Maths Olympiad Prep

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, 2011

Algebra Difficulty 4.6 AIME Prove it South Africa

Let a1,a2,,ana_1, a_2, \dots, a_n be real numbers such that
am+am+1++anm+(m+1)++n a_m + a_{m+1} + \dots + a_n \ge m + (m+1) + \dots + n
for every m=1,2,,nm = 1, 2, \dots, n. Prove that

a_1^2 + a_2^2 + \dots + a_n^2 n(n+1)(2n+1)6.\ge \frac{n(n+1)(2n+1)}{6}.

Solution

Make the substitution ak=bk+ka_k = b_k + k for k=1,2,,nk = 1, 2, \dots, n. The conditions of the problem then become bm+bm+1++bn0b_m + b_{m+1} + \dots + b_n \ge 0 for every m=1,2,,nm = 1, 2, \dots, n, while the required inequality becomes
n(n+1)(2n+1)6(b1+1)2+(b2+2)2++(bn+n)2=(b12+b22++bn2)+(12+22++n2)+2(b1+2b2++nbn). \begin{aligned} \frac{n(n+1)(2n+1)}{6} &\le (b_1+1)^2 + (b_2+2)^2 + \dots + (b_n+n)^2 \\ &= (b_1^2 + b_2^2 + \dots + b_n^2) + (1^2 + 2^2 + \dots + n^2) + 2(b_1 + 2b_2 + \dots + n b_n). \end{aligned}
But b12++bn20b_1^2 + \dots + b_n^2 \ge 0, 12+22++n2=n(n+1)(2n+1)61^2 + 2^2 + \dots + n^2 = \frac{n(n+1)(2n+1)}{6} while
b1+2b2++nbn=bn+(bn1+bn)+(bn2+bn1+bn)++(b1+b2++bn)0b_1+2b_2+\dots+nb_n = b_n+(b_{n-1}+b_n)+(b_{n-2}+b_{n-1}+b_n)+\dots+(b_1+b_2+\dots+b_n) \ge 0
by the (restated) given condition.

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Source: MathNet, licensed CC-BY-4.0. Statement reproduced verbatim; metadata (topic, difficulty) added by this project.