We prove this problem by induction. It is obvious when n=1. Suppose the statement is true for n, we will prove it is also true for n+1. In fact, by the Cauchy-Schwarz inequality, we have
(a12+a22+⋯+an+12)(b12+b22+⋯+bn+12)≥(a1b1+a2b2+⋯+an+1bn+1)2
By the assumption ∑i=1n+1ai2≤∑i=1n+1bi2, so ∑i=1n+1bi2≥∑i=1n+1aibi. According to Abel's formula,
0≤∑i=1n+1bi(bi−ai)=(b1−b2)(b1−a1)+(b2−b3)(b1+b2−a1−a2)+⋯+(bn−bn+1)(∑i=1nbi−∑i=1nai)+bn+1(∑i=1n+1bi−∑i=1n+1ai)
In the above sum, each term except the last one is non-positive (since k∈{1,2,⋯,n}, we have bk≤bk+1 and ∑i=1kbi≥∑i=1kai, by the induction hypothesis). Therefore, we must have
bn+1(i=1∑n+1bi−i=1∑n+1ai)≥0⇔i=1∑n+1bi≥i=1∑n+1ai
Note: The following result is due to Le Huu Dien Khue, which is a stronger result and can be directly obtained by Abel's formula (without induction)
Suppose a1,a2,⋯,an and b1≤b2≤⋯≤bn are real numbers, and satisfy
a12+a22+⋯+ak2≤b12+b22+⋯+bk2k=1,2,⋯,n, prove
b1+b2+⋯+bn≥b1a12+b2a22+⋯+bnan2