Maths Olympiad Prep

Library / /468 of 520

Algebra Difficulty 6.2 National olympiad Prove it

II. (50 points) Given a positive integer n2n \geqslant 2, real numbers a1a2an>0,b1b2bn>0a_{1} \geqslant a_{2} \geqslant \cdots \geqslant a_{n}>0, b_{1} \geqslant b_{2} \geqslant \cdots \geqslant b_{n}>0, and a1a2an=b1b2bn,1=1<i<n(a1aj)1=1(b1bj)a_{1} a_{2} \cdots a_{n}=b_{1} b_{2} \cdots b_{n}, \sum_{1=1<i<n}\left(a_{1}-a_{j}\right) \leqslant \sum_{1=1}\left(b_{1}-b_{j}\right), prove: i=1nai(n1)i=1nb1\sum_{i=1}^{n} a_{i} \leqslant(n-1) \sum_{i=1}^{n} b_{1}.

Solution

When n=2n=2, (a1+a2)2(a1a2)2=4a1a2=4b1b2=(b1+b2)2(b1b2)2\left(a_{1}+a_{2}\right)^{2}-\left(a_{1}-a_{2}\right)^{2}=4 a_{1} a_{2}=4 b_{1} b_{2}=\left(b_{1}+b_{2}\right)^{2}-\left(b_{1}-b_{2}\right)^{2}, and a1a2b1b2a_{1}-a_{2} \leqslant b_{1}-b_{2}, so a1+a2b1+b2a_{1}+a_{2} \leqslant b_{1}+b_{2}.

Assume n3n \geqslant 3. Without loss of generality, let b1b2bn=1b_{1} b_{2} \cdots b_{n}=1 (otherwise, use a1=a1a1a2an,b1=b1b1b2bna_{1}^{\prime}=\frac{a_{1}}{a_{1} a_{2} \cdots a_{n}}, b_{1}^{\prime}=\frac{b_{1}}{b_{1} b_{2} \cdots b_{n}} to replace a,b,1ina, b, 1 \leqslant i \leqslant n), and a1n1a_{1} \leqslant n-1, then i=1nain(n1)(n1)i=1nbi\sum_{i=1}^{n} a_{i} \leqslant n(n-1) \leqslant (n-1) \sum_{i=1}^{n} b_{i} (this uses the mean inequality). Below, assume a1>n1a_{1} > n-1, because $\sum_{1 \leqslant i \leq n}\left(a_{i}-a_{n}\right) \geqslant \sum_{i=1}^{n} a_{i} + (a_{1}-a_{n-1}) - n a_{n}, \sum_{1 \leqslant i \leq n} (n-1) b_{i} + 2 b_{2} \geqslant 2 n b_{n} \\
a_{n} > 2 b_{n}
\end{array}
Also, from $a_{1} a_{2} \cdots a_{n}=1$ we get $a_{n} \leqslant 1$, so $a_{1} - (n-1) a_{n} > n-1 - (n-1) = 0$, combining with (1) we get $2 b_{2} < 2 a_{1}$. Therefore,
(n-1) \sum_{i=1}^{n} b_{i} > 2(n-1) a_{1} > n a_{1} > \sum_{i=1}^{n} a_{i} .
Note: The coefficient $n-1$ cannot be changed to $n-2$. Take $h$ sufficiently large $(h=n-1), k > h+1$, and let
a_{1}=a_{2}=\cdots=a_{n-1}=h, a_{n}=\frac{1}{h^{n-1}}, b_{1}=k, b_{2}=\cdots=b_{n-1}=1, b_{n}=\frac{1}{k},

then all the given conditions are satisfied, and i=1nai(n1)h>(n2)i=1nbi\sum_{i=1}^{n} a_{i} \therefore (n-1) h > (n-2) \sum_{i=1}^{n} b_{i}.

Want a route through all this instead of an archive? The track puts 2,000 problems in a working order, from AMC 10 level to the IMO shortlist.

Source: NuminaMath-1.5, licensed Apache-2.0. Statement and solution reproduced as published; topic and difficulty added by this site.