An existence theorem for antichains

Let k₁, k₂,…, k_n be given integers, 1 ? k₁ ? k₂ ? … ? k_n, and let S be the set of vectors x = (x₁,…, x_n) with integral coefficients satisfying 0 ? x_i ? k_i, i = 1, 2, 3,…, n. A subset H of S is an antichain (or Sperner family or clutter) if and only if for each pair of distinct vectors x and y in H the inequalities x_i ? y_i, i = 1, 2,…, n, do not all hold. Let |H| denote the number of vectors in H, let K = k₁ + k₂ + … + k_n and for 0 ? l ? K let (l)H denote the subset of H consisting of vectors h = (h₁, h₂,…, h_n) which satisfy h₁ + h₂ + … + h_n = l. In this paper we show that if H is an antichain in S, then there exists an antichain H′ in S for which |(l)H′| = 0 if $\text{l <}\text{K}\text{2}$, $\text{|(}\text{K}\text{2}\text{)H′| = |(}\text{K}\text{2}\text{)H|}$ if K is even and |(l)H′| = |(l)H| + |(K ? l)H| if $\text{l>}\text{K}\text{2}$.