Maths Olympiad Prep

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Algebra Difficulty 7.2 National olympiad, round 2 Prove it

Example 10 Let x1,x2,,xnR+x_{1}, x_{2}, \cdots, x_{n} \in \mathbf{R}^{+}, prove that: x12x2+x22x3++xn12xn+xn2x1x1+\frac{x_{1}^{2}}{x_{2}}+\frac{x_{2}^{2}}{x_{3}}+\cdots+\frac{x_{n-1}^{2}}{x_{n}}+\frac{x_{n}^{2}}{x_{1}} \geqslant x_{1}+ x2++xn1+xnx_{2}+\cdots+x_{n-1}+x_{n}. (1984 National High School Mathematics League Question)

Solution

Prove that by embedding the factor x2+x3++xn+x1x_{2}+x_{3}+\cdots+x_{n}+x_{1} on the left side of the inequality, it is equivalent to embedding the factor x1+x2++xnx_{1}+x_{2}+\cdots+x_{n}. Applying the Cauchy-Schwarz inequality, we have:
(x12x2+x22x3++xn12xn+xn2x1)(x2+x3++xn+x1)(x1x2x2+x2x3x3++xn1xnxn+xnx1x1)2=(x1+x2++xn1+xn)2\begin{array}{l} \left(\frac{x_{1}^{2}}{x_{2}}+\frac{x_{2}^{2}}{x_{3}}+\cdots+\frac{x_{n-1}^{2}}{x_{n}}+\frac{x_{n}^{2}}{x_{1}}\right)\left(x_{2}+x_{3}+\cdots+x_{n}+x_{1}\right) \geqslant \\ \left(\frac{x_{1}}{\sqrt{x_{2}}} \cdot \sqrt{x_{2}}+\frac{x_{2}}{\sqrt{x_{3}}} \cdot \sqrt{x_{3}}+\cdots+\frac{x_{n-1}}{\sqrt{x_{n}}} \cdot \sqrt{x_{n}}+\frac{x_{n}}{\sqrt{x_{1}}} \cdot \sqrt{x_{1}}\right)^{2}= \\ \left(x_{1}+x_{2}+\cdots+x_{n-1}+x_{n}\right)^{2} \end{array}

Thus,
x12x2+x22x3++xn12xn+xn2x1x1+x2++xn1+xn\frac{x_{1}^{2}}{x_{2}}+\frac{x_{2}^{2}}{x_{3}}+\cdots+\frac{x_{n-1}^{2}}{x_{n}}+\frac{x_{n}^{2}}{x_{1}} \geqslant x_{1}+x_{2}+\cdots+x_{n-1}+x_{n}

Similarly, we can prove:
(1) Given that a1,a2,,ana_{1}, a_{2}, \cdots, a_{n} are positive real numbers, and their sum is 1, prove that: a12a1+a2+a22a2+a3++an12an1+an+an2an+a112\frac{a_{1}^{2}}{a_{1}+a_{2}}+\frac{a_{2}^{2}}{a_{2}+a_{3}}+\cdots+\frac{a_{n-1}^{2}}{a_{n-1}+a_{n}}+\frac{a_{n}^{2}}{a_{n}+a_{1}} \geqslant \frac{1}{2}. (24th All-Soviet Union Mathematical Olympiad Problem)
(2) a1,a2,,an;b1,b2,,bna_{1}, a_{2}, \cdots, a_{n} ; b_{1}, b_{2}, \cdots, b_{n} are two sets of positive real numbers, and k=1nak=k=1nbk\sum_{k=1}^{n} a_{k}=\sum_{k=1}^{n} b_{k}, prove that: k=1nak2ak+bk12k=1nak\sum_{k=1}^{n} \frac{a_{k}^{2}}{a_{k}+b_{k}} \geqslant \frac{1}{2} \sum_{k=1}^{n} a_{k}. (1991 Asia-Pacific Mathematical Olympiad Problem)

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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.