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Algebra Difficulty 7.2 National olympiad, round 2 Find the answer

Example 2 Real numbers a1,a2,,an(n3)a_{1}, a_{2}, \cdots, a_{n}(n \geqslant 3) satisfy: a1+a2++an=0a_{1}+a_{2}+\cdots+a_{n}=0, and
2akak1+ak+1,k=2,3,,n12 a_{k} \leqslant a_{k-1}+a_{k+1}, k=2,3, \cdots, n-1

Find the smallest λ(n)\lambda(n), such that for all k{1,2,,n}k \in\{1,2, \cdots, n\}, we have
akλ(n)max{a1,an}.\left|a_{k}\right| \leqslant \lambda(n) \cdot \max \left\{\left|a_{1}\right|,\left|a_{n}\right|\right\} .

A number or a short expression. Spacing and $ signs are ignored.

Solution

Solution: First, take a1=1,a2=n+1n1,ak=n+1n1+2n(k2)(n1)(n2),k=3a_{1}=1, a_{2}=-\frac{n+1}{n-1}, a_{k}=\frac{n+1}{n-1}+\frac{2 n(k-2)}{(n-1)(n-2)}, k=3, 4,,n4, \cdots, n, then it satisfies a1+a2++an=0a_{1}+a_{2}+\cdots+a_{n}=0 and 2akak1+ak+1,k=2,3,2 a_{k} \leqslant a_{k-1}+a_{k+1}, k=2,3, \cdots, n1n-1. At this point,
λ(n)n+1n1\lambda(n) \geqslant \frac{n+1}{n-1}

Next, we prove that when λ(n)=n+1n1\lambda(n)=\frac{n+1}{n-1}, for all k{1,2,,n}k \in\{1,2, \cdots, n\}, we have
akλ(n)max{a1,an}.\left|a_{k}\right| \leqslant \lambda(n) \cdot \max \left\{\left|a_{1}\right|,\left|a_{n}\right|\right\}.

Since 2akak1+ak+12 a_{k} \leqslant a_{k-1}+a_{k+1}, it follows that ak+1akakak1a_{k+1}-a_{k} \geqslant a_{k}-a_{k-1}, thus
anan1an1an2a2a1a_{n}-a_{n-1} \geqslant a_{n-1}-a_{n-2} \geqslant \cdots \geqslant a_{2}-a_{1}

Therefore, (k1)(ana1)=(k1)[(anan1)+(an1an2)++(a2a1)](k-1)\left(a_{n}-a_{1}\right)=(k-1)\left[\left(a_{n}-a_{n-1}\right)+\left(a_{n-1}-a_{n-2}\right)+\cdots+\left(a_{2}-a_{1}\right)\right]
(n1)[(akak1)+(ak1ak2)++(a2a1)]=(n1)(aka1)\begin{array}{l} \geqslant(n-1)\left[\left(a_{k}-a_{k-1}\right)+\left(a_{k-1}-a_{k-2}\right)+\cdots+\left(a_{2}-a_{1}\right)\right] \\ =(n-1)\left(a_{k}-a_{1}\right) \end{array}

Hence, akk1n1(ana1)+a1=1n1[(k1)an+(nk)a1]\quad a_{k} \leqslant \frac{k-1}{n-1}\left(a_{n}-a_{1}\right)+a_{1}=\frac{1}{n-1}\left[(k-1) a_{n}+(n-k) a_{1}\right].
Similarly, for a fixed k,k1,nk, k \neq 1, n, when 1jk1 \leqslant j \leqslant k,
aj1k1[(j1)ak+(kj)a1]a_{j} \leqslant \frac{1}{k-1}\left[(j-1) a_{k}+(k-j) a_{1}\right]

When kjnk \leqslant j \leqslant n,
aj1nk[(jk)an+(nj)ak]a_{j} \leqslant \frac{1}{n-k}\left[(j-k) a_{n}+(n-j) a_{k}\right]

Therefore, j=1kaj1k1j=1k[(j1)ak+(kj)a1]=k2(a1+ak)\sum_{j=1}^{k} a_{j} \leqslant \frac{1}{k-1} \sum_{j=1}^{k}\left[(j-1) a_{k}+(k-j) a_{1}\right]=\frac{k}{2}\left(a_{1}+a_{k}\right),
j=knaj1nkj=kn[(jk)an+(nj)ak]=n+1k2(ak+an)\sum_{j=k}^{n} a_{j} \leqslant \frac{1}{n-k} \sum_{j=k}^{n}\left[(j-k) a_{n}+(n-j) a_{k}\right]=\frac{n+1-k}{2}\left(a_{k}+a_{n}\right)

Adding these, we get
ak=j=1kaj+j=knajk2(a1+ak)+n+1k2(ak+an)=k2a1+n+12ak+n+1k2an\begin{aligned} a_{k} & =\sum_{j=1}^{k} a_{j}+\sum_{j=k}^{n} a_{j} \leqslant \frac{k}{2}\left(a_{1}+a_{k}\right)+\frac{n+1-k}{2}\left(a_{k}+a_{n}\right) \\ & =\frac{k}{2} a_{1}+\frac{n+1}{2} a_{k}+\frac{n+1-k}{2} a_{n} \end{aligned}

Thus,
ak1n1[ka1+(n+1k)an]a_{k} \geqslant-\frac{1}{n-1}\left[k a_{1}+(n+1-k) a_{n}\right]

From (1) and (2), we have
akmax{1n1(k1)an+(nk)a1,1n1ka1+(n+1k)an}n+1n1max{a1,an},k=2,3,,n1\begin{aligned} \left|a_{k}\right| & \leqslant \max \left\{\frac{1}{n-1}\left|(k-1) a_{n}+(n-k) a_{1}\right|, \frac{1}{n-1}\left|k a_{1}+(n+1-k) a_{n}\right|\right\} \\ & \leqslant \frac{n+1}{n-1} \max \left\{\left|a_{1}\right|,\left|a_{n}\right|\right\}, k=2,3, \cdots, n-1 \end{aligned}

In conclusion, λ(n)min=n+1n1\lambda(n)_{\min }=\frac{n+1}{n-1}.

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