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Algebra Difficulty 7.6 National olympiad, round 2 Prove it

Let nn be a positive integer and let x1x2xnx_1\le x_2\le\cdots\le x_n be real numbers.
Prove that

(i,j=1nxixj)22(n21)3i,j=1n(xixj)2. \left(\sum_{i,j=1}^{n}|x_i-x_j|\right)^2\le\frac{2(n^2-1)}{3}\sum_{i,j=1}^{n}(x_i-x_j)^2.
Show that the equality holds if and only if x1,,xnx_1, \ldots, x_n is an arithmetic sequence.

Solution

1. Let L L and R R be the left-hand side (LHS) and right-hand side (RHS) of the inequality, respectively. We have:
L=(i,j=1nxixj)2 L = \left( \sum_{i,j=1}^{n} |x_i - x_j| \right)^2
and
R=2(n21)3i,j=1n(xixj)2. R = \frac{2(n^2-1)}{3} \sum_{i,j=1}^{n} (x_i - x_j)^2.

2. Notice that (xixj)2=(xjxi)2(x_i - x_j)^2 = (x_j - x_i)^2. Therefore, we can rewrite R R as:
R=4(n21)3i>j1n(xixj)2. R = \frac{4(n^2-1)}{3} \sum_{i > j \ge 1}^{n} (x_i - x_j)^2.

3. Let J=i>j1n(xixj)2 J = \sum_{i > j \ge 1}^{n} (x_i - x_j)^2 and K=i=1nj=1ij2 K = \sum_{i=1}^{n} \sum_{j=1}^{i} j^2 . By the Cauchy-Schwarz inequality, we have:
JK(i>j1n(xixj))2. JK \ge \left( \sum_{i > j \ge 1}^{n} (x_i - x_j) \right)^2.

4. We need to find the specific value of K K . Using the known summation formulas:
i=1ni3=(n(n+1)2)2, \sum_{i=1}^{n} i^3 = \left( \frac{n(n+1)}{2} \right)^2,
i=1ni2=n(n+1)(2n+1)6, \sum_{i=1}^{n} i^2 = \frac{n(n+1)(2n+1)}{6},
i=1ni=n(n+1)2. \sum_{i=1}^{n} i = \frac{n(n+1)}{2}.

5. Therefore, we have:
K=i=1n1i(i+1)(2i+1)6=i=1n2i3+3i2+i6. K = \sum_{i=1}^{n-1} \frac{i(i+1)(2i+1)}{6} = \sum_{i=1}^{n} \frac{2i^3 + 3i^2 + i}{6}.

6. Simplifying K K :
K=(n1)2n22+(n1)n(2n1)2+(n1)n26=(n1)n2(n+1)12. K = \frac{\frac{(n-1)^2 n^2}{2} + \frac{(n-1) n (2n-1)}{2} + \frac{(n-1) n}{2}}{6} = \frac{(n-1) n^2 (n+1)}{12}.

7. Now, we have:
R=4(n21)3KJK4(n1)(n+1)3(n1)n2(n+1)12I2=16n2I2. R = \frac{4(n^2-1)}{3K} JK \ge \frac{4(n-1)(n+1)}{\frac{3(n-1)n^2(n+1)}{12}} I^2 = \frac{16}{n^2} I^2.

8. Finally, it suffices to prove L=16n2I2 L = \frac{16}{n^2} I^2 . Note that:
L=4(i11xixj)2. L = 4 \left( \sum_{i \ge 1 \ge 1} |x_i - x_j| \right)^2.

9. Let di=2i(n+1) d_i = 2i - (n+1) . For specific xp x_p , notice that if i>p i > p , then xixp |x_i - x_p| will result in a negative xp x_p term. If i<p i < p , then xpxi |x_p - x_i| will result in a positive xp x_p term, and otherwise nothing. We now see that the coefficient of xp x_p will be:
((p1)1+1)(n(p+1)+1)=2pn1. \left( (p-1) - 1 + 1 \right) - \left( n - (p+1) + 1 \right) = 2p - n - 1.

10. However, ndi2=pnn22n2=(n2)n(np)=xci \frac{nd_i}{2} = pn - \frac{n^2}{2} - \frac{n}{2} = \binom{n}{2} - n(n-p) = xc_i . This means:
L=4(2n)2I2=16n2I2, L = 4 \left( \frac{2}{n} \right)^2 I^2 = \frac{16}{n^2} I^2,
which proves the inequality.

11. Finally, we see that equality holds when xixjij \frac{|x_i - x_j|}{|i - j|} is a constant, which gives equality in the Cauchy-Schwarz inequality. Since i<j    xi<xj i < j \implies x_i < x_j , this means x1,x2,,xn x_1, x_2, \ldots, x_n must be an arithmetic sequence. \blacksquare

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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.