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Algebra Difficulty 6.4 National olympiad Prove it Romania

Fix an integer n2n \ge 2. Determine the least possible value the sum
x2+x3++xnx1+x1+x2++xnx2++x1+x2++xn1xn \left\lfloor \frac{x_2 + x_3 + \cdots + x_n}{x_1} \right\rfloor + \left\lfloor \frac{x_1 + x_2 + \cdots + x_n}{x_2} \right\rfloor + \cdots + \left\lfloor \frac{x_1 + x_2 + \cdots + x_{n-1}}{x_n} \right\rfloor
may achieve, as x1,x2,,xnx_1, x_2, \dots, x_n run through all positive real numbers.

Solution

The minimum exists, as the summands are all non-negative integers; it is equal to (n1)2(n-1)^2 and is achieved if, for instance, x1=nx_1 = n and x2==xn=n+1x_2 = \cdots = x_n = n+1; the verification is routine.

Let s=x1+x2++xns = x_1 + x_2 + \cdots + x_n and let SS denote the sum in the statement. Note that
x1++xk1+xk+1++xnxk=sxkxk=sxk1=sxk1>(sxk1)1=sxk2,k=1,,n. \left\lfloor \frac{x_1 + \cdots + x_{k-1} + x_{k+1} + \cdots + x_n}{x_k} \right\rfloor = \left\lfloor \frac{s - x_k}{x_k} \right\rfloor = \left\lfloor \frac{s}{x_k} - 1 \right\rfloor = \left\lfloor \frac{s}{x_k} \right\rfloor - 1 \\ > \left( \frac{s}{x_k} - 1 \right) - 1 = \frac{s}{x_k} - 2, \quad k = 1, \dots, n.
Sum over k=1,2,,nk = 1, 2, \dots, n to get
S>s(1x1+1x2++1xn)2n==(x1+x2++xn)(1x1+1x2++1xn)2nn22n, \begin{aligned} S &> s \cdot \left( \frac{1}{x_1} + \frac{1}{x_2} + \cdots + \frac{1}{x_n} \right) - 2n = \\ &= (x_1 + x_2 + \cdots + x_n) \left( \frac{1}{x_1} + \frac{1}{x_2} + \cdots + \frac{1}{x_n} \right) - 2n \ge n^2 - 2n, \end{aligned}
by the AM-HM (or Cauchy-Schwarz or Chebyshev) inequality.
Finally, as SS and n22nn^2 - 2n are both integers, Sn22n+1=(n1)2S \ge n^2 - 2n + 1 = (n-1)^2, as desired. This ends the proof.

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