According to the permutation inequality, we always have:
1×n+2×(n−1)+⋯+n×1≤1×s1+2×s2+⋯+n×sn≤1×1+2×2+⋯+n×n
We want to prove that all numbers in this range are covered. First, note that by induction, it is easily proven that:
1×n+2×(n−1)+⋯+n=(3n+2)
and
1×1+2×2+⋯+n×n=(3n+2)+(3n+1)
First, let's examine the base case n=4. We need to show that all numbers from 20 to 30 are covered. It is sufficient to consider the permutations:
4,3,2,1/3,4,2,1/3,4,1,2/4,2,1,3/2,3,4,1/2,4,1,3/1,4,3,2/1,3,4,2/2,1,4,3/2,1,3,4/1,2,3,4.
To prove by induction, we first set xn+1=(n+1)2 for all values of n with:
(n+1)2=1×1+2×2+⋯+n×n+(n+1)×(n+1)−(1×1+2×2+⋯+n×n)
All previous values are obtained by setting xn+1=1:
2n(n+1)=1×(n+1)+2×n+⋯+(n+1)×1−(1×n+2×(n−1)+⋯+n×1)
So, to show that all numbers are covered, it is sufficient to show that:
(3n+2)+(3n+3)+((3n+2)−(3n+2))+(3n+1)>(3n+2)+(3n+3)+((3n+1)−(3n+2))
which is equivalent to:
(3n+2)+1<2×((3n+1)+1)
which is obvious.