Maths Olympiad Prep

Library / Saudi Arabian Mathematical Competitions /125 of 395

Saudi Arabian Mathematical Competitions

Algebra Difficulty 5.3 AIME, harder Prove it Saudi Arabia

Let nn be a positive integer.
Find all real numbers x1,x2,…,xnx_{1}, x_{2}, \ldots, x_{n} such that
∏k=1n(xk2+(k+2)xk+k2+k+1)=(34)n(n!)2 \prod_{k=1}^{n}\left(x_{k}^{2}+(k+2) x_{k}+k^{2}+k+1\right)=\left(\frac{3}{4}\right)^{n}(n!)^{2}

Solution

We have t2+(k+2)t+k2+k+1≥34k2,∀t∈Rt^{2}+(k+2) t+k^{2}+k+1 \geq \frac{3}{4} k^{2}, \forall t \in \mathbb{R}.
Indeed, this inequality is equivalent to
t2+(k+2)t+14k2+k+1≥0 t^{2}+(k+2) t+\frac{1}{4} k^{2}+k+1 \geq 0
hence
t2+(k+2)t+(12k+1)2≥0 t^{2}+(k+2) t+\left(\frac{1}{2} k+1\right)^{2} \geq 0
that is
(t+12k+1)2≥0 \left(t+\frac{1}{2} k+1\right)^{2} \geq 0
We have equality if and only if t=−12k−1t=-\frac{1}{2} k-1.
It follows that for any real numbers x1,x2,…,xnx_{1}, x_{2}, \ldots, x_{n} we have
∏k=1n(xk2+(k+2)xk+k2+k+1)≥∏k=1n34k2=(34)n(n!)2 \prod_{k=1}^{n}\left(x_{k}^{2}+(k+2) x_{k}+k^{2}+k+1\right) \geq \prod_{k=1}^{n} \frac{3}{4} k^{2}=\left(\frac{3}{4}\right)^{n}(n!)^{2}
with equality if and only if xk=−12k−1,k=1,2,…,nx_{k}=-\frac{1}{2} k-1, k=1,2, \ldots, n, giving the unique solution to the problem.

Want a route through all this instead of an archive? The track puts 2,604 problems in a working order, from Junior Challenge level to the IMO shortlist.

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