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Algebra Difficulty 5.9 AIME, harder Prove it Mongolia

Prove that if 0<x1x2xn0 < x_1 \le x_2 \le \dots \le x_n and kNk \in \mathbb{N} then the inequality
x1k+xnkx1k++xnknkx1+xnx1++xnn holds. \sqrt[k]{x_1^k + x_n^k - \frac{x_1^k + \dots + x_n^k}{n}} \geq x_1 + x_n - \frac{x_1 + \dots + x_n}{n} \text{ holds.}

Solution

x1k+xnkx1k++xnknk=(x1k+xnkx1k)++(x1k+xnkxnk)nkk th meanx1k+xnkx1kk+x1k+xnkx2kk++x1k+xnkxnkknSince x1+xnx1++xnn=(x1+xnx1)+(x1+xnx2)++(x1+xnxn)nit is sufficient to prove that x1k+xnkxikkx1+xnxi,i=1,n. \begin{aligned} & \sqrt[k]{x_1^k + x_n^k - \frac{x_1^k + \dots + x_n^k}{n}} = \sqrt[k]{\frac{(x_1^k + x_n^k - x_1^k) + \dots + (x_1^k + x_n^k - x_n^k)}{n}} \\ & k \text{ th mean} \ge \frac{\sqrt[k]{x_1^k + x_n^k - x_1^k} + \sqrt[k]{x_1^k + x_n^k - x_2^k} + \dots + \sqrt[k]{x_1^k + x_n^k - x_n^k}}{n} \\ & \text{Since } x_1+x_n - \frac{x_1 + \dots + x_n}{n} = \frac{(x_1+x_n-x_1) + (x_1+x_n-x_2) + \dots + (x_1+x_n-x_n)}{n} \\ & \text{it is sufficient to prove that } \sqrt[k]{x_1^k + x_n^k - x_i^k} \ge x_1 + x_n - x_i, \forall i = 1, n. \end{aligned}
Note that x1k+xnkxikkx1+xnxix1k+xnkxik(x1+xnxi)kx1k+xnkxik+(x1+xnxi)k\sqrt[k]{x_1^k + x_n^k - x_i^k} \ge x_1 + x_n - x_i \Leftrightarrow x_1^k + x_n^k - x_i^k \ge (x_1 + x_n - x_i)^k \Leftrightarrow x_1^k + x_n^k \ge x_i^k + (x_1 + x_n - x_i)^k. Substituting x1=a,xi=a+x,xn=a+x+y,x,y0x_1 = a, x_i = a + x, x_n = a + x + y, x, y \ge 0 we get ak+(a+x+y)k(a+x)k+(a+y)k2ak+i=1k(x+y)iakiCki2ak+i=1k(xi+yi)akiCkii=1k((x+y)ixiyi)akiCki0a^k + (a+x+y)^k \ge (a+x)^k + (a+y)^k \Leftrightarrow 2a^k + \sum_{i=1}^k (x+y)^i a^{k-i} C_k^i \ge 2a^k + \sum_{i=1}^k (x^i + y^i)a^{k-i} C_k^i \Leftrightarrow \sum_{i=1}^k ((x+y)^i - x^i - y^i)a^{k-i} C_k^i \ge 0 and we have proved. Equality holds when x=y=0x1=x2==xnx = y = 0 \Rightarrow x_1 = x_2 = \dots = x_n.

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