MathDB
BMO Shortlist 2021 C3

Source: BMO Shortlist 2021

May 8, 2022
Balkanshortlist2021combinatoricscoinsBoxes

Problem Statement

In an exotic country, the National Bank issues coins that can take any value in the interval [0,1][0, 1]. Find the smallest constant c>0c > 0 such that the following holds, no matter the situation in that country:
Any citizen of the exotic country that has a finite number of coins, with a total value of no more than 10001000, can split those coins into 100100 boxes, such that the total value inside each box is at most cc.