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jlacosta   0
Apr 2, 2025
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0 replies
jlacosta
Apr 2, 2025
0 replies
Inspired by old results
sqing   1
N 10 minutes ago by lbh_qys
Source: Own
Let \( a, b, c \) be real numbers.Prove that
$$ \frac{(a - b + c)^2}{  (a^2+  a+1)(b^2+b+1)(c^2+ c+1)} \leq 4$$$$ \frac{(a + b + c)^2}{  (a^2+  a+1)(b^2 +b+1)(c^2+ c+1)} \leq \frac{2(69 + 11\sqrt{33})}{27}$$
1 reply
+1 w
sqing
31 minutes ago
lbh_qys
10 minutes ago
too many equality cases
Scilyse   17
N 15 minutes ago by Confident-man
Source: 2023 ISL C6
Let $N$ be a positive integer, and consider an $N \times N$ grid. A right-down path is a sequence of grid cells such that each cell is either one cell to the right of or one cell below the previous cell in the sequence. A right-up path is a sequence of grid cells such that each cell is either one cell to the right of or one cell above the previous cell in the sequence.

Prove that the cells of the $N \times N$ grid cannot be partitioned into less than $N$ right-down or right-up paths. For example, the following partition of the $5 \times 5$ grid uses $5$ paths.
IMAGE
Proposed by Zixiang Zhou, Canada
17 replies
+1 w
Scilyse
Jul 17, 2024
Confident-man
15 minutes ago
FE over \mathbb{R}
megarnie   6
N 18 minutes ago by jasperE3
Source: Own
Find all functions from the reals to the reals so that \[f(xy)+f(xf(x^2y))=f(x^2)+f(y^2)+f(f(xy^2))+x \]holds for all $x,y\in\mathbb{R}$.
6 replies
megarnie
Nov 13, 2021
jasperE3
18 minutes ago
Inspired by GeoMorocco
sqing   3
N 25 minutes ago by sqing
Source: Own
Let $x,y\ge 0$ such that $ 5(x^3+y^3) \leq 16(1+xy)$. Prove that
$$  k(x+y)-xy\leq  4(k-1)$$Where $k\geq  2.36842106. $
$$  5(x+y)-2xy\leq 12$$
3 replies
sqing
Yesterday at 12:32 PM
sqing
25 minutes ago
2025 OMOUS Problem 6
enter16180   2
N Yesterday at 9:06 PM by loup blanc
Source: Open Mathematical Olympiad for University Students (OMOUS-2025)
Let $A=\left(a_{i j}\right)_{i, j=1}^{n} \in M_{n}(\mathbb{R})$ be a positive semi-definite matrix. Prove that the matrix $B=\left(b_{i j}\right)_{i, j=1}^{n} \text {, where }$ $b_{i j}=\arcsin \left(x^{i+j}\right) \cdot a_{i j}$, is also positive semi-definite for all $x \in(0,1)$.
2 replies
enter16180
Apr 18, 2025
loup blanc
Yesterday at 9:06 PM
Sum of multinomial in sublinear time
programjames1   0
Yesterday at 7:45 PM
Source: Own
A frog begins at the origin, and makes a sequence of hops either two to the right, two up, or one to the right and one up, all with equal probability.

1. What is the probability the frog eventually lands on $(a, b)$?

2. Find an algorithm to compute this in sublinear time.
0 replies
programjames1
Yesterday at 7:45 PM
0 replies
Find the answer
JetFire008   1
N Yesterday at 6:42 PM by Filipjack
Source: Putnam and Beyond
Find all pairs of real numbers $(a,b)$ such that $ a\lfloor bn \rfloor = b\lfloor an \rfloor$ for all positive integers $n$.
1 reply
JetFire008
Yesterday at 12:31 PM
Filipjack
Yesterday at 6:42 PM
Pyramid packing in sphere
smartvong   2
N Yesterday at 4:23 PM by smartvong
Source: own
Let $A_1$ and $B$ be two points that are diametrically opposite to each other on a unit sphere. $n$ right square pyramids are fitted along the line segment $\overline{A_1B}$, such that the apex and altitude of each pyramid $i$, where $1\le i\le n$, are $A_i$ and $\overline{A_iA_{i+1}}$ respectively, and the points $A_1, A_2, \dots, A_n, A_{n+1}, B$ are collinear.

(a) Find the maximum total volume of $n$ pyramids, with altitudes of equal length, that can be fitted in the sphere, in terms of $n$.

(b) Find the maximum total volume of $n$ pyramids that can be fitted in the sphere, in terms of $n$.

(c) Find the maximum total volume of the pyramids that can be fitted in the sphere as $n$ tends to infinity.

