XXII OM - III - Task 3

How many locks at least need to be placed on the treasury so that with a certain distribution of keys among the 11-member committee authorized to open the treasury, any 6 members can open it, but no 5 can? Determine the distribution of keys among the committee members with the minimum number of locks.
Suppose that for some natural number $ n $ there exists a key distribution to $ n $ locks among an 11-member committee such that the conditions of the problem are satisfied. Let $ A_i $ denote the set of locks that the $ i $-th member of the committee can open, where $ i = 1, 2, \ldots, 11 $, and let $ A $ denote the set of all locks. Then from the conditions of the problem, we have

for any five-element subset $ \{ i_1, \ldots, i_5\} $ of the set $ \{1, 2, \ldots, 11\} $ and

for any six-element subset $ \{j_1, \ldots, j_6\} $ of the set $ \{1,2,\ldots,  11\} $.
From (1), it follows that the set $ A - (A_{i_1} \cup \ldots \cup A_{i_5}) $ is non-empty. Let $ x_{i_1}, \ldots, x_{i_5} $ be one of its elements, i.e., a lock that the group of committee members numbered $ i_1, \ldots, i_5 $ cannot open. From (2), it follows that for every $ j \not \in \{i_1, \ldots, i_5 \} $ we have $ x_{i_1 , \ldots, i_5} \in A_j $.
Suppose that $ x_{i_1,\ldots,i_5} = x_{k_1, \ldots, k_5} $ for some subsets $ \{i_1, \ldots, i_5\} $ and $ \{k_1, \ldots, k_5\} $. If these subsets were different, then, for example, $ i_t \not \in \{ k_1, \ldots, k_5 \} $. Therefore, $ x_{k_1, \ldots, k_5} \in A_{i_t} $; but on the other hand, this leads to a contradiction. The obtained contradiction proves that $ \{i_1, \ldots,i_5\} = \{ k_1, \ldots, k_5 \} $.
In other words, different five-element subsets $ \{i_1, \ldots, i_5\} $ correspond to different locks. Therefore, the number of locks is not less than the number of five-element subsets of an 11-element set, i.e., $ n \geq  \binom{11}{5} = 462 $.
We will now prove that if we install $  \binom{11}{5} $ locks on the treasury, then we can distribute the keys to them among the members of the 11-member committee in such a way that the conditions of the problem are satisfied.
Let us associate each of the $  \binom{11}{5} $ locks with a five-element subset of the set $ \{1, 2, \ldots, 11\} $ in a one-to-one manner. If a lock corresponds to the subset $ \{i_1, \ldots, i_5\} $, then the keys to it are given to all members of the committee whose numbers are different from $ i_1, \ldots, i_5 $.
We will show that no five members of the committee can open a certain lock, and therefore the treasury. Indeed, the members of the committee numbered $ i_1, \ldots, i_5 $ do not have the key to the lock corresponding to the subset $ \{i_1, \ldots, i_5\} $.
We will show that any six members of the committee can open any lock, and therefore the treasury. If the members of the committee have numbers $ j_1, \ldots, j_6 $ and want to open a lock corresponding to the subset $ \{i_1, \ldots, i_5\} $, then one of the six numbers $ j_1, \ldots, j_6 $ does not belong to this five-element subset, say $ j_t \not \in \{i_1, \ldots, i_5 \} $. Therefore, the member of the committee numbered $ j_t $ has the key to the lock corresponding to the subset $ \{i_1, \ldots, i_5\} $.
Thus, the smallest number satisfying the conditions of the problem is $  \binom{11}{5} = 462 $.