four corresponds to a subset-sum real interval of length two. A strict three-member inclusion chain would have , which cannot occur in that open real interval. Thus its set family is a k-Sperner family with . Every maximal chain in a Boolean lattice meets it at most twice, yielding . Write , so and . If are the two largest binomial coefficients and is the fraction at a largest level, then . This proves the two-level Littlewood-Offord bound:It is the greatest possible number uniformly over choices of coefficients and center. For even , take every coefficient equal to one and center : the real interval contains the sum levels , of multiplicities . For odd , take center zero, giving levels , each of multiplicity . These attain the bound. For the only sign choice gives the separate maximum one. Attainment here is at the exhibited centers; it need not hold at every prescribed center.