Problem

Source: 44th International Tournament of Towns, Junior A-Level P6, Spring 2023

Tags: number theory, Arithmetic Progression



Let $X{}$ be a set of integers which can be partitioned into $N{}$ disjoint increasing arithmetic progressions (infinite in both directions), and cannot be partitioned into a smaller number of such progressions. Is such partition into $N{}$ progressions unique for every such $X{}$ if a) $N = 2{}$ and b) $N = 3$? Viktor Kleptsyn