USAMO
2017


Problem - 3813
Let $m_1, m_2, \ldots, m_n$ be a collection of $n$ positive integers, not necessarily distinct. For any sequence of integers $A = (a_1, \ldots, a_n)$ and any permutation $w = w_1, \ldots, w_n$ of $m_1, \ldots, m_n$, define an $A$-inversion of $w$ to be a pair of entries $w_i, w_j$ with $i < j$ for which one of the following conditions holds: $a_i \ge w_i > w_j$ $w_j > a_i \ge w_i$, or $w_i > w_j > a_i$. Show that, for any two sequences of integers $A = (a_1, \ldots, a_n)$ and $B = (b_1, \ldots, b_n)$, and for any positive integer $k$, the number of permutations of $m_1, \ldots, m_n$ having exactly $k$ $A$-inversions is equal to the number of permutations of $m_1, \ldots, m_n$ having exactly $k$ $B$-inversions.

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