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Algebra Difficulty 6.5 National Olympiad Prove it Ireland

Suppose a1,,an>0a_1, \dots, a_n > 0, where n>1n > 1 and i=1nai=1\sum_{i=1}^n a_i = 1. For i=1,2,,ni = 1, 2, \dots, n, let bi=ai2/j=1naj2b_i = a_i^2 / \sum_{j=1}^n a_j^2. Prove that
i=1nai1aii=1nbi1bi. \sum_{i=1}^{n} \frac{a_i}{1 - a_i} \le \sum_{i=1}^{n} \frac{b_i}{1 - b_i}.
When does equality occur?

Solutions — 2

Solution 1

Without loss of generality, we assume that a1a2ana_1 \ge a_2 \ge \dots \ge a_n, so also b1b2bnb_1 \ge b_2 \ge \dots \ge b_n and 0<ai,bi<10 < a_i, b_i < 1. Let S=i=1nai2S = \sum_{i=1}^n a_i^2, then bi=ai2/Sb_i = a_i^2/S. Note that S=Si=1naiS = S \cdot \sum_{i=1}^n a_i and i=1nbi=1\sum_{i=1}^n b_i = 1. For 1kn1 \le k \le n let
Dk=i=1k(biai), D_k = \sum_{i=1}^{k} (b_i - a_i),
in particular Dn=0D_n = 0, because i=1kai=i=1kbi=1\sum_{i=1}^k a_i = \sum_{i=1}^k b_i = 1. We have for 1k<n1 \le k < n
SDk=i=1kj=1nai2aji=1kj=1naiaj2=1ikk<jnaiaj(aiaj)0 S \cdot D_k = \sum_{i=1}^{k} \sum_{j=1}^{n} a_i^2 a_j - \sum_{i=1}^{k} \sum_{j=1}^{n} a_i a_j^2 = \sum_{\substack{1 \le i \le k \\ k < j \le n}} a_i a_j (a_i - a_j) \ge 0
because all terms in the sum are non-negative. As S>0S > 0, this implies that Dk0D_k \ge 0 for all 1kn1 \le k \le n. Note also that one of the terms in the sum, namely a1an(a1an)a_1 a_n (a_1 - a_n), is positive unless a1=a2==ana_1 = a_2 = \dots = a_n. So we have Dk=0D_k = 0 for 1k<n1 \le k < n if a1=a2==ana_1 = a_2 = \dots = a_n, and Dk>0D_k > 0 for 1k<n1 \le k < n otherwise. Next observe that, for real numbers a1a \ne 1 and b1b \ne 1, we have
b1ba1a=1(1b)(1a)(ba). \frac{b}{1-b} - \frac{a}{1-a} = \frac{1}{(1-b)(1-a)} \cdot (b-a).
Setting ci=1/(1bi)(1ai)c_i = 1/(1-b_i)(1-a_i) this implies
D:=i=1nbi1bii=1nai1ai=i=1nci(biai)=i=1n1(cici+1)Di, D := \sum_{i=1}^{n} \frac{b_i}{1-b_i} - \sum_{i=1}^{n} \frac{a_i}{1-a_i} = \sum_{i=1}^{n} c_i (b_i - a_i) = \sum_{i=1}^{n-1} (c_i - c_{i+1}) D_i,
where we have used that Dn=0D_n = 0. From aiai+1a_i \ge a_{i+1} and bibi+1b_i \ge b_{i+1} we get cici+1c_i \ge c_{i+1}, hence all terms in this sum are non-negative. This shows that D0D \ge 0 which is equivalent to the inequality we want to prove.
As for equality, we have D=0D = 0 if and only if every term in the last sum equals 0. If a1=a2==ana_1 = a_2 = \dots = a_n, then, as we have seen above, each Di=0D_i = 0 and so the sum is zero. If however not all numbers aia_i are equal, then we have seen that Di>0D_i > 0 and cici+10c_i - c_{i+1} \ge 0 for 1i<n1 \le i < n. Therefore, all we need to show is that ci>ci+1c_i > c_{i+1} for one such ii. If not all aia_i are equal to each other, there exists 1i<n1 \le i < n such that ai>ai+1a_i > a_{i+1} and bibi+1b_i \ge b_{i+1}. For this ii, the definition of cic_i indeed implies that ci>ci+1c_i > c_{i+1}.
Thus the condition for equality is that all the numbers aia_i are equal to 1/n1/n.

Solution 2

If p1p \ge 1 is a real number, the function F(x)=xpF(x) = x^p is strictly convex on [0,)[0, \infty). Hence, if xi0x_i \ge 0, αi0\alpha_i \ge 0 and iαi=1\sum_i \alpha_i = 1, then
(iαixi)piαixip. \left(\sum_i \alpha_i x_i\right)^p \le \sum_i \alpha_i x_i^p.

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