Note: The altitudes of the pyramids are not necessarily equal in length for (b) and (c).
2 replies
smartvong
Apr 13, 2025
smartvong
Yesterday at 4:23 PM
Interesting Limit
Riptide1901   1
N Yesterday at 1:45 PM by Svyatoslav
Find $\displaystyle\lim_{x\to\infty}\left|f(x)-\Gamma^{-1}(x)\right|$ where $\Gamma^{-1}(x)$ is the inverse gamma function, and $f^{-1}$ is the inverse of $f(x)=x^x.$
1 reply
Riptide1901
Apr 18, 2025
Svyatoslav
Yesterday at 1:45 PM
2022 Putnam B1
giginori   25
N Yesterday at 12:13 PM by cursed_tangent1434
Suppose that $P(x)=a_1x+a_2x^2+\ldots+a_nx^n$ is a polynomial with integer coefficients, with $a_1$ odd. Suppose that $e^{P(x)}=b_0+b_1x+b_2x^2+\ldots$ for all $x.$ Prove that $b_k$ is nonzero for all $k \geq 0.$
25 replies
giginori
Dec 4, 2022
cursed_tangent1434
Yesterday at 12:13 PM
Number of A^2=I3
EthanWYX2009   1
N Yesterday at 11:21 AM by loup blanc
Source: 2025 taca-14
Determine the number of $A\in\mathbb F_5^{3\times 3}$, such that $A^2=I_3.$
1 reply
EthanWYX2009
Yesterday at 7:51 AM
loup blanc
Yesterday at 11:21 AM
Prove this recursion!
Entrepreneur   3
N Yesterday at 11:06 AM by quasar_lord
Source: Amit Agarwal
Let $$I_n=\int z^n e^{\frac 1z}dz.$$Prove that $$\color{blue}{I_n=(n+1)!I_0+e^{\frac 1z}\sum_{n=1}^n n! z^{n+1}.}$$
3 replies
Entrepreneur
Jul 31, 2024
quasar_lord
Yesterday at 11:06 AM
Pove or disprove
Butterfly   1
N Yesterday at 10:05 AM by Filipjack

Denote $y_n=\max(x_n,x_{n+1},x_{n+2})$. Prove or disprove that if $\{y_n\}$ converges then so does $\{x_n\}.$
1 reply
Butterfly
Yesterday at 9:34 AM
Filipjack
Yesterday at 10:05 AM
fractional binomial limit sum
Levieee   3
N Yesterday at 9:44 AM by Levieee
this was given to me by a friend

$\lim_{n \to \infty} \sum_{k=1}^{n}{\frac{1}{\binom{n}{k}}}$

a nice solution using sandwich is
$\frac{1}{n}   + \frac{1}{n} + 1 + \frac{n-3}{\binom{n}{2}} \ge \frac{1}{n} +  \sum_{k=2}^{n-2}{\frac{1}{\binom{n}{k}}}+ \frac{1}{n} + 1 \ge \frac{1}{n} +  + \frac{1}{n} + 1$

therefore $\lim_{n \to \infty} \sum_{k=1}^{n}{\frac{1}{\binom{n}{k}}}$ = $1$

ALSO ANOTHER SOLUTION WHICH I WAS THINKING OF WITHOUT SANDWICH BUT I CANT COMPLETE WAS TO USE THE GAMMA FUNCTION

we know

$B(x, y) = \int_0^1 t^{x - 1} (1 - t)^{y - 1} \, dt$

$B(x, y) = \frac{\Gamma(x)\Gamma(y)}{\Gamma(x + y)}$

and $\Gamma(n) = (n-1)!$ for integers,

$\frac{1}{\binom{n}{k}}$ = $\frac{k! (n-k)!}{n!}$

therefore from the gamma function we get

$ (n+1) \int_{0}^{1}  x^k (1-x)^{n-k} dx$ = $\frac{1}{\binom{n}{k}}$ = $\frac{k! (n-k)!}{n!}$
$\Rightarrow$ $\lim_{n \to \infty} (n+1) \int_{0}^{1} \sum_{k=1}^{n} x^k (1-x)^{n-k} dx$ $=\lim_{n \to \infty} \sum_{k=1}^{n}{\frac{1}{\binom{n}{k}}}$

somehow im supposed to show that

$\lim_{n \to \infty} (n+1) \int_{0}^{1} \sum_{k=1}^{n} x^k (1-x)^{n-k} dx$ $= 1$

all i could observe was if we do L'hopital (which i hate to do as much as you do)

i get $\frac{ \int_{0}^{1} \sum_{k=1}^{n} x^k (1-x)^{n-k} dx}{1/n+1}$

now since $x \in (0,1)$ , as $n \to \infty$ the $(1-x)^{n-k} \to 0$ which gets us the $\frac{0}{0}$ form therefore L'hopital came to my mind , which might be a completely wrong intuition, anyway what should i do to find that limit

:noo: :pilot:
3 replies
Levieee
Saturday at 9:51 PM
Levieee
Yesterday at 9:44 AM
IMO ShortList 1998, algebra problem 1
orl   37
N Apr 5, 2025 by Marcus_Zhang
Source: IMO ShortList 1998, algebra problem 1
Let $a_{1},a_{2},\ldots ,a_{n}$ be positive real numbers such that $a_{1}+a_{2}+\cdots +a_{n}<1$. Prove that

