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Algebra Difficulty 8.6 Shortlist Prove it Taiwan

Let nn be a positive integer. Prove that the inequality
ni=1nj=1nk=1n3aiaj+ajak+akai(j=1nk=1n2aj+ak)2 n \sum_{i=1}^{n} \sum_{j=1}^{n} \sum_{k=1}^{n} \frac{3}{a_i a_j + a_j a_k + a_k a_i} \ge \left( \sum_{j=1}^{n} \sum_{k=1}^{n} \frac{2}{a_j + a_k} \right)^2
holds for any positive real numbers a1,a2,,ana_1, a_2, \dots, a_n.

Solution

It is well known (the nine-greater-than-eight inequality) that
9(aj+ak)(ak+ai)(ai+aj)8(ai+aj+ak)(ajak+akai+aiaj). 9(a_j + a_k)(a_k + a_i)(a_i + a_j) \geq 8(a_i + a_j + a_k)(a_j a_k + a_k a_i + a_i a_j).
Hence the left-hand side is at least
8n3i,j,k=1nai+aj+ak(aj+ak)(ak+ai)(ai+aj)=4n3i,j,k=1n(1(ak+ai)(ai+aj)+1(ai+aj)(aj+ak)+1(aj+ak)(ak+ai))=4ni,j,k=1n1(ak+ai)(ai+aj). \begin{aligned} & \frac{8n}{3} \sum_{i,j,k=1}^{n} \frac{a_i + a_j + a_k}{(a_j + a_k)(a_k + a_i)(a_i + a_j)} \\ &= \frac{4n}{3} \sum_{i,j,k=1}^{n} \left( \frac{1}{(a_k + a_i)(a_i + a_j)} + \frac{1}{(a_i + a_j)(a_j + a_k)} + \frac{1}{(a_j + a_k)(a_k + a_i)} \right) \\ &= 4n \sum_{i,j,k=1}^{n} \frac{1}{(a_k + a_i)(a_i + a_j)}. \end{aligned}
Let Si==1n1ai+aS_i = \sum_{\ell=1}^{n} \frac{1}{a_i + a_\ell}. By the Cauchy-Schwarz inequality we get
4ni,j,k=1n1(ak+ai)(ai+aj)=4ni=1nSi2(i=1n2Si)2=(i,l=1n2ai+al)2=R.H.S., \begin{aligned} 4n \sum_{i,j,k=1}^{n} \frac{1}{(a_k + a_i)(a_i + a_j)} &= 4n \sum_{i=1}^{n} S_i^2 \\ &\geq \left( \sum_{i=1}^{n} 2S_i \right)^2 \\ &= \left( \sum_{i,l=1}^{n} \frac{2}{a_i + a_l} \right)^2 = \text{R.H.S.,} \end{aligned}
and thus the original proposition holds. □

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Source: MathNet, licensed CC-BY-4.0. Statement translated into English from zh; metadata (topic, difficulty) added by this project.