Let n≥2 be a positive integer and x1,x2,…,xn real numbers (xi=0, for i=1,2,…,n) such that x1+x2+⋯+xn=0. Prove that there exist distinct positive integers i and j (i,j≤n) such that 21≤xjxi≤2.
Solution
If there are two equal numbers between the given numbers, we can choose those two. So we assume that all the numbers are distinct and without loss of generality we assume that x1>x2>⋯>xn. Since the total sum of the numbers is zero there exists a positive integer k (1<k<n) such that xk>0>xk+1. We have: ∣x1∣+∣x2∣+⋯+∣xk∣=∣xk+1∣+∣xk+2∣+⋯+∣xn∣. Now we assume that there do not exist i and j with the required property. For i=1,2,…,k−1 we have: ∣xi+1∣∣xi∣>1>21, and hence: xi+1xi>2. It follows that: xi<21xi−1<221xi−2<⋯<2i1x1, for i=1,2,…,k−1. Similarly, we prove that for negative numbers the following inequalities hold: ∣xj∣<2n−j1∣xn∣, for j=k,k+1,…,n. Finally, we have: ∣x1∣<∣x1∣+∣x2∣+⋯+∣xk∣=∣xk+1∣+∣xk+2∣+⋯+∣xn∣<∣xn∣(1+21+41+⋯+2n−k+11)<2∣xn∣. Analogously, we get: ∣xn∣<∣xk∣+∣xk+1∣+⋯+∣xn∣=∣x1∣+∣x2∣+⋯+∣xk∣<∣x1∣(1+21+41+⋯+2k1)<2∣x1∣. Therefore 21≤xnx1≤2.
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