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Algebra Difficulty 7.1 National olympiad, round 2 Prove it North Macedonia

Given the positive numbers a1,a2,,ana_1, a_2, \dots, a_n, such that n>2n > 2 and a1+a2++an=1a_1 + a_2 + \dots + a_n = 1, prove that the inequality
a2a3ana1+n2+a1a3ana2+n2+a1a2a4ana3+n2++a1a2an1an+n21(n1)2. \frac{a_2 a_3 \dots a_n}{a_1 + n - 2} + \frac{a_1 a_3 \dots a_n}{a_2 + n - 2} + \frac{a_1 a_2 a_4 \dots a_n}{a_3 + n - 2} + \dots + \frac{a_1 a_2 \dots a_{n-1}}{a_n + n - 2} \le \frac{1}{(n-1)^2}.
Does holds.

Solution

Suppose first n4n \ge 4. Then we have

a1a2ak1ak+1anak+n2(a1+a2++ak1+ak+1++ann1)n1ak+n2<<(a1+a2++ann1)n1n2=1(n2)(n1)n1 \frac{a_1 a_2 \dots a_{k-1} a_{k+1} \dots a_n}{a_k + n - 2} \le \frac{\left( \frac{a_1 + a_2 + \dots + a_{k-1} + a_{k+1} + \dots + a_n}{n-1} \right)^{n-1}}{a_k + n - 2} < \\ < \frac{\left( \frac{a_1 + a_2 + \dots + a_n}{n-1} \right)^{n-1}}{n-2} = \frac{1}{(n-2)(n-1)^{n-1}}
and by addition of all these inequalities we get
a2a3ana1+n2+a1a3ana2+n2+a1a2a4ana3+n2++a1a2an1an+n2n(n2)(n1)n1n(n2)(n1)3 \frac{a_2 a_3 \dots a_n}{a_1 + n-2} + \frac{a_1 a_3 \dots a_n}{a_2 + n-2} + \frac{a_1 a_2 a_4 \dots a_n}{a_3 + n-2} + \dots + \frac{a_1 a_2 \dots a_{n-1}}{a_n + n-2} \le \frac{n}{(n-2)(n-1)^{n-1}} \le \\ \le \frac{n}{(n-2)(n-1)^3}
and so we need to prove
n(n2)(n1)31(n1)2, \frac{n}{(n-2)(n-1)^3} \le \frac{1}{(n-1)^2},
which simplifies to give
n(n2)(n1)0n24n+20n(n4)+2 n \le (n-2)(n-1) \quad \Leftrightarrow \quad 0 \le n^2 - 4n + 2 \quad \Leftrightarrow \quad 0 \le n(n-4) + 2
which is true if n4n \ge 4.

In the case n=3n=3 we put a1=aa_1 = a, a2=ba_2 = b, a3=ca_3 = c and we need to prove
bc1+a+ca1+b+ab1+c14. \frac{bc}{1+a} + \frac{ca}{1+b} + \frac{ab}{1+c} \le \frac{1}{4}.
As we have
bc1+a=bcabc1+a,ac1+b=acabc1+b,ab1+c=ababc1+c \frac{bc}{1+a} = bc - \frac{abc}{1+a}, \quad \frac{ac}{1+b} = ac - \frac{abc}{1+b} , \quad \frac{ab}{1+c} = ab - \frac{abc}{1+c}
the inequality to prove is
bc+ca+ab14+abc(1a+1+1b+1+1c+1). bc + ca + ab \le \frac{1}{4} + abc \left( \frac{1}{a+1} + \frac{1}{b+1} + \frac{1}{c+1} \right).
But the inequality of the harmonic-arithmetical means allow to writing
1a+1+1b+1+1c+133(a+1)(b+1)+(c+1)=94, \frac{1}{a+1} + \frac{1}{b+1} + \frac{1}{c+1} \ge 3 \frac{3}{(a+1)(b+1)+(c+1)} = \frac{9}{4},
and so we need to prove
bc+ca+ab14+abc94. bc + ca + ab \le \frac{1}{4} + abc \cdot \frac{9}{4}.
As this is symmetrical in a,b,c we can suppose c13c \le \frac{1}{3}; then
bc+(1bc)c+(1bc)b14+94(1bc)bc bc + (1 - b - c)c + (1 - b - c)b \le \frac{1}{4} + \frac{9}{4}(1 - b - c)bc
And this is equivalent to
04b29b2c9bc24b+4c24c+10(49c)b2(9c213c+4)b+(4c24c+1) \begin{aligned} 0 \le 4b^2 - 9b^2c - 9bc^2 - 4b + 4c^2 - 4c + 1 &\Leftrightarrow \\ 0 \le (4 - 9c)b^2 - (9c^2 - 13c + 4)b + (4c^2 - 4c + 1) \end{aligned}
In we put
p(x)=(49c)x2(9c213c+4)x+(4c24c+1), p(x) = (4 - 9c)x^2 - (9c^2 - 13c + 4)x + (4c^2 - 4c + 1),
as c13c \le \frac{1}{3}, 49c14 - 9c \ge 1; and the discriminant of the polynomial is
D=(9c213c+4)24(49c)(4c24c+1)=81c(c13)2(c49) D = (9c^2 - 13c + 4)^2 - 4(4 - 9c)(4c^2 - 4c + 1) = 81c \left(c - \frac{1}{3}\right)^2 \left(c - \frac{4}{9}\right)
and then, from 0<c130 < c \le \frac{1}{3} and c49<0c - \frac{4}{9} < 0 we obtain D0D \le 0, and the case n=3n = 3 is proved.
The equality holds for a=b=c=13a = b = c = \frac{1}{3}.

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