Maths Olympiad Prep

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, 2023

Algebra Difficulty 7.8 National olympiad, round 2 Prove it Saudi Arabia

Positive real numbers a1,a2,,an,b1,b2,,bna_1, a_2, \dots, a_n, b_1, b_2, \dots, b_n satisfy a1a2ana_1 \ge a_2 \ge \dots \ge a_n and b1b2bka1a2akb_1b_2\dots b_k \ge a_1a_2\dots a_k for each k=1,2,,nk = 1, 2, \dots, n. Prove that
b1+b2++bna1+a2++an. b_1 + b_2 + \dots + b_n \ge a_1 + a_2 + \dots + a_n.

Solution

Note that for each k=1,2,,nk = 1, 2, \dots, n, we have
b1a1+b2a2++bkakkb1a1b2a2bkakkk, \frac{b_1}{a_1} + \frac{b_2}{a_2} + \dots + \frac{b_k}{a_k} \ge k \sqrt[k]{\frac{b_1}{a_1} \frac{b_2}{a_2} \dots \frac{b_k}{a_k}} \ge k,
which means that
sk=b1a1a1+b2a2a2++bkakak=b1a1+b2a2++bkakk0. s_k = \frac{b_1 - a_1}{a_1} + \frac{b_2 - a_2}{a_2} + \cdots + \frac{b_k - a_k}{a_k} = \frac{b_1}{a_1} + \frac{b_2}{a_2} + \cdots + \frac{b_k}{a_k} - k \geq 0.
For each k=1,2,,nk = 1, 2, \dots, n, we have
sksk1=bkakak    bkak=akskaksk1 s_k - s_{k-1} = \frac{b_k - a_k}{a_k} \implies b_k - a_k = a_k s_k - a_k s_{k-1}
where s0=0s_0 = 0. Hence,
(b1a1)+(b2a2)++(bnan)=a1s1a2s1+a2s2a3s2++ansnansn1=s1(a1a2)+s2(a2a3)++sn1(an1an)+snan0, \begin{aligned} & (b_1 - a_1) + (b_2 - a_2) + \cdots + (b_n - a_n) \\ &= a_1 s_1 - a_2 s_1 + a_2 s_2 - a_3 s_2 + \cdots + a_n s_n - a_n s_{n-1} \\ &= s_1(a_1 - a_2) + s_2(a_2 - a_3) + \cdots + s_{n-1}(a_{n-1} - a_n) + s_n a_n \geq 0, \end{aligned}
as desired.

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Source: MathNet, licensed CC-BY-4.0. Statement and solution reproduced as published; topic and difficulty added by this site.