2. Let n be an integer greater than 1 and let x1,x2,…,xn be real numbers such that ∣x1∣+∣x2∣+⋯+∣xn∣=1 and x1+x2+⋯+xn=0.
Prove that 1x1+2x2+⋯+nxn≤21(1−n1).
Solution
Solution. The following lemma can be proved by direct simplification. Lemma. Let Sk=a1+a2+⋯+ak. Then k=1∑nakbk=Snbn+k=1∑n−1Sk(bk−bk+1).
Let Si=x1+x2+⋯+xi. By the given condition, Sn=0 and ∣Si∣≤21 for i=1,⋯,n−1. To see this, suppose ∣Si∣>21. Then 1=∣x1∣+∣x2∣+⋯+∣xn∣≥∣x1+⋯+xi∣+∣xi+1+⋯+xn∣=∣Si∣+∣−Si∣=2∣Si∣>1, which is a contradiction. By the lemma, we have k=1∑nkxk=Sn⋅n1+k=1∑n−1Sk(k1−k+11).
Second Solution. The inequality is achievable when x1=±21 and xn=∓21 and the rest of xi=0. So the inequality can be proved by the smoothing principle. Let a1≥⋯≥ak≥0 be the nonnegative terms among the xi 's and b1≤b2≤⋯≤bl<0 be the negative terms among the xi 's. Then we have a1+⋯+ak=1/2 and b1+⋯+bl=−1/2. Without loss of generality, we can assume that the contribution from the nonnegative terms are greater than the contributions from the negative terms in the LHS. Note that for 0<i<j, and x,y≥0, we have x/i+y/j≤(x+y)/i+0/j. Applying this, we see that the LHS is less than or equal to 1∑i=1kai+20+⋯+n−10+n∑i=1kbi=21(1−n1).
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