Suppose first n≥4. Then we have
ak+n−2a1a2…ak−1ak+1…an≤ak+n−2(n−1a1+a2+⋯+ak−1+ak+1+⋯+an)n−1<<n−2(n−1a1+a2+⋯+an)n−1=(n−2)(n−1)n−11
and by addition of all these inequalities we get
a1+n−2a2a3…an+a2+n−2a1a3…an+a3+n−2a1a2a4…an+⋯+an+n−2a1a2…an−1≤(n−2)(n−1)n−1n≤≤(n−2)(n−1)3n
and so we need to prove
(n−2)(n−1)3n≤(n−1)21,
which simplifies to give
n≤(n−2)(n−1)⇔0≤n2−4n+2⇔0≤n(n−4)+2
which is true if n≥4.
In the case n=3 we put a1=a, a2=b, a3=c and we need to prove
1+abc+1+bca+1+cab≤41.
As we have
1+abc=bc−1+aabc,1+bac=ac−1+babc,1+cab=ab−1+cabc
the inequality to prove is
bc+ca+ab≤41+abc(a+11+b+11+c+11).
But the inequality of the harmonic-arithmetical means allow to writing
a+11+b+11+c+11≥3(a+1)(b+1)+(c+1)3=49,
and so we need to prove
bc+ca+ab≤41+abc⋅49.
As this is symmetrical in a,b,c we can suppose c≤31; then
bc+(1−b−c)c+(1−b−c)b≤41+49(1−b−c)bc
And this is equivalent to
0≤4b2−9b2c−9bc2−4b+4c2−4c+10≤(4−9c)b2−(9c2−13c+4)b+(4c2−4c+1)⇔
In we put
p(x)=(4−9c)x2−(9c2−13c+4)x+(4c2−4c+1),
as c≤31, 4−9c≥1; and the discriminant of the polynomial is
D=(9c2−13c+4)2−4(4−9c)(4c2−4c+1)=81c(c−31)2(c−94)
and then, from 0<c≤31 and c−94<0 we obtain D≤0, and the case n=3 is proved.
The equality holds for a=b=c=31.