\[ \frac{a_{1} a_{2} \cdots a_{n} \left[ 1 - (a_{1} + a_{2} + \cdots + a_{n}) \right] }{(a_{1} + a_{2} + \cdots + a_{n})( 1 - a_{1})(1 - a_{2}) \cdots (1 - a_{n})} \leq \frac{1}{ n^{n+1}}. \]
37 replies
orl
Oct 22, 2004
Marcus_Zhang
Apr 5, 2025
IMO ShortList 1998, algebra problem 1
G H J
Source: IMO ShortList 1998, algebra problem 1
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orl
3647 posts
#1 • 6 Y
Y by maXplanK, Adventure10, megarnie, Mango247, and 2 other users
Let $a_{1},a_{2},\ldots ,a_{n}$ be positive real numbers such that $a_{1}+a_{2}+\cdots +a_{n}<1$. Prove that

\[ \frac{a_{1} a_{2} \cdots a_{n} \left[ 1 - (a_{1} + a_{2} + \cdots + a_{n}) \right] }{(a_{1} + a_{2} + \cdots + a_{n})( 1 - a_{1})(1 - a_{2}) \cdots (1 - a_{n})} \leq \frac{1}{ n^{n+1}}. \]
Attachments:
This post has been edited 1 time. Last edited by orl, Oct 23, 2004, 12:50 PM
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orl
3647 posts
#2 • 2 Y
Y by Adventure10, Mango247
Please post your solutions. This is just a solution template to write up your solutions in a nice way and formatted in LaTeX. But maybe your solution is so well written that this is not required finally. For more information and instructions regarding the ISL/ILL problems please look here: introduction for the IMO ShortList/LongList project and regardingsolutions :)
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grobber
7849 posts
#3 • 6 Y
Y by lolm2k, Adventure10, Aopamy, Jalcwel, Mango247, Sadece_Threv
Put $a_{n+1}=1-(a_1+a_2+\ldots+a_n)$. The inequality becomes $\frac{a_1a_2\ldots a_{n+1}}{(1-a_1)(1-a_2)\ldots (1-a_{n+1})}\le \frac 1{n^{n+1}}$, where $a_i$ are positive and $\sum_1^{n+1}a_i=1$. This is a mere application of AM-GM to the denominators $A_i=1-a_i=a_1+a_2+\ldots+a_{i-1}+a_{i+1}+\ldots+a_n+a_{n+1}$. We get $A_i\ge n\sqrt[n]{\frac{\prod a_k}{a_i}}$. After multiplying all of these we get the desired result.
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SnowEverywhere
801 posts
#4 • 5 Y
Y by Binomial-theorem, maXplanK, Adventure10, Mango247, kiyoras_2001
Its too bad that not all inequalities are like this one...

Solution

Define $a_{n+1}$ such that $\sum^{n+1}_{k=1} a_k = 1$. Cross multiplication and substitution yields that the desired inequality is equivalent to

\[n^{n+1} \le \frac{(1-a_1)(1-a_2) \dots (1-a_{n+1})}{a_1 a_2 \dots a_{n+1}} \quad (*)\]
By AM-GM we have that

\[n\sqrt[n] {\frac{a_1 a_2 \dots a_{n+1}}{a_i}} \le a_1 + a_2 + \dots + a_{i-1} + a_{i+1} + \dots + a_{n+1} = 1-a_i\]
Multiplying the above for each $i$ and dividing by $a_1 a_2 \dots a_{n+1}$ yields $(*)$ and the proof is complete.
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peregrinefalcon88
299 posts
#5 • 1 Y
Y by Adventure10
Proceeding in a manner similar to the above posts,

$ n^{n+1}\le\frac{(1-a_1)(1-a_2)\dots (1-a_{n+1})}{a_1 a_2\dots a_{n+1}}$

is easily proven via smoothing with $(a, b) \rightarrow (\frac{a+b}{2}, \frac{a+b}{2})$. The algebra of verifying the smoothing is tedious but straight forward.
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Mate007
69 posts
#6 • 1 Y
Y by Adventure10
$a_1+a_2+...+a_n/n>=( a_1.a_2...a_n)^1/n$. It becomes
$1/n^n>= a_1.a_2...a_n/a_1+a_2+...+a_n$
Take is as (1).
Now there is an inequality known as weitrass inequality. It will give
$1-(a_1+a_2+...+a_n)<=(1-a_1)...(1-a_n)$
Which will become
$1-(a_1+a_2+...+a_n)/(1-a_1)...(1-a_n)<=1$
Take it as (2).
Multiply (1) and(2).you will.get it less than $1/n^n$ which is all less than $1/n^{n+1}$.
Hence shown
This post has been edited 2 times. Last edited by Mate007, Feb 9, 2018, 12:40 PM
Reason: E
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anantmudgal09
1979 posts
#7 • 3 Y
Y by srijonrick, Adventure10, georgemason12
More storage
1998 A1 wrote:
Let $a_{1},a_{2},\ldots ,a_{n}$ be positive real numbers such that $a_{1}+a_{2}+\cdots +a_{n}<1$. Prove that

\[ \frac{a_{1} a_{2} \cdots a_{n} \left[ 1 - (a_{1} + a_{2} + \cdots + a_{n}) \right] }{(a_{1} + a_{2} + \cdots + a_{n})( 1 - a_{1})(1 - a_{2}) \cdots (1 - a_{n})} \leq \frac{1}{ n^{n+1}}. \]

