Prove that, if positive real numbers a1,a2,…,an have the product 1, then (a2a1)n−1+(a3a2)n−1+⋯+(anan−1)n−1+(a1an)n−1≥a12+a22+⋯+an2.
Solution
We prove that, for all a1,a2,…,an>0, the following inequality holds (a2a1)n−1+(a3a2)n−1+⋯+(anan−1)n−1+(a1an)n−1≥na12a22…an2a12+a22+⋯+an2. This inequality is obtained by adding the inequality below with its analogues obtained by cyclic permutation of the variables: (n−1)⋅(a2a1)n−1+(n−2)⋅(a3a2)n−1+⋯+(anan−1)n−1≥≥2n(n−1)⋅((a2a1)n−1(a3a2)n−2…(anan−1)n2)==2n(n−1)(a1a2a3…ana1n)n2. Equality holds if all the numbers are equal to 1.
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