MathDB
Putnam 2004 B6

Source:

December 11, 2004
Putnamlimitcollege contests

Problem Statement

Let AA be a nonempty set of positive integers, and let N(x)N(x) denote the number of elements of AA not exceeding xx. Let BB denote the set of positive integers bb that can be written in the form b=aab=a-a^{\prime} with aAa\in A and aAa^{\prime}\in A. Let b1<b2<b_1<b_2<\cdots be the members of BB, listed in increasing order. Show that if the sequence bi+1bib_{i+1}-b_i is unbounded, then limxN(x)x=0\lim_{x\to \infty}\frac{N(x)}{x}=0.