Olympiad Maths Prep

Track / Stage 7 / 8 of 300 #1408 of 2000

Problem 1408

National olympiad second round; IMO P1/P4
Algebra Difficulty 7.0 Find the answer

Determine all integers n>1 n>1 for which the inequality x12\plusx22\plus\plusxn2(x1\plusx2\plus\plusxn\minus1)xn x_1^2\plus{}x_2^2\plus{}\ldots\plus{}x_n^2\ge(x_1\plus{}x_2\plus{}\ldots\plus{}x_{n\minus{}1})x_n holds for all real x1,x2,,xn x_1,x_2,\ldots,x_n.

Official solution

1. We start with the given inequality:
x12+x22++xn2(x1+x2++xn1)xn x_1^2 + x_2^2 + \ldots + x_n^2 \ge (x_1 + x_2 + \ldots + x_{n-1})x_n
for all real x1,x2,,xn x_1, x_2, \ldots, x_n .

2. To simplify, we rewrite the inequality by isolating xn x_n :
x12+x22++xn2(x1+x2++xn1)xn0 x_1^2 + x_2^2 + \ldots + x_n^2 - (x_1 + x_2 + \ldots + x_{n-1})x_n \ge 0

3. We complete the square for each term involving xn x_n :
x12+x22++xn12+xn2(x1+x2++xn1)xn x_1^2 + x_2^2 + \ldots + x_{n-1}^2 + x_n^2 - (x_1 + x_2 + \ldots + x_{n-1})x_n
=i=1n1(xi2xixn)+xn2 = \sum_{i=1}^{n-1} \left( x_i^2 - x_i x_n \right) + x_n^2

4. We complete the square for each xi x_i :
xi2xixn=(xixn2)2xn24 x_i^2 - x_i x_n = \left( x_i - \frac{x_n}{2} \right)^2 - \frac{x_n^2}{4}
Therefore, the inequality becomes:
i=1n1((xixn2)2xn24)+xn20 \sum_{i=1}^{n-1} \left( \left( x_i - \frac{x_n}{2} \right)^2 - \frac{x_n^2}{4} \right) + x_n^2 \ge 0

5. Simplifying the sum:
i=1n1(xixn2)2(n1)xn24+xn20 \sum_{i=1}^{n-1} \left( x_i - \frac{x_n}{2} \right)^2 - \frac{(n-1)x_n^2}{4} + x_n^2 \ge 0
i=1n1(xixn2)2+(1n14)xn20 \sum_{i=1}^{n-1} \left( x_i - \frac{x_n}{2} \right)^2 + \left( 1 - \frac{n-1}{4} \right)x_n^2 \ge 0

6. For the inequality to hold for all x1,x2,,xn x_1, x_2, \ldots, x_n , the coefficient of xn2 x_n^2 must be non-negative:
1n140 1 - \frac{n-1}{4} \ge 0
4(n1)0 4 - (n-1) \ge 0
5n0 5 - n \ge 0
n5 n \le 5

7. We need to check if the inequality holds for n=2,3,4,5 n = 2, 3, 4, 5 :
- For n=2 n = 2 :
x12+x22x1x2 x_1^2 + x_2^2 \ge x_1 x_2
This is true by the AM-GM inequality.
- For n=3 n = 3 :
x12+x22+x32(x1+x2)x3 x_1^2 + x_2^2 + x_3^2 \ge (x_1 + x_2)x_3
This is true by the Cauchy-Schwarz inequality.
- For n=4 n = 4 :
x12+x22+x32+x42(x1+x2+x3)x4 x_1^2 + x_2^2 + x_3^2 + x_4^2 \ge (x_1 + x_2 + x_3)x_4
This is true by the Cauchy-Schwarz inequality.
- For n=5 n = 5 :
x12+x22+x32+x42+x52(x1+x2+x3+x4)x5 x_1^2 + x_2^2 + x_3^2 + x_4^2 + x_5^2 \ge (x_1 + x_2 + x_3 + x_4)x_5
This is true by the Cauchy-Schwarz inequality.

8. Therefore, the inequality holds for n{2,3,4,5} n \in \{2, 3, 4, 5\} .

The final answer is n{2,3,4,5} \boxed{ n \in \{2, 3, 4, 5\} }

Source: NuminaMath-1.5, licensed Apache-2.0. Statement and solution reproduced as published; topic, difficulty and ordering added by this site.