Given a positive integer n, find all n-tuples of real number (x1,x2,…,xn) such that f(x1,x2,⋯,xn)=k1=0∑2k2=0∑2⋯kn=0∑2k1x1+k2x2+⋯+knxn−1 attains its minimum.
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Solution
Given a positive integer n, we aim to find all n-tuples of real numbers (x1,x2,…,xn) such that f(x1,x2,⋯,xn)=k1=0∑2k2=0∑2⋯kn=0∑2∣k1x1+k2x2+⋯+knxn−1∣ attains its minimum.
To solve this, we first claim that the minimum is achieved when all xi are equal. Specifically, we seek to show that the minimum occurs at x1=x2=⋯=xn=n+11.
### Proof: 1. Symmetry Argument: Let y=2x1+x2. We will prove that f(x1,x2,x3,⋯,xn)≥f(y,y,x3,⋯,xn). For any k,m,c∈R, ∣kx1+mx2+c∣+∣mx1+kx2+c∣≥∣(k+m)(x1+x2)+2c∣=∣ky+my+c∣+∣my+ky+c∣ by the triangle inequality.
2. Application of Inequality: Applying the above inequality, let c=∑j=3nkjxj−1 and summing over all c for all (k3,⋯,kn)∈{0,1,2}n−2 where k1=k2 gives the desired result.
3. Reduction to Single Variable: Now, let x1=x2=⋯=xn=x, and we need to minimize g(x)=f(x,x,x,⋯,x). Let H(n,t) be the number of solutions to k1+⋯+kn=t where kj∈{0,1,2} for j=1,⋯,n. Observe that H(n,t)≤H(n,n) and H(n,t)=H(n,2n−t).
4. Minimization: Therefore, g(x)=j=0∑2nH(n,j)∣jx−1∣=j=0∑2njH(n,j)x−j1. We claim that g(x) is minimized at x=n+11.
5. Uniqueness: It remains to show that x1=x2 is forced. In the smoothing process, any move that produces a smaller sum is not possible. If x1=x2, then there exist k1=k2 such that k1x1+⋯+knxn=1. Now, let y1,y2 such that y1+y2=2x1. Then, ∣k1y1+k2y2+k3x3+⋯+knxn−1∣+∣k2y1+k1y2+k3x3+⋯+knxn−1∣>2∣k1x1+k2x2+k3x3+⋯+knxn−1∣, so the xi's must be constant.
Thus, the minimum value of the function is attained when x1=x2=⋯=xn=n+11.
The answer is: (n+11,n+11,…,n+11).
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