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Algebra Difficulty 8.8 Shortlist Prove it China

Let n2n \ge 2 and a1,a2,,an,b1,b2,,bna_1, a_2, \dots, a_n, b_1, b_2, \dots, b_n be non-negative integers. Prove that
(nn1)n1(1ni=1nai2)+(1ni=1nbi)2i=1n(ai2+bi2)1n. \left(\frac{n}{n-1}\right)^{n-1}\left(\frac{1}{n}\sum_{i=1}^{n} a_i^2\right)+\left(\frac{1}{n}\sum_{i=1}^{n} b_i\right)^2 \geqslant \prod_{i=1}^{n}\left(a_i^2+b_i^2\right)^{\frac{1}{n}}.

Solution

Denote λ=(nn1)n1\lambda = \left(\frac{n}{n-1}\right)^{n-1}, n2n \ge 2. Obviously, λ>1\lambda > 1.
For given i{1,,n}i \in \{1, \dots, n\}, fix p=ak2+bk2p = a_k^2 + b_k^2 for k=1,2,,nk = 1, 2, \dots, n and fix aja_j and bjb_j (jij \ne i). Then the left-hand side of
1=λn(pbi2+jiaj2)+1n2(bi+jibj)2 \textcircled{1} = \frac{\lambda}{n} (p - b_i^2 + \sum_{j \ne i} a_j^2) + \frac{1}{n^2} (b_i + \sum_{j \ne i} b_j)^2
is a quadratic function of bib_i, bi[0,p]b_i \in [0, \sqrt{p}], with leading coefficient λn+1n2<0-\frac{\lambda}{n} + \frac{1}{n^2} < 0. Thus, its minimum is taken at the endpoints, that is, bi=0b_i = 0 or ai=0a_i = 0.
So, we can suppose that aibi=0,i=1,2,,na_i b_i = 0, i = 1, 2, \dots, n.

Case 1. Each ai=0a_i = 0, then by the mean value inequality, we have
(1ni=1nbi)2i=1nbi2n. \left(\frac{1}{n} \sum_{i=1}^{n} b_i\right)^2 \geq \prod_{i=1}^{n} b_i^{\frac{2}{n}}.

Case 2. Each bi=0b_i = 0, then by the mean value inequality, we have
λ(1ni=1nai2)1ni=1nai2i=1nai2n. \lambda \left( \frac{1}{n} \sum_{i=1}^{n} a_i^2 \right) \geq \frac{1}{n} \sum_{i=1}^{n} a_i^2 \geq \prod_{i=1}^{n} a_i^{\frac{2}{n}}.

Case 3. We may suppose that b1==bk=0b_1 = \cdots = b_k = 0, ak+1==an=0a_{k+1} = \cdots = a_n = 0, 1k<n1 \le k < n.
Let a1a2ak=ak,bk+1bn=bnk,a,b0a_1 a_2 \cdots a_k = a^k, b_{k+1} \cdots b_n = b^{n-k}, a, b \ge 0. Then by the
mean value inequality, we have
a12+a22++ak2ka2,bk+1++bn(nk)b. a_1^2 + a_2^2 + \cdots + a_k^2 \ge ka^2, \quad b_{k+1} + \cdots + b_n \ge (n-k)b.
It suffices to prove that
λkna2+(nk)2n2b2a2knb2(nk)n.2 \frac{\lambda k}{n} a^2 + \frac{(n-k)^2}{n^2} b^2 \geq a^{\frac{2k}{n}} \cdot b^{\frac{2(n-k)}{n}} . \qquad \textcircled{2}
By the mean value inequality, we see that
The left-hand side of
2=λna2++λna2+nkn2b2k terms++nkn2b2nk termsλkna2kn(nkn)nknb2(nk)n. \textcircled{2} = \frac{\lambda}{n} a^2 + \cdots + \frac{\lambda}{n} a^2 + \underbrace{\frac{n-k}{n^2} b^2}_{k \text{ terms}} + \cdots + \underbrace{\frac{n-k}{n^2} b^2}_{n-k \text{ terms}} \\ \geq \lambda^{\frac{k}{n}} a^{\frac{2k}{n}} \cdot \left( \frac{n-k}{n} \right)^{\frac{n-k}{n}} \cdot b^{\frac{2(n-k)}{n}}.
So, it suffices to show that λkn(nkn)nkn1\lambda^{\frac{k}{n}} \left(\frac{n-k}{n}\right)^{\frac{n-k}{n}} \ge 1, that is, to
show (nnk)nkλk\left(\frac{n}{n-k}\right)^{n-k} \le \lambda^k.
In fact,
nnknnknnknk terms111nk terms(n+(nkn)nkk)nkk=(nn1)(n1)k=λk. \begin{align*} & \underbrace{\frac{n}{n-k} \cdot \frac{n}{n-k} \cdot \dots \cdot \frac{n}{n-k}}_{n-k \text{ terms}} \cdot \underbrace{1 \cdot 1 \cdot \dots \cdot 1}_{n-k \text{ terms}} \\ & \le \left( \frac{n + (nk - n)}{nk - k} \right)^{nk-k} \\ & = \left( \frac{n}{n-1} \right)^{(n-1)k} = \lambda^k. \quad \square \end{align*}

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