We claim that concavity of (an) implies that
ai+aj≤2a(i+j)/2,for all non-negative i,j∈Z,(31)
where ar is defined for r halfway between two integers as follows:
an−1/2:=2an−1+anfor all n∈N.(32)
Because of its symmetry, it suffices to prove (31) when i≤j. Writing d=j−i and m=(i+j)/2, we are required to prove
am−d/2+am+d/2≤2am,(34)
where m and d can take on any values allowed by their definition in terms of i,j; in particular, m is an integer if and only if d is even so that m±d/2 are always integers in (34).
We proof (34) by induction. It is trivially true if d=0, it follows from (33) if d=1, and from the assumed concavity if d=2. Suppose inductively that (34) holds for all d<p for some integer p≥3 (and all valid associated values of m). We then need to prove it for d=p. There are two cases to consider.
Case 1. p=2q is even (and so m is an integer). We need to prove
am−q+am+q≤2am.
We use the assumption (34) for d=q<p and replace m by m±q/2 to get
am−q+am≤2am−q/2andam+am+q≤2am+q/2.
Adding and rearranging gives
am−q+am+q≤2am−q/2+2am+q/2−2am.(35)
If q is even, we use (34) with d=q to get am−q/2+am+q/2≤2am which implies the required inequality.
If q=2t+1 is odd, we use (34) with d=2t and d=2t+2<4t+2=p. Note that t>0 because p>2. We get
am−t+am+t≤2amandam−t−1+am+t+1≤2am.
Together with definition (32) this gives
am−q/2+am+q/2=am−t−1/2+am+t+1/2=21(am−t−1+am−t+am+t+am+t+1)≤2am
which again implies the required inequality.
Case 2. p=2q−1 is odd (and so m is not an integer). We need to prove
am−q+1/2+am+q−1/2≤2am.
We use the assumption (34) for d=q−1<p and replace m by m±q/2 to obtain
am−q+1/2+am−1/2≤2am−q/2andam+1/2+am+q−1/2≤2am+q/2.
Adding, rearranging and using (33) gives
am−q+1/2+am+q−1/2≤2am−q/2+2am+q/2−2am.(36)
Now, to prove the statement for (cn), note that for any n≥0,
cn=0≤i≤nmax(ai+bn−i)
Let i0 be the index where the maximum is attained for cn, i.e., cn=ai0+bn−i0.
Consider cn−1 and cn+1:
cn−1=0≤j≤n−1max(aj+bn−1−j)
cn+1=0≤k≤n+1max(ak+bn+1−k)
For any i0, we have
cn−1≥ai0−1+bn−i0(if i0≥1)
cn+1≥ai0+1+bn−i0(if i0≤n)
Similarly,
cn−1≥ai0+bn−i0−1(if n−i0≥1)
cn+1≥ai0+bn−i0+1(if n−i0≤n+1)
Now, by concavity of (an) and (bn),
ai0≥2ai0−1+ai0+1
bn−i0≥2bn−i0−1+bn−i0+1
Adding,
ai0+bn−i0≥2ai0−1+bn−i0+ai0+1+bn−i0
and
ai0+bn−i0≥2ai0+bn−i0−1+ai0+bn−i0+1
Thus,
cn≥2cn−1+cn+1
Therefore, (cn) is concave.