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Algebra Difficulty 8.1 Shortlist Prove it

Example 2 (2004 China Mathematical Olympiad) Given a positive integer n2n \geqslant 2, let positive integers ai(i=1,2,,n)a_{i}(i=1,2, \cdots, n) satisfy: a1<a2<<ana_{1}<a_{2}<\cdots<a_{n} and i=1n1ai1\sum_{i=1}^{n} \frac{1}{a_{i}} \leqslant 1. Prove that for any real number xx, we have (i=1n1ai2+x2)2121a1(a11)+x2\left(\sum_{i=1}^{n} \frac{1}{a_{i}^{2}+x^{2}}\right)^{2} \leqslant \frac{1}{2} \cdot \frac{1}{a_{1}\left(a_{1}-1\right)+x^{2}}.

Solution

Given the known condition i=1n1ai1\sum_{i=1}^{n} \frac{1}{a_{i}} \leqslant 1 and the structure of the inequality to be proven, it is not difficult to think of using the Cauchy inequality to first perform a relaxation, obtaining (i=1n1ai2+x2)2i=1nai(ai2+x2)2\left(\sum_{i=1}^{n} \frac{1}{a_{i}^{2}+x^{2}}\right)^{2} \leqslant \sum_{i=1}^{n} \frac{a_{i}}{\left(a_{i}^{2}+x^{2}\right)^{2}}. Then, by constructing a recursive relationship, we can prove the strengthened inequality of the original inequality. By the Cauchy inequality and i=1n1ai1\sum_{i=1}^{n} \frac{1}{a_{i}} \leqslant 1, we get
(i=1n1ai2+x2)2(i=1n1ai)[i=1nai(ai2+x2)2]i=1nai(ai2+x2)2\left(\sum_{i=1}^{n} \frac{1}{a_{i}^{2}+x^{2}}\right)^{2} \leqslant\left(\sum_{i=1}^{n} \frac{1}{a_{i}}\right)\left[\sum_{i=1}^{n} \frac{a_{i}}{\left(a_{i}^{2}+x^{2}\right)^{2}}\right] \leqslant \sum_{i=1}^{n} \frac{a_{i}}{\left(a_{i}^{2}+x^{2}\right)^{2}}

Therefore, to prove the original inequality, it suffices to prove the following inequality:
i=1nai(ai2+x2)212.\sum_{i=1}^{n} \frac{a_{i}}{\left(a_{i}^{2}+x^{2}\right)^{2}} \leqslant \frac{1}{2}.
1a1(a11)+x2.\frac{1}{a_{1}\left(a_{1}-1\right)+x^{2}} .

To this end, we can first prove the following stronger proposition:
i=1nai(ai2+x2)212[1a1(a11)+x21an+1(an+11)+x2],\sum_{i=1}^{n} \frac{a_{i}}{\left(a_{i}^{2}+x^{2}\right)^{2}} \leqslant \frac{1}{2} \cdot\left[\frac{1}{a_{1}\left(a_{1}-1\right)+x^{2}}-\frac{1}{a_{n+1}\left(a_{n+1}-1\right)+x^{2}}\right],
where an+1>ana_{n+1}>a_{n} is a positive integer.

Let bn=12[1a1(a11)+x21an+1(an+11)+x2]b_{n}=\frac{1}{2} \cdot\left[\frac{1}{a_{1}\left(a_{1}-1\right)+x^{2}}-\frac{1}{a_{n+1}\left(a_{n+1}-1\right)+x^{2}}\right]. By ak+1ak+1a_{k+1} \geqslant a_{k}+1, we get
bkbk1=12[1a1(a11)+x21ak+1(ak+11)+x2]12[1a1(a11)+x21ak(ak1)+x2]=12[1ak(ak1)+x21ak+1(ak+11)+x2]12[1ak(ak1)+x21(ak+1)ak+x2]=ak(ak2+x2)2ak2ak(ak2+x2)2(k2).\begin{aligned} b_{k}-b_{k-1}= & \frac{1}{2} \cdot\left[\frac{1}{a_{1}\left(a_{1}-1\right)+x^{2}}-\frac{1}{a_{k+1}\left(a_{k+1}-1\right)+x^{2}}\right] \\ & -\frac{1}{2} \cdot\left[\frac{1}{a_{1}\left(a_{1}-1\right)+x^{2}}-\frac{1}{a_{k}\left(a_{k}-1\right)+x^{2}}\right] \\ = & \frac{1}{2} \cdot\left[\frac{1}{a_{k}\left(a_{k}-1\right)+x^{2}}-\frac{1}{a_{k+1}\left(a_{k+1}-1\right)+x^{2}}\right] \\ \geqslant & \frac{1}{2} \cdot\left[\frac{1}{a_{k}\left(a_{k}-1\right)+x^{2}}-\frac{1}{\left(a_{k}+1\right) \cdot a_{k}+x^{2}}\right] \\ = & \frac{a_{k}}{\left(a_{k}^{2}+x^{2}\right)^{2}-a_{k}^{2}} \geqslant \frac{a_{k}}{\left(a_{k}^{2}+x^{2}\right)^{2}}(k \geqslant 2) . \end{aligned}
 Also, b1=12[1a1(a11)+x21a2(a21)+x2]12[1a1(a11)+x21(a1+1)a1+x2]=a1(a12+x2)2a12a1(a12+x2)2 Also, bn=b1+k=2n(bkbk1)a1(a12+x2)2+k=2nak(ak2+x2)2=k=1nak(ak2+x2)2\begin{aligned} \text { Also, } b_{1} & =\frac{1}{2} \cdot\left[\frac{1}{a_{1}\left(a_{1}-1\right)+x^{2}}-\frac{1}{a_{2}\left(a_{2}-1\right)+x^{2}}\right] \\ & \geqslant \frac{1}{2} \cdot\left[\frac{1}{a_{1}\left(a_{1}-1\right)+x^{2}}-\frac{1}{\left(a_{1}+1\right) a_{1}+x^{2}}\right]=\frac{a_{1}}{\left(a_{1}^{2}+x^{2}\right)^{2}-a_{1}^{2}} \geqslant \frac{a_{1}}{\left(a_{1}^{2}+x^{2}\right)^{2}} \\ \text { Also, } b_{n} & =b_{1}+\sum_{k=2}^{n}\left(b_{k}-b_{k-1}\right) \geqslant \frac{a_{1}}{\left(a_{1}^{2}+x^{2}\right)^{2}}+\sum_{k=2}^{n} \frac{a_{k}}{\left(a_{k}^{2}+x^{2}\right)^{2}}=\sum_{k=1}^{n} \frac{a_{k}}{\left(a_{k}^{2}+x^{2}\right)^{2}} \end{aligned}

Therefore,
i=1nai(ai2+x2)212[1a1(a11)+x21an+1(an+11)+x2]\sum_{i=1}^{n} \frac{a_{i}}{\left(a_{i}^{2}+x^{2}\right)^{2}} \leqslant \frac{1}{2} \cdot\left[\frac{1}{a_{1}\left(a_{1}-1\right)+x^{2}}-\frac{1}{a_{n+1}\left(a_{n+1}-1\right)+x^{2}}\right]
121a1(a11)+x2\leqslant \frac{1}{2} \cdot \frac{1}{a_{1}\left(a_{1}-1\right)+x^{2}}

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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.