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Algebra Difficulty 7.7 National olympiad, round 2 Prove it Romania

Let nn be a positive integer number and let a1,a2,,ana_1, a_2, \dots, a_n be nn positive real numbers. Prove that f:[0,)Rf : [0, \infty) \to \mathbb{R}, defined by
f(x)=a1+xa2+x+a2+xa3+x++an1+xan+x+an+xa1+x, f(x) = \frac{a_1+x}{a_2+x} + \frac{a_2+x}{a_3+x} + \dots + \frac{a_{n-1}+x}{a_n+x} + \frac{a_n+x}{a_1+x},
is a decreasing function.

Solution

Set an+1=a1a_{n+1} = a_1 and let 0xy0 \le x \le y. Since
f(y)f(x)=(yx)i=1nai+1ai(ai+1+x)(ai+1+y) f(y) - f(x) = (y - x) \sum_{i=1}^{n} \frac{a_{i+1} - a_i}{(a_{i+1} + x)(a_{i+1} + y)}
showing ff is decreasing amounts to showing
i=1nai+1(ai+1+x)(ai+1+y)i=1nai(ai+1+x)(ai+1+y) \sum_{i=1}^{n} \frac{a_{i+1}}{(a_{i+1} + x)(a_{i+1} + y)} \le \sum_{i=1}^{n} \frac{a_i}{(a_{i+1} + x)(a_{i+1} + y)}
Noticing that aiaja_i \le a_j if and only if (ai+x)1(ai+y)1(aj+x)1(aj+y)1(a_i + x)^{-1}(a_i + y)^{-1} \ge (a_j + x)^{-1}(a_j + y)^{-1}, the above inequality is a straightforward consequence of the rearrangement inequality for the aia_i and the (ai+x)1(ai+y)1(a_i + x)^{-1}(a_i + y)^{-1}.

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