A Minimum problem for finite sets of real numbers with non-negative sum

TL;DR

This paper determines the minimum and maximum number of non-negative partial sums for real number sets with fixed positive and negative counts, and explores the existence of specific sum counts within these bounds.

Contribution

It explicitly calculates the extremal values of non-negative partial sums and introduces weighted boolean maps to address sum count realizability.

Findings

          

     

Abstract

Let $n$ and $r$ be two integers such that $0 < r \le n$; we denote by $\gamma(n,r)$ [$\eta(n,r)$] the minimum [maximum] number of the non-negative partial sums of a sum $\sum_{1=1}^n a_i \ge 0$, where $a_1, \cdots, a_n$ are $n$ real numbers arbitrarily chosen in such a way that $r$ of them are non-negative and the remaining $n-r$ are negative. Inspired by some interesting extremal combinatorial sum problems raised by Manickam, Mikl\"os and Singhi in 1987 \cite{ManMik87} and 1988 \cite{ManSin88} we study the following two problems: \noindent$(P1)$ {\it which are the values of $\gamma(n,r)$ and $\eta(n,r)$ for each $n$ and $r$, $0 < r \le n$?} \noindent$(P2)$ {\it if $q$ is an integer such that $\gamma(n,r) \le q \le \eta(n,r)$, can we find $n$ real numbers $a_1, \cdots, a_n$, such that $r$ of them are non-negative and the remaining $n-r$ are negative with $\sum_{1=1}^n a_i \ge 0$, such that the number of the non-negative sums formed from these numbers is exactly $q$?} \noindent We prove that the solution of the problem $(P1)$ is given by $\gamma(n,r) = 2^{n-1}$ and $\eta(n,r) = 2^n - 2^{n-r}$. We provide a partial result of the latter problem showing that the answer is affirmative for the weighted boolean maps. With respect to the problem $(P2)$ such maps (that we will introduce in the present paper) can be considered a generalization of the multisets $a_1, \cdots, a_n$ with $\sum_{1=1}^n a_i \ge 0$. More precisely we prove that for each $q$ such that $\gamma(n,r) \le q \le \eta(n,r)$ there exists a weighted boolean map having exactly $q$ positive boolean values.