Silly :P

Call $1-(a_1+\dots+a_n)$ as $b$ (it really is decoration). Then we just want $(1-a_1) \dots (1-a_n)(1-b) \ge n^{n+1}a_1\dots a_nb$. However, notice that $1-a_i=a_1+\dots+a_{i-1}+a_{i+1}+\dots+a_n+b \geqslant n\sqrt[n]{a_1\dots a_{i-1}a_{i+1}\dots a_nb}$ and multiplying all of them gives the result. $\blacksquare$
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GeronimoStilton
1521 posts
#8
Y by
Let $a_i=a,a_j=b$ have fixed sum $c<1$. Note
\[\frac{ab}{(1-a)(1-b)}\le t\iff ab\le t-tc+tab\iff ab(1-t)\le t(1-c)\]where $t$ is the maximum of the expression.
Clearly $t<1$ and so equality would have to be achieved at $a=b$. Thus by a smoothing argument each $a_i$ is equal. Let $\sum_i a_i=c$ so the desired is
\[\frac{1}{n^{n+1}}\ge \frac{\frac{c^n}{n^n}[1-c]}{c\cdot (1-\frac cn)^n}=\frac{c^{n-1}[1-c]}{(n-c)^n}\iff (n-c)^n\ge n^{n+1}c^{n-1}[1-c].\]The result is obvious at $n=1$ so we can assume $n>1$.
Let $c=\frac{n}{n+1}-\frac{d}{n+1}$ so we need to check
\[\left(n^2+d\right)^n \ge n^{n+1}\left(n-d\right)^{n-1}\left(1+d\right)\]and have $-1<d<n$. Since the result is true at the extrema, it suffices to check cases where the derivatives of both sides are equal. In these cases,
\[n(n^2+d)^{n-1}=-(n-1)n^{n+1}(n-d)^{n-2}\cdot (1+d)+n^{n+1}(n-d)^{n-1}.\]Equivalently,
\[(n^2+d)^{n-1}=n^n(n-d)^{n-2}\cdot [(n-d)-(n-1)(1+d)]=n^n(n-d)^{n-2}\cdot [1-nd].\]Equality can only hold at $d=0$ because $d>0$ increases the left side and decreases the right side whereas $d<0$ increases the right side and decreases the left side. But at $d=0$ the result is obvious, so we are done.
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AwesomeYRY
579 posts
#9
Y by
Previous Wrong Solution :blush:

Write $a_{n+1}=1-a_1-a_2\ldots a_n >0$. Thus, our expression becomes
\[\prod_{i=1}^{n+1} \frac{a_i}{1-a_i} = e^{\sum \ln(\frac{a_i}{1-a_i})}\]Note that $\ln(\frac{x}{1-x})$ has a second derivative of $\frac{1}{x(1-x)}$ and is thus convex over $0<x<1$, thus, by jensens
\[\sum \ln(\frac{a_i}{1-a_i}) \geq (n+1)\cdot \ln(\frac{1}{n})\]Thus, \[\prod_{i=1}^{n+1} \frac{a_i}{1-a_i}\geq e^{(n+1)\cdot \ln(\frac{1}{n})} = \left(\frac{1}{n}\right)^{n+1}\]and we are done $\blacksquare$.

Edit: The second derivative is in fact
\[\frac{2x-1}{(x-1)^2x^2}\]New Correct Solution
Write $a_{n+1}=1-a_1-a_2\ldots a_n >0$.
Now, note that
\[\prod_{i=1}^{n+1} \sum_{j\neq i} a_i \leq \prod_{i=1}^{n+1} n\cdot \sqrt[n]{\prod_{j\neq i}a_i} \leq n^{n+1} \cdot \prod a_i\]But wait! this is the denominator of our new expression. The given expression becomes
\[\frac{\prod a_i}{\prod (1-a_i)}=\frac{\prod a_i}{\prod (\sum_{j\neq i} a_j)}\leq \frac{\prod_{i=1}^{n+1}}{n^{n+1}\prod_{i=1}^{n+1}}=\frac{1}{n^{n+1}}\]and we are done.
This post has been edited 4 times. Last edited by AwesomeYRY, Jun 2, 2021, 3:50 PM
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DottedCaculator
7337 posts
#10
Y by
Solution
This post has been edited 1 time. Last edited by DottedCaculator, Jul 26, 2021, 3:27 PM
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bluelinfish
1448 posts
#11
Y by
We do the trick of letting $a_{n+1}=1-(a_1+a_2+\ldots+a_n)$. Then we must have $a_1+\ldots+a_{n+1}=1$, and we want to prove that $$\frac{a_1\ldots a_{n+1}}{(1-a_1)\ldots(1-a_{n+1})}\le \frac{1}{n^{n+1}}.$$Now notice that $$1-a_i=(a_1+\ldots+a_{n+1})-a_i\ge n\sqrt[n]{\frac{a_1\ldots a_{n+1}}{a_i}}.$$Applying this to all the terms in the denominator gives us \begin{align*} \frac{a_1\ldots a_{n+1}}{(1-a_1)\ldots(1-a_{n+1})} & \le \frac{a_1\ldots a_{n+1}}{n^{n+1}\sqrt[n]{\frac{a_1\ldots a_{n+1}}{a_1}}\ldots \sqrt[n]{\frac{a_1\ldots a_{n+1}}{a_{n+1}}}} \\ &= \frac{a_1\ldots a_{n+1}}{n^{n+1}\sqrt[n]{a_1^n\ldots a_{n+1}^n}} \\ &= \frac{a_1\ldots a_{n+1}}{n^{n+1}(a_1\ldots a_{n+1})} \\ &= \frac{1}{n^{n+1}}.\end{align*}The proof is complete.

