10. (AUS) Let r1,r2,…,rn be real numbers greater than or equal to 1. Prove that r1+11+r2+11+⋯+rn+11≥nr1r2⋯rn+1n
Solution
10. We shall first prove the inequality for n of the form 2k,k=0,1,2,… The case k=0 is clear. For k=1, we have r1+11+r2+11−r1r2+12=(r1+1)(r2+1)(r1r2+1)(r1r2−1)(r1−r2)2≥0 For the inductive step it suffices to show that the claim for k and 2 implies that for k+1. Indeed, i=1∑2k+1ri+11≥2kr1r2⋯r2k+12k+2kr2k+1′r2k+2⋯r2k+1+12k≥2k+1r1r2⋯r2k+1+12k+1 and the induction is complete. We now show that if the statement holds for 2k, then it holds for every n. The function f(x)=1+ex1 is convex for x>0 : indeed, f′′(x)=(ex+1)3ex(ex−1)>0. Thus by Jensen's inequality applied to f(x1),…,f(xn), we get r1+11+⋯+rn+11≥nr1⋯rn+1n.
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