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Algebra Difficulty 8.4 Shortlist Prove it Romania

Determine the smallest real constant cc such that
k=1n(1kj=1kxj)2ck=1nxk2, \sum_{k=1}^{n} \left( \frac{1}{k} \sum_{j=1}^{k} x_j \right)^2 \le c \sum_{k=1}^{n} x_k^2,
for all positive integers nn and all positive real numbers x1,,xnx_1, \dots, x_n.

Solution

The best constant is c=4c = 4. We first show that, if nn is a positive integer and x1,,xnx_1, \dots, x_n are positive real numbers, then
k=1n(1kj=1kxj)2+2n(k=1nxk)2<4k=1nxk2, \sum_{k=1}^{n} \left( \frac{1}{k} \sum_{j=1}^{k} x_j \right)^2 + \frac{2}{n} \left( \sum_{k=1}^{n} x_k \right)^2 < 4 \sum_{k=1}^{n} x_k^2,
so c4c \le 4. To prove the above inequality, proceed by induction on nn. The base case, n=1n=1, is clear. For the induction step, let xˉk=(x1++xk)/k\bar{x}_k = (x_1 + \dots + x_k)/k, k1k \ge 1, and notice that it is sufficient to show that (2n+3)xˉn+122nxˉn2<4xn+12(2n+3)\bar{x}_{n+1}^2 - 2n\bar{x}_n^2 < 4x_{n+1}^2. Since xn+1=(n+1)xˉn+1nxˉnx_{n+1} = (n+1)\bar{x}_{n+1} - n\bar{x}_n, this is equivalent to 2n(2n+1)xˉn28n(n+1)xˉnxˉn+1+(4n2+6n+1)xˉn+12>02n(2n+1)\bar{x}_n^2 - 8n(n+1)\bar{x}_n\bar{x}_{n+1} + (4n^2+6n+1)\bar{x}_{n+1}^2 > 0. The left-hand member is a quadratic form in xˉn\bar{x}_n and xˉn+1\bar{x}_{n+1} whose discriminant is 2n-2n and the inequality follows.

To show c4c \ge 4, we prove that
k=1n(1kj=1k1j)2>4k=1n1k24. \sum_{k=1}^{n} \left( \frac{1}{k} \sum_{j=1}^{k} \frac{1}{\sqrt{j}} \right)^2 > 4 \sum_{k=1}^{n} \frac{1}{k} - 24.
Divergence of the harmonic series settles the case. Write 1/j>2(j+1j)1/\sqrt{j} > 2(\sqrt{j+1} - \sqrt{j}), to obtain
(1kj=1k1j)2>4k2(k+11)2>4k(12k)=4k8kk. \left( \frac{1}{k} \sum_{j=1}^{k} \frac{1}{\sqrt{j}} \right)^2 > \frac{4}{k^2} \left( \sqrt{k+1} - 1 \right)^2 > \frac{4}{k} \left( 1 - \frac{2}{\sqrt{k}} \right) = \frac{4}{k} - \frac{8}{k\sqrt{k}}.
Finally, notice that 1/(2kk)<1/k11/k1/(2k\sqrt{k}) < 1/\sqrt{k-1} - 1/\sqrt{k}, k2k \ge 2, to get
k=1n1kk32n<3, \sum_{k=1}^{n} \frac{1}{k\sqrt{k}} \le 3 - \frac{2}{\sqrt{n}} < 3,
and deduce thereby the desired inequality.

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Source: MathNet, licensed CC-BY-4.0. Statement reproduced verbatim; metadata (topic, difficulty) added by this project.