Remark: Try stupid stuff first. Don't be like me who takes two hours to solve the problem because I realize that if we take the natural log of both sides, we essentially need to prove that if $f(x)=\ln\left(\frac{x}{1-x}\right)$, we have $$f(a_1)+\ldots+f(a_{n+1})\le (n+1)f\left(\frac{1}{n}\right).$$Then I find $$f''(x)=\frac{2x-1}{(x(x-1))^2}$$so Jensen doesn't work, but I see that there is exactly one inflection point in $(0,1)$, so $n-1$ EV is applicable (you should not need $n-1$ EV on an A1)... You can see how this approach of trying fancy things first fails miserably.
This post has been edited 3 times. Last edited by bluelinfish, Jun 21, 2021, 8:57 PM
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circlethm
98 posts
#12
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Solution. Define $a_{n + 1} = 1 - (a_1 + \cdots + a_n)$, and note that $a_{n + 1} > 0$ and $a_1 + \cdots + a_{n + 1} = 1$. Then by AM-GM we have
\begin{align*}
1 - a_i &= a_1 + \cdots + a_{i - 1} + a_{i + 1} + \cdots + a_{n + 1} \\ &\geq n(a_1\cdots a_{i - 1} a_{i + 1} \cdots a_{n + 1})^{\frac{1}{n}}.
\end{align*}Taking the product over $i$,
$$
 \prod_i (1 - a_i) \geq n^{n + 1} a_1 \cdots a_{n + 1},
$$that is,
$$
\frac{a_1 \cdots a_n (1 - (a_1 + a_2 + \cdots + a_n))}{(a_1 + \cdots + a_n)(1 - a_1) \cdots (1 - a_n)} \leq \frac{1}{n^{n + 1}}.
$$
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rafaello
1079 posts
#13
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So, by GM-HM,
$$\sqrt[n]{\left(\frac{1}{a_1}-1\right) \left(\frac{1}{a_2}-1\right)\ldots \left(\frac{1}{a_n}-1\right)}\geq \frac{n}{\frac{a_1}{1-a_1}+\frac{a_2}{1-a_2}+\ldots+\frac{a_n}{1-a_n}}.$$Now it is suffices to show that
$$\left(\frac{1}{\frac{a_1}{1-a_1}+\frac{a_2}{1-a_2}+\ldots+\frac{a_n}{1-a_n}}\right)^n\geq n\left(\frac{1}{a_1+a_2+\ldots+a_n}-1\right).$$
By Jensen's inequality, $$\frac{a_1}{1-a_1}+\frac{a_2}{1-a_2}+\ldots+\frac{a_n}{1-a_n}\leq n\frac{\frac{a_1+a_2+\ldots+a_n}{n}}{1-\frac{a_1+a_2+\ldots+a_n}{n}}=\frac{a_1+a_2+\ldots+a_n}{1-\frac{a_1+a_2+\ldots+a_n}{n}}=\frac{n(a_1+a_2+\ldots+a_n)}{n-(a_1+a_2+\ldots+a_n)}.$$Therefore it is suffices to show that
$$\left(\frac{1}{a_1+a_2+\ldots+a_n}-\frac{1}{n}\right)^{n} \geq n\left(\frac{1}{a_1+a_2+\ldots+a_n}-1\right).$$Let $t=\frac{1}{a_1+a_2+\ldots+a_n}>1$.
We need
\[ \left(t-\frac{1}{n}\right)^{n} \geq n\left(t-1\right).\]Define $f:\mathbb{R}_{>1}\to \mathbb{R}$, such that $f(t)=\left(t-\frac{1}{n}\right)^{n} - n\left(t-1\right)$.

We want to find the minimum of $f$.
We have $f'(t)=n\left(t-\frac{1}{n}\right)^{n-1}-n$ and $f''(t)=n(n-1)\left(t-\frac{1}{n}\right)^{n-2}>0 \forall t>1$.
Also note that $f'(t)=0\Longleftrightarrow t=\frac{n+1}{n}$ and thus the minimum of the function $f$ is
$$f\left(\frac{n+1}{n}\right)=\left(\frac{n+1}{n}-\frac{1}{n}\right)^{n} - n\left(\frac{n+1}{n}-1\right)=1-1=0.$$Hence, we have proven the inequality \[ \left(t-\frac{1}{n}\right)^{n} \geq n\left(t-1\right),\]where the equality holds iff $t=\frac{n+1}{n}$. We conclude that that the equality in our original inequality holds iff $a_1=a_2=\ldots=a_n=\frac{1}{n+1}$. We are done.
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asdf334
7586 posts
#14
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It is equivalent to showing that $\left(\frac{1}{a_1}-1\right)\left(\frac{1}{a_2}-1\right)\dots\left(\frac{1}{a_{n+1}}-1\right)\geq n^{n+1}$ for positive reals $a_1,a_2,\dots,a_{n+1}$ with $n\geq 1$ that sum to $1$ (in the problem, $a_{n+1}$ is replaced with $1-(a_1+a_2+\dots+a_n)$).

