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Algebra Difficulty 4.7 AIME Prove it United States

Problem:
Let PP be a polynomial with positive real coefficients. Prove that if
P(1x)1P(x) P\left(\frac{1}{x}\right) \geq \frac{1}{P(x)}
holds for x=1x=1, then it holds for every x>0x>0.

Solution

Solution:
Let P(x)=anxn+an1xn1++a1x+a0P(x)=a_{n} x^{n}+a_{n-1} x^{n-1}+\cdots+a_{1} x+a_{0}, so ak>0a_{k}>0 for every kk. Since the statement holds for x=1x=1, P(1)1P(1) \geq 1. Then by Cauchy-Schwarz,
P(x)P(1x)=(k=0n(akxk)2)(k=0n(akxk)2)(k=0nak)2=P(1)21 P(x) P\left(\frac{1}{x}\right)=\left(\sum_{k=0}^{n}\left(\sqrt{a_{k} x^{k}}\right)^{2}\right)\left(\sum_{k=0}^{n}\left(\sqrt{\frac{a_{k}}{x^{k}}}\right)^{2}\right) \geq\left(\sum_{k=0}^{n} a_{k}\right)^{2}=P(1)^{2} \geq 1

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Source: MathNet, licensed CC-BY-4.0. Statement reproduced verbatim; metadata (topic, difficulty) added by this project.