Scribd
Upload
46 views

Example 1.2: Evan Chen (April 30, 2014) A Brief Introduction To Olympiad Inequalities

This document provides an introduction to Olympiad inequalities through examples and proofs. It proves that a2 + b2 + c2 ≤ ab + bc + ca and a4 + b4 + c4 ≤ a2bc + b2ca + c2ab using the AM-GM inequality. It also states exercises to prove that a3 + b3 + c3 ≤ a2b + b2c + c2a and a5 + b5 + c5 ≤ a3bc + b3ca + c3ab ≤ abc(ab + bc + ca). The document then introduces Muirhead's inequality, which states that if sequences x1x2...xn and y1y2...yn

Uploaded by

p001
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
46 views

Example 1.2: Evan Chen (April 30, 2014) A Brief Introduction To Olympiad Inequalities

This document provides an introduction to Olympiad inequalities through examples and proofs. It proves that a2 + b2 + c2 ≤ ab + bc + ca and a4 + b4 + c4 ≤ a2bc + b2ca + c2ab using the AM-GM inequality. It also states exercises to prove that a3 + b3 + c3 ≤ a2b + b2c + c2a and a5 + b5 + c5 ≤ a3bc + b3ca + c3ab ≤ abc(ab + bc + ca). The document then introduces Muirhead's inequality, which states that if sequences x1x2...xn and y1y2...yn

Uploaded by

p001
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 1

Evan Chen (April 30, 2014) A Brief Introduction to Olympiad Inequalities

Example 1.2
Prove that a2 + b2 + c2 ab + bc + ca and a4 + b4 + c4 a2 bc + b2 ca + c2 ab.

Proof. By AM-GM,

a 2 + b2 2a4 + b4 + c4
ab and a2 bc.
2 4
Similarly,
b2 + c 2 2b4 + c4 + a4
bc and b2 ca.
2 4
c2 + a2 2c4 + a4 + b4
ca and c2 ab.
2 4
Summing the above statements gives

a 2 + b2 + c 2 ab + bc + ca and a4 + b4 + c4 a2 bc + b2 ca + c2 ab.

Exercise 1.3. Prove that a3 + b3 + c3 a2 b + b2 c + c2 a.

Exercise 1.4. Prove that a5 + b5 + c5 a3 bc + b3 ca + c3 ab abc(ab + bc + ca).

The fundamental intuition is being able to decide which symmetric polynomials of a


given degree are bigger. For example, for degree 3, the polynomial a3 + b3 + c3 is biggest
and abc is the smallest. Roughly, the more “mixed” polynomials are the smaller. From
this, for example, one can immediately see that the inequality

(a + b + c)3 a3 + b3 + c3 + 24abc

must be true, since upon expanding the LHS and cancelling a3 + b3 + c3 , we find that the
RHS contains only the piddling term 24abc. That means a straight AM-GM will suffice.
A useful formalization of this is Muirhead’s Inequality. Suppose we have two sequences
x1 x2 · · · xn and y1 y2 · · · yn such that

x 1 + x 2 + · · · + x n = y1 + y2 + · · · + yn ,

and for k = 1, 2, . . . , n 1

x1 + x2 + · · · + xk y1 + y2 + · · · + yk ,

Then we say that (xn ) majorizes (yn ), written (xn ) (yn ).


Using the above, we have the following theorem.

Theorem 1.5 (Muirhead’s Inequality)


Ifa1 , a2 , . . . , an are positive reals, and (xn ) majorizes (yn ) then we have the inequality.
X X y y
ax1 1 ax2 2 . . . axnn a11 a22 . . . aynn .
sym sym

You might also like