AlgebraDifficulty 7.7National Olympiad, round 2Prove itSouth Africa
Let n≥3 be an integer, and let a2,a3,…,an be positive real numbers such that a2a3…an=1. Prove that (1+a2)2(1+a3)3…(1+an)n>nn.
Solution
(ak+1)k=(ak+k−11+k−11+⋯+k−11)k≥kk⋅ak⋅(k−1)k−11=(k−1)k−1kk⋅ak The inequality is strict unless ak=k−11. Multiplying analogous inequalities for k=2,3,…,n yields (a2+1)2⋅(a3+1)3⋯(an+n)n>1122⋅2233⋅3344⋯(n−1)n−1nn⋅a2⋅a3⋯an=nn.
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