Let be fixed. A sequence of real numbers is nice if
for all . Let denote the minimum and let denote the maximum of the sequence .
(i) Find the maximum of over all nice sequences.
(ii) Find the minimum of over all nice sequences.
Solution
Answer: (i) , (ii) .
i. For , we have .
Now we show holds always. Suppose, on the contrary, that for some nice sequence , we have . Let , then we have by the niceness condition, hence . Then and thus , which contradicts niceness. Thus the maximum possible value for is 1.
ii. If is nice, then so is for
From (i), we have , thus . The minimum of is achieved on the sequence .
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