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Algebra Difficulty 5.6 AIME, harder Prove it South Africa

For every positive integer nn, determine the greatest possible value of the quotient
1xn(1x)nx(1x)n+(1x)xn \frac{1 - x^n - (1-x)^n}{x(1-x)^n + (1-x)x^n}
where 0<x<10 < x < 1.

Solutions — 2

Solution 1

It is convenient to write y=1xy = 1 - x, so that x+y=1x + y = 1. We show that the maximum of the resulting expression
1xnynxyn+yxn \frac{1 - x^n - y^n}{xy^n + yx^n}
is attained when x=y=12x = y = \frac{1}{2}. The value in this case is 2n22^n - 2. We first rewrite the expression as follows:
1xnynxyn+yxn=x+yxnynxyn+yxn=x(1xn1)+y(1yn1)xy(xn1+yn1)=x(1x)(1+x++xn2)+y(1y)(1+y++yn2)xy(xn1+yn1)=xy(1+x++xn2+1+y++yn2)xy(xn1+yn1)=1+1xn1+yn1+x+yxn1+yn1++xn2+yn2xn1+yn1. \begin{aligned} \frac{1 - x^n - y^n}{xy^n + yx^n} &= \frac{x + y - x^n - y^n}{xy^n + yx^n} = \frac{x(1 - x^{n-1}) + y(1 - y^{n-1})}{xy(x^{n-1} + y^{n-1})} \\ &= \frac{x(1-x)(1+x+\cdots+x^{n-2}) + y(1-y)(1+y+\cdots+y^{n-2})}{xy(x^{n-1} + y^{n-1})} \\ &= \frac{xy(1+x+\cdots+x^{n-2}+1+y+\cdots+y^{n-2})}{xy(x^{n-1} + y^{n-1})} \\ &= \frac{1+1}{x^{n-1} + y^{n-1}} + \frac{x+y}{x^{n-1} + y^{n-1}} + \cdots + \frac{x^{n-2} + y^{n-2}}{x^{n-1} + y^{n-1}}. \end{aligned}

We will therefore be done if we can show that
xa+yaxb+yb \frac{x^a + y^a}{x^b + y^b}
attains its maximum for x=y=12x = y = \frac{1}{2} whenever 0a<b0 \le a < b. This can be achieved in many ways, for example as follows: the general mean inequality yields
(xa+ya2)(xb+yb2)a/b \left( \frac{x^a + y^a}{2} \right) \le \left( \frac{x^b + y^b}{2} \right)^{a/b}
and
12=x+y2(xb+yb2)1/b, \frac{1}{2} = \frac{x+y}{2} \le \left( \frac{x^b + y^b}{2} \right)^{1/b},

Solution 2

Using the same notation as in the previous solution, the binomial theorem gives us
1xnynxyn+yxn=(x+y)nxnynxyn+yxn=k=1n1(nk)xkynkxy(xn1+yn1)=k=1n1(nk)xk1ynk1xn1+yn1. \frac{1 - x^n - y^n}{xy^n + yx^n} = \frac{(x + y)^n - x^n - y^n}{xy^n + yx^n} = \frac{\sum_{k=1}^{n-1} \binom{n}{k} x^k y^{n-k}}{xy(x^{n-1} + y^{n-1})} = \frac{\sum_{k=1}^{n-1} \binom{n}{k} x^{k-1} y^{n-k-1}}{x^{n-1} + y^{n-1}}.
We group terms pairwise (kk and nkn-k forming a pair):
1xnynxyn+yxn=k=1(n1)/2(nk)xk1ynk1+xnk1yk1xn1+yn1+{(nn/2)xn/21yn/21xn1+yn1n even,0otherwise. \frac{1 - x^n - y^n}{xy^n + yx^n} = \sum_{k=1}^{\lfloor(n-1)/2\rfloor} \binom{n}{k} \frac{x^{k-1}y^{n-k-1} + x^{n-k-1}y^{k-1}}{x^{n-1} + y^{n-1}} + \begin{cases} \binom{n}{n/2} \frac{x^{n/2-1}y^{n/2-1}}{x^{n-1}+y^{n-1}} & n \text{ even,} \\ 0 & \text{otherwise.} \end{cases}
Now we only need to show that
xk1ynk1+xnk1yk1xn1+yn1=(xy)k1(xn2k+yn2k)xn1+yn1 \frac{x^{k-1}y^{n-k-1} + x^{n-k-1}y^{k-1}}{x^{n-1} + y^{n-1}} = \frac{(xy)^{k-1}(x^{n-2k} + y^{n-2k})}{x^{n-1} + y^{n-1}}
attains its maximum when x=y=12x = y = \frac{1}{2}. Note that the potential extra term for even nn is also of this form, up to a factor 2:
xn/21yn/21xn1+yn1=12(xy)n/21(x0+y0)xn1+yn1. \frac{x^{n/2-1}y^{n/2-1}}{x^{n-1} + y^{n-1}} = \frac{1}{2} \cdot \frac{(xy)^{n/2-1}(x^0 + y^0)}{x^{n-1} + y^{n-1}}.
Since xy(x+y2)2=14xy \le \left(\frac{x+y}{2}\right)^2 = \frac{1}{4} by the inequality between the arithmetic and geometric mean (with equality for x=y=12x = y = \frac{1}{2}), this can again be achieved by showing that
xa+yaxb+yb \frac{x^a + y^a}{x^b + y^b}
attains its maximum for x=y=12x = y = \frac{1}{2} whenever 0a<b0 \le a < b, as in the first solution.

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