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Algebra Difficulty 8.4 Shortlist Prove it

let n>2n>2 be a fixed integer.positive reals ai1a_i\le 1(for all 1in1\le i\le n).for all k=1,2,...,nk=1,2,...,n,let
Ak=i=1kaikA_k=\frac{\sum_{i=1}^{k}a_i}{k}
prove that k=1nakk=1nAk<n12|\sum_{k=1}^{n}a_k-\sum_{k=1}^{n}A_k|<\frac{n-1}{2}.

Solution

1. **Base Case: n=2 n = 2 **
- For n=2 n = 2 , we need to show that k=12akk=12Ak<12 \left| \sum_{k=1}^{2} a_k - \sum_{k=1}^{2} A_k \right| < \frac{1}{2} .
- We have A1=a1 A_1 = a_1 and A2=a1+a22 A_2 = \frac{a_1 + a_2}{2} .
- Therefore, k=12Ak=a1+a1+a22=2a1+a22 \sum_{k=1}^{2} A_k = a_1 + \frac{a_1 + a_2}{2} = \frac{2a_1 + a_2}{2} .
- Also, k=12ak=a1+a2 \sum_{k=1}^{2} a_k = a_1 + a_2 .
- Thus, k=12akk=12Ak=(a1+a2)2a1+a22=a1+a2a1a22=a22 \left| \sum_{k=1}^{2} a_k - \sum_{k=1}^{2} A_k \right| = \left| (a_1 + a_2) - \frac{2a_1 + a_2}{2} \right| = \left| a_1 + a_2 - a_1 - \frac{a_2}{2} \right| = \left| \frac{a_2}{2} \right| .
- Since a21 a_2 \leq 1 , we have a2212 \left| \frac{a_2}{2} \right| \leq \frac{1}{2} .
- Therefore, k=12akk=12Ak<12 \left| \sum_{k=1}^{2} a_k - \sum_{k=1}^{2} A_k \right| < \frac{1}{2} .

2. **Inductive Step: Assume the statement is true for n=k n = k **
- Assume i=1kaii=1kAi<k12 \left| \sum_{i=1}^{k} a_i - \sum_{i=1}^{k} A_i \right| < \frac{k-1}{2} holds for some k2 k \geq 2 .

3. **Consider n=k+1 n = k+1 **
- We need to show that i=1k+1aii=1k+1Ai<k2 \left| \sum_{i=1}^{k+1} a_i - \sum_{i=1}^{k+1} A_i \right| < \frac{k}{2} .
- We have i=1k+1ai=i=1kai+ak+1 \sum_{i=1}^{k+1} a_i = \sum_{i=1}^{k} a_i + a_{k+1} .
- Also, i=1k+1Ai=i=1kAi+Ak+1 \sum_{i=1}^{k+1} A_i = \sum_{i=1}^{k} A_i + A_{k+1} , where Ak+1=i=1k+1aik+1 A_{k+1} = \frac{\sum_{i=1}^{k+1} a_i}{k+1} .
- Therefore, i=1k+1aii=1k+1Ai=i=1kai+ak+1(i=1kAi+i=1k+1aik+1) \left| \sum_{i=1}^{k+1} a_i - \sum_{i=1}^{k+1} A_i \right| = \left| \sum_{i=1}^{k} a_i + a_{k+1} - \left( \sum_{i=1}^{k} A_i + \frac{\sum_{i=1}^{k+1} a_i}{k+1} \right) \right| .

4. Simplify the expression
- i=1k+1aii=1k+1Ai=i=1kai+ak+1i=1kAii=1kai+ak+1k+1 \left| \sum_{i=1}^{k+1} a_i - \sum_{i=1}^{k+1} A_i \right| = \left| \sum_{i=1}^{k} a_i + a_{k+1} - \sum_{i=1}^{k} A_i - \frac{\sum_{i=1}^{k} a_i + a_{k+1}}{k+1} \right| .
- Let Sk=i=1kai S_k = \sum_{i=1}^{k} a_i , then the expression becomes Sk+ak+1i=1kAiSk+ak+1k+1 \left| S_k + a_{k+1} - \sum_{i=1}^{k} A_i - \frac{S_k + a_{k+1}}{k+1} \right| .
- This simplifies to Sk+ak+1i=1kAiSkk+1ak+1k+1 \left| S_k + a_{k+1} - \sum_{i=1}^{k} A_i - \frac{S_k}{k+1} - \frac{a_{k+1}}{k+1} \right| .
- Further simplifying, we get Sk+ak+1i=1kAiSkk+1ak+1k+1=Ski=1kAi+ak+1Skk+1ak+1k+1 \left| S_k + a_{k+1} - \sum_{i=1}^{k} A_i - \frac{S_k}{k+1} - \frac{a_{k+1}}{k+1} \right| = \left| S_k - \sum_{i=1}^{k} A_i + a_{k+1} - \frac{S_k}{k+1} - \frac{a_{k+1}}{k+1} \right| .
- This can be written as Ski=1kAiSkk+1+ak+1ak+1k+1 \left| S_k - \sum_{i=1}^{k} A_i - \frac{S_k}{k+1} + a_{k+1} - \frac{a_{k+1}}{k+1} \right| .

5. Use the inductive hypothesis
- By the inductive hypothesis, Ski=1kAi<k12 \left| S_k - \sum_{i=1}^{k} A_i \right| < \frac{k-1}{2} .
- We need to show that Ski=1kAiSkk+1+ak+1ak+1k+1<k2 \left| S_k - \sum_{i=1}^{k} A_i - \frac{S_k}{k+1} + a_{k+1} - \frac{a_{k+1}}{k+1} \right| < \frac{k}{2} .

6. Bound the additional terms
- Note that Skk+1kk+1 \left| \frac{S_k}{k+1} \right| \leq \frac{k}{k+1} since Skk S_k \leq k and ak+1k+11k+1 \left| \frac{a_{k+1}}{k+1} \right| \leq \frac{1}{k+1} .
- Therefore, Skk+1+ak+1k+1kk+1+1k+1=1 \left| \frac{S_k}{k+1} + \frac{a_{k+1}}{k+1} \right| \leq \frac{k}{k+1} + \frac{1}{k+1} = 1 .

7. Combine the bounds
- We have Ski=1kAiSkk+1+ak+1ak+1k+1Ski=1kAi+Skk+1+ak+1k+1 \left| S_k - \sum_{i=1}^{k} A_i - \frac{S_k}{k+1} + a_{k+1} - \frac{a_{k+1}}{k+1} \right| \leq \left| S_k - \sum_{i=1}^{k} A_i \right| + \left| \frac{S_k}{k+1} + \frac{a_{k+1}}{k+1} \right| .
- Using the inductive hypothesis and the bound on the additional terms, we get Ski=1kAi+1<k12+1=k+12 \left| S_k - \sum_{i=1}^{k} A_i \right| + 1 < \frac{k-1}{2} + 1 = \frac{k+1}{2} .

8. Conclusion
- Therefore, i=1k+1aii=1k+1Ai<k2 \left| \sum_{i=1}^{k+1} a_i - \sum_{i=1}^{k+1} A_i \right| < \frac{k}{2} .

By induction, the statement is true for all n2 n \geq 2 .

\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.