Maths Olympiad Prep

Library / Belarusian Mathematical Olympiad /7 of 208

Belarusian Mathematical Olympiad

Algebra Difficulty 4.8 AIME Prove it Belarus

Given a polynomial P(x)P(x) with positive real coefficients.
Prove that P(1)P(xy)≥P(x)P(y)P(1)P(xy) \ge P(x)P(y) for all x≥1,y≥1x \ge 1, y \ge 1.

Solution

We use weighted Chebyshev's inequality: if a1,…,an>0a_1, \dots, a_n > 0, and x1≤x2≤⋯≤xnx_1 \le x_2 \le \dots \le x_n, y1≤y2≤⋯≤yny_1 \le y_2 \le \dots \le y_n, then
(a1x1+⋯+anxn)(a1y1+⋯+anyn)a1+⋯+an≤a1x1y1+⋯+anxnyn.(∗) \frac{(a_1x_1 + \dots + a_nx_n)(a_1y_1 + \dots + a_ny_n)}{a_1 + \dots + a_n} \le a_1x_1y_1 + \dots + a_nx_ny_n. \quad (*)

Now let p(x)=a1+a2x+⋯+anxn−1p(x) = a_1 + a_2x + \dots + a_nx^{n-1} be the given polynomial. Then we simply set in (∗)(*) x1=1x_1 = 1, x2=xx_2 = x, ..., xi=xi−1x_i = x^{i-1}, y1=1y_1 = 1, ..., yi=yi−1y_i = y^{i-1}, thus finishing the proof.

Want a route through all this instead of an archive? The track puts 2,604 problems in a working order, from Junior Challenge level to the IMO shortlist.

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