Inequalities

Christopher G. Small IMO Summer Camp 2009 1

The Rearrangement Inequality
1. Four boxes contain $10, $20, $50, $100 bills respectively. From each box you may take 3, 4, 5, and 6 bills respectively. You have free choice of assigning the boxes to the numbers 3, 4, 5, 6. Take as much money as you can. 2. Rearrangement Inequality. Let a1 a2 an and b1 b2 bn be positive real numbers. Let be any permutation on the set of positive integers less than or equal to n. Then n n n ai b i
i=1 i=1

ai b(i)
i=1

ai bni .

Proof. If j < k and b(j) > b(k) , then by switching the values of (j) and (k), the change in the middle sum is aj b(k) + ak b(j) (aj b(j) + ak b(k) ) = (ak aj ) (b(j) b(k) ) 0 . 3. Extension of rearrangement inequality. The usual statement of the rearrangement inequality uses two sequences. How can this be extended to three or more sequences? Let us extend the usual scalar product as follows. Let

a1 a2 an b1 b2 bn = a1 b1 c1 + a2 b2 c2 + + an bn cn c1 c2 cn and so on. Then when 0 a1 an , 0 b1 bn , and 0 c1 cn , we obtain

a1 a2 an a1 a2 an b1 b2 bn b(1) b(2) b(n) c(1) c(2) c(n) c1 c2 cn for any two permutations and . Extensions to four or more sequences are obvious. 4. If we write a1 a2 a3 an a1 a2 a3 an a1 a2 a3 an an a1 a2 an1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . a2 a3 a4 a1 a1 a2 a3 an n Now let xi = ai . We obtain the AM-GM inequality x1 + x2 + + xn n x1 x2 xn . n

5. For any sequence a1 , , an of positive numbers we have a1 an + + . n a(1) a(n)

6. Nesbitts inequality states that for positive a, b and c, a b c 3 + + . b+c a+c a+b 2 Prove this using the rearrangement inequality. 7. We start with the inequality 1 1 1 a b c 1 1 1 a1 b1 c1 This gives us 6 (a + a1 ) + (b + b1 ) + (c + c1 ) . Set a = x1 /x2 , b = x2 /x3 and c = x3 /x1 , where x1 , x2 , x3 > 0. Adding three to both sides we get 32 (x1 + x2 + x3 ) (x1 + x1 + x1 ) . 1 2 3 We can write this in its more usual form x1 1 x1 + x2 + x3 3 , 1 1 3 + x2 + x3 1 1 1 a b c a1 b1 c1 1 1 1 .

which is the AM-HM inequality for three variables. Clearly, it can be extended to n variables. 8. Use the rearrangement inequality to prove that sin3 x cos3 x + 1. cos x sin x 9. Use the AM-GM inequality to prove the Cauchy-Schwarz inequality namely that (a1 b1 + a2 b2 + + an bn )2 (a2 + a2 + + a2 ) (b2 + b2 + + b2 ) . 1 2 n 1 2 n 10. Set b1 = b2 = = bn = 1 in the Cauchy-Schwarz inequality. Suppose x1 = a1 , . . . , xn = an are all nonnegative. Taking square roots we get we get the AM-QM inequality, namely that x1 + x2 + + xn n x2 + x2 + + x2 1 n n

11. A surprising inequality known as Carlsons inequality can be proved using Cauchy-Schwarz. (a1 + + an )2 a1 1 11 + a2 2 21 + + an n n1
2

(1 a2 + 22 a2 + + n2 a2 ) (1 + 22 + 32 + + n2 ) . 1 2 n We conclude that (a1 + a2 + + an )2 which is Carlsons rst inequality. 2 2 (a + 22 a2 + n2 a2 ) , 2 n 6 1

Sensible advice
It is often a good idea to see where equality is obtained. For example, suppose we need to prove that f (a, b, c) 0. If we discover that f (a, b, c) = 0 whenever a = b and c is arbitrary then we know that we will not use AM-GM on all three variables. However, it is possible that the proof will involve AM-GM on a and b alone. Look for symmetries in the inequality. The proof may exploit that symmetry. For example with cyclic symmetry, f (a, b, c) = f (b, c, a) = f (c, a, b) the proof may involve writing down three inequalities and adding them up. Maybe!! If the inequalities is (completely) symmetric, we can impose any ordering assumption we like on the variables. Look for homogeneity in the variables. If f (a, b, c) = f (a, b, c) for all nonzero , then you can impose an extra assumption such as a + b + c = 1, say, or abc = 1. It is like having more equations to use for free. Exploit convexity or concavity! The theory of inequalities is virtually complete. It is becoming increasingly dicult at the IMO to nd original inequalities. The jury has been burnt in the past by posing well known inequalities as new problems. So the natural reaction is to move towards problems requiring grubby unusual methods. You must be prepared to get your hands dirty.

More problems
1. For nonnegative a, b, c we have (a + b) (b + c) (c + a) 8 abc . 2. For positive values a b c d + + + 2. b+c c+d d+a a+b

3. For 0 a, b, c, 1 b c a + + + (a 1)(b 1)(c 1) 1 1. b+c+1 c+a+1 a+b+1 4. Let a = (mm+1 + nn+1 )/(mn + nn ) where m and n are positive integers. Prove that am + an mm + nn . 5. For nonnegative variables x(x z)2 + y(y z)2 (x z)(y z)(x + y z) . 6. For positive variables a+ ab + 3 3 abc
3

a+b a+b+c . 2 3

7. Suppose variables are nonnegative, and that ab + bc + cd + da = 1. Show that b3 c3 d3 1 a3 + + + . b+c+d a+c+d a+b+d a+b+c 3 8. Let P be a polynomial with positive coecients. Prove that if P (x1 ) [P (x)]1 holds for x = 1, then it holds for every x > 0. 9. The Fibonacci sequence is a1 = a2 = 1, an+2 = an + an+1 . Prove that ai < 2. i i=1 2 10. Let 0 < a b c d. Then ab bc cd da ba cb dc ad . 11. For all x and y, 1 (x + y)(1 xy) 1 . 2 (1 + x2 )(1 + y 2 ) 2 12. For nonnegative variables (a + b)2 a + b + a b + b a. 2 4 13. The positive numbers a1 , . . . , an and b1 bn satisfy a1 b 1 a1 + a2 b1 + b2 and so on to a1 + + an b 1 + + b n . Prove that a1 + a2 + + an b1 + b2 + + bn .
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