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Algebra Difficulty 4.6 AIME Prove it Saudi Arabia

Let n3n \geq 3 and x1,x2,,xnx_{1}, x_{2}, \ldots, x_{n} be nn distinct integers. Prove that
(x1x2)2+(x2x3)2++(xnx1)24n6. \left(x_{1}-x_{2}\right)^{2}+\left(x_{2}-x_{3}\right)^{2}+\ldots+\left(x_{n}-x_{1}\right)^{2} \geq 4 n-6 .

Solution

We prove by induction on nn.

When n=3n=3, we can assume that x1>x2>x3x_{1}>x_{2}>x_{3} (only when n=3n=3) and the LHS 12+12+22=6\geq 1^{2}+1^{2}+2^{2}=6.

Moving from nn to n+1n+1, the change in LHS is
Cn+1=(xnxn+1)2+(xn+1x1)2(xnx1)2. C_{n+1}=\left(x_{n}-x_{n+1}\right)^{2}+\left(x_{n+1}-x_{1}\right)^{2}-\left(x_{n}-x_{1}\right)^{2} .
We need to show that Cn+14C_{n+1} \geq 4. We can see that it is not true in general. However, due to the cyclicity, we can assume that xn+1x_{n+1} is the least number.

Moreover, since the LHS is unchanged under translation, we can assume also that xn+1=0x_{n+1}=0. Thus, we have
Cn+1=xn2+x12(xnx1)2=2x1xn4. C_{n+1}=x_{n}^{2}+x_{1}^{2}-\left(x_{n}-x_{1}\right)^{2}=2 x_{1} x_{n} \geq 4 .

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