Then $$\frac{1}{a_1}-1=\frac{a_2+\dots+a_{n+1}}{a_1}\geq \frac{n\sqrt[n]{a_2a_3\dots a_{n+1}}}{a_1}$$and multiplying together gives the desired result. Equality holds when $a_1=a_2=a_3=\dots=a_{n+1}=\frac{1}{n+1}$.
This post has been edited 1 time. Last edited by asdf334, Jan 1, 2022, 5:10 PM
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awesomehuman
496 posts
#15
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For $k\leq n$, let $b_n=a_n$, and let $b_{n+1}=1-\sum_{k=0}^n a_k$. Note
$$\sum_{k=1}^{n+1} b_k=1$$and all $b_k$ are positive.
By AM-GM, for all $1\geq k\leq n+1$,
$$\sum_{j\neq k}b_k\geq n\sqrt[n]{\prod_{j\neq k}b_k}$$So,
$$\prod_{k=1}^{n+1} \sum_{j\neq k}b_j\geq \prod_{k=1}^{n+1} n\sqrt[n]{\prod_{j\neq k}b_j}$$$$\prod_{k=1}^{n+1} \sum_{j\neq k}b_j\geq n^{n+1}\prod_{k=1}^{n+1} \sqrt[n]{\prod_{j\neq k}b_j}$$$$\prod_{k=1}^{n+1} 1-b_k\geq n^{n+1}\prod_{k=1}^{n+1} b_k$$$$\frac{\prod_{k=1}^{n+1} 1-b_k}{\prod_{k=1}^{n+1} b_k}\geq n^{n+1}$$$$\frac{\prod_{k=1}^{n+1} b_k}{\prod_{k=1}^{n+1} 1-b_k}\leq \frac{1}{n^{n+1}}$$$$\frac{\prod_{k=1}^{n+1} b_k}{\prod_{k=1}^{n+1} 1-b_k}\leq \frac{1}{n^{n+1}}$$$$\frac{a_{1} a_{2} \cdots a_{n} \left[ 1 - (a_{1} + a_{2} + \cdots + a_{n}) \right] }{(a_{1} + a_{2} + \cdots + a_{n})( 1 - a_{1})(1 - a_{2}) \cdots (1 - a_{n})} \leq \frac{1}{ n^{n+1}}$$
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megarnie
5585 posts
#16
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ISL marabot solve

Let $1-(a_1+a_2+\ldots+a_n)=a_{n+1}$ and take the reciprocal to get that the original inequality is equivalent to \[\left(\frac{1-a_1}{a_1}\right)\cdot \left(\frac{1-a_2}{a_2}\right)\cdots \left(\frac{1-a_{n+1}}{a_{n+1}}\right)\ge n^{n+1}.\]
Now we have $1-a_i=\sum_{k=1, k\ne i}^{n+1} a_k\ge n\sqrt[n]{\prod_{k=1, k\ne i}^{n+1} a_k}$.

So the numerator is greater than or equal to $n^{n+1}a_1\cdot a_2\cdots a_{n+1}$. Dividing by the denominator gives the desired result.
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ETS1331
107 posts
#17
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First, throw out the $n = 1$ case and define $a_0 = 1 - \sum\limits_{i=1}^{n} a_i$. Then, we have $\sum\limits_{i=1}^{n} a_i = 1$, and we want to show that \[ \prod\limits_{i=0}^{n} \frac{a_i}{1-a_i} \leq \frac{1}{n^{n+1}} \]and notice that equality holds when $a_0 = a_1 = \cdots = a_n = \frac{1}{n+1}$. Now, we smooth. Say that there is some set of values $(a_0,a_1,\ldots,a_n)$ such that the value of the product is maximal, and assume for the sake of contradiction that there exist some $a_i \neq a_j$. Then, we are done if \[ \frac{a_i}{1-a_i}\frac{a_j}{1-a_j} \leq \left(\frac{a_i+a_j}{2-a_i-a_j}\right)^2 \]as that would imply that there was some larger value of the product by taking the values \[ \left(a_0,a_1,\ldots,a_{i-1},\frac{a_i+a_j}{2},a_{i+1},\ldots,a_{j-1},\frac{a_i+a_j}{2},a_{j+1},\ldots,a_n\right) \]Now, we prove that this set is actually larger. We use the subsitution $a_i + a_j = 2u$ and $a_i - a_j = 2v$. Then, we can rewrite the equation we want to prove as \[ \frac{a_i}{1-a_i}\frac{a_j}{1-a_j} \leq \left(\frac{a_i+a_j}{2-a_i-a_j}\right)^2 \Rightarrow \frac{u^2 - v^2}{(1-u)^2 - v^2} < \frac{u^2}{(1-u)^2}  \]after some algebra, which further rearranges into \[ \frac{u^2 - (1-u)^2}{(1-u)^2 - v^2} < \frac{u^2 - (1-u)^2}{(1-u)^2} \]which is true because $2u = a_i + a_j < 1$.
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mihaig
7339 posts
#18
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grobber wrote:
Put $a_{n+1}=1-(a_1+a_2+\ldots+a_n)$. The inequality becomes $\frac{a_1a_2\ldots a_{n+1}}{(1-a_1)(1-a_2)\ldots (1-a_{n+1})}\le \frac 1{n^{n+1}}$, where $a_i$ are positive and $\sum_1^{n+1}a_i=1$. This is a mere application of AM-GM to the denominators $A_i=1-a_i=a_1+a_2+\ldots+a_{i-1}+a_{i+1}+\ldots+a_n+a_{n+1}$. We get $A_i\ge n\sqrt[n]{\frac{\prod a_k}{a_i}}$. After multiplying all of these we get the desired result.

Very nice idea
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lrjr24
966 posts
#19
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Let $a_{n+1}=1-(a_1+a_2+ \cdots a_n)$. We have that the inequality becomes $\left( \frac{1}{a_1}-1 \right) \left( \frac{1}{a_2}-1 \right) \cdots \left( \frac{1}{a_{n+1}}-1 \right) \ge n^{n+1}$. We note that $$\frac{1}{a_1}-1 = \frac{a_2+a_3 + \cdots + a_{n+1}}{a_1} \ge \frac{n \sqrt[n]{a_2a_3 \cdots a_{n+1}}}{a_1}$$and multiplying similar inequalities gives the result.
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awesomeming327.
1699 posts
#20
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Let $a_{n+1}$ be the positive real number such that $a_{1}+a_{2}+\cdots +a_{n+1}=1.$ The desired inequality becomes \[ (na_{1}) (na_{2}) \cdots (na_{n}) (na_{n+1}) \le ( 1 - a_{1})(1 - a_{2}) \cdots (1 - a_{n})(1-a_{n+1}) \]By AM-GM we have \[1-a_{i}=a_1+a_2+\dots+a_{n+1}-a_i\ge n\cdot \sqrt[n]{\frac{a_1a_2\cdots a_{n+1}}{a_i}}\]Multiplying the analogous gives the result.
This post has been edited 3 times. Last edited by awesomeming327., Dec 28, 2022, 4:06 PM
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asdf334
7586 posts
#21 • 2 Y
Y by Mango247, Mango247
Define $1-(a_1+a_2+\dots+a_n)=a_{n+1}$; the LHS is equal to
\[\frac{a_1a_2\dots a_{n+1}}{\prod_{\text{cyc}}(a_1+a_2+\dots+a_n)}\le \frac{a_1a_2\dots a_{n+1}}{\prod_{\text{cyc}}(n\sqrt[n]{a_1a_2\dots a_n})}=\frac{1}{n^{n+1}}\]so we are done. $\blacksquare$
This post has been edited 1 time. Last edited by asdf334, Jul 12, 2022, 9:03 PM
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sman96
136 posts
#22
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ISL Marabot solve

Let, $a_{n+1} = 1-\sum\limits_{i=1}^na_i$. So, $\sum\limits_{i=1}^{n+1}a_i =1$.
Now for each $1\leq k \leq n+1$,
\begin{align*}
\sqrt[n]{\prod_{i\neq k}a_i} &\leq \dfrac{\sum_{i\neq k}a_i}n\\
\implies \sqrt[n]{\prod_{i\neq k}a_i} &\leq \dfrac{(1-a_k)}n
\end{align*}And, multiplying all of these gives,
\begin{align*}
\prod_{i=1}^{n+1}a_i &\leq \dfrac{\prod\limits_{i=1}^{n+1} (1-a_i)}{n^{n+1}}\\
\implies \dfrac{\prod\limits_{i=1}^{n+1}a_i}{\prod\limits_{i=1}^{n+1} (1-a_i)} &\leq \dfrac1{n^{n+1}} \\
\end{align*}Which is what we wanted. $\blacksquare$
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cj13609517288
1889 posts
#23
Y by
Let $a=a_1+a_2+\dots+a_n$. Taking $\ln$ of both sides, we can first optimize $$\sum_{\text{cyc}}\ln\left(\frac{a_1}{1-a_1}\right).$$Using log properties, we find that the second derivative of the term we are summing is $$-\frac{1}{x^2}+\frac{1}{(1-x)^2}$$which is zero at $x=\frac12$, so there is exactly one inflection point, meaning that we can use $n-1$ EV to have WLOG $a_1=a_2=\dots=a_{n-1}$. Our wanted inequality is now $$\frac{a_1^{n-1}\cdot a_n\cdot(1-a)}{a\cdot(1-a_1)^{n-1}\cdot(1-a_n)}\le\frac{1}{n^{n+1}}.$$By AM-GM, we can instead just show that $$(n-1)\cdot\frac{a_1}{1-a_1}+\frac{a_n}{1-a_n}+\frac{1-a}{a}\le\frac{n+1}{n}.$$Adding $n+1$ to both sides, we want $$\frac{n-1}{1-a_1}+\frac{1}{1-a_n}+\frac{1}{(n-1)a_1+a_n}\le\frac{(n+1)^2}{n}.$$We can resort to differentiating the LHS with respect to $a_n$ to get $$\frac{1}{(1-a_n)^2}-\frac{1}{((n-1)a_1+a_n)^2}$$which is zero when $a_n=\frac{1-a_1(n-1)}{2}$. The second derivative is positive for the whole interval, so that root is the global minimum for the interval. Plugging this back in, we want to show that $$\frac{n-1}{1-a_1}+\frac{4}{1+a_1(n-1)}\le\frac{(n+1)^2}{n}.$$We can do this using another direct differentiation with respect to $a_1$. We get $$\frac{n-1}{\left(1-a_1\right)^2}-\frac{4\left(n-1\right)}{\left(\left(n-1\right)a_1+1\right)^2}$$and we have to check $$a_1=0,\frac1{n+1},\frac1{n-1}.$$It is easy to check that the wanted inequality does hold true for all of these, so we are done.
This post has been edited 3 times. Last edited by cj13609517288, Nov 6, 2022, 11:39 PM
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Taco12
1757 posts
#24 • 1 Y
Y by centslordm
Let $a_{n+1}=1-\sum_{i=1}^n a_i$, so $\sum_{i=1}^{n+1} a_i = 1$. It then suffices to show $$\prod_{i=1}^{n+1} \left(\frac{1-a_i}{a_i}\right) \geq n^{n+1},$$which is clearly true by AM-GM on the numerator. $\blacksquare$
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Ritwin
155 posts
#25 • 1 Y
Y by LLL2019
This abomination of a solution is caused by the fact that I did not see the clean way.

Solution
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HamstPan38825
8857 posts
#26
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Let $a_{n+1} = 1-a_1-a_2-\cdots-a_n$. Then, the inequality is equivalent to $$\frac{a_1a_2\cdots a_{n+1}}{(1-a_1)(1-a_2)\cdots (1-a_{n+1})} \leq \frac 1{n^{n+1}}.$$However, observe that $$1-a_1 = a_2+a_3+\cdots+a_{n+1} \geq n\sqrt[n]{a_2a_3\cdots a_{n+1}},$$so multiplying this inequality cyclically in the denominator yields the result.
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vsamc
3789 posts
#27
Y by
Solution
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bobthegod78
2982 posts
#28
Y by
Let $a_{n+1} = 1- \sum a_i$. Then it remains to show $$\prod \frac{a_i}{1-a_i} \leq \frac 1{n^{n+1}}.$$This is easy with AM-GM, as $$\prod \frac{a_i}{1-a_i} \leq \prod \frac{a_i^{(n+1)/n}}{n \cdot \prod a_i} = \frac 1{n^{n+1}}.$$
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F10tothepowerof34
195 posts
#29
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Let $a_{n+1}=1-\sum_{i=1}^na_i$, thus the inequality is equal to: $\frac{\prod_{i=1}^{n+1}a_i}{(a_1+... a_n)\cdots (a_1+...a_{n+1})}$
Furthermore notice that:\begin{align*} a_1+\dots +a_n\ge n\sqrt[n]{\prod_{i=1}^n a_i}\end{align*}$
$ \begin{align*}\vdots\end{align*}\begin{align*}a_1+\dots +a_{n-1}+a_{n+1}\ge n\sqrt[n]{a_1\cdots a_{n-1}a_{n+1}} \end{align*}By multiplying the inequalities: $LHS\ge n^{n+1}\prod_{i=1}^{n+1}a_i$
Thus $LHS \le\frac{\prod_{i=1}^{n+1}a_{n}}{n^{n+1}\prod_{i=1}^{n+1}a_n}=\frac{1}{n^{n+1}}$. QED
And we are done! :play_ball:
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bobthegod78
2982 posts
#30
Y by
Let $a_{n+1} = 1-\sum_{i=1}^n a_i$. We claim the maximum can be achieved when all the variables are equal. Assume not. WLOG, $a_1 \neq a_2$. Let $x=a_1, y=a_2$. But consider
\[
\frac{\left( \frac{x+y}2 \right)^2}{\left(1 - \frac{x+y}2 \right)^2} - \frac{xy}{(1-x)(1-y)} = \frac{(x-y)^2 (1-x-y)}{(1-x)(1-y)(2-x-y)^2} \ge 0,
\]so making them equal (with the same sum) results in a product at least as big as the original one. The conclusion follows.
This post has been edited 3 times. Last edited by bobthegod78, Jun 5, 2023, 7:33 PM
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huashiliao2020
1292 posts
#31
Y by
orl wrote:
Let $a_{1},a_{2},\ldots ,a_{n}$ be positive real numbers such that $a_{1}+a_{2}+\cdots +a_{n}<1$. Prove that \[ \frac{a_{1} a_{2} \cdots a_{n} \left[ 1 - (a_{1} + a_{2} + \cdots + a_{n}) \right] }{(a_{1} + a_{2} + \cdots + a_{n})( 1 - a_{1})(1 - a_{2}) \cdots (1 - a_{n})} \leq \frac{1}{ n^{n+1}}. \]

Putting $a_{n+1}=1-\sum_{k=1}^{n}a_k$, it suffices to prove that $\prod_{i=1}^{n}\frac{(1-a_i)}{a_i}\ge n^{n+1}$. Note that 1-a_i=the sum of all a_j's from 1 to n excluding a_i. Then this inequality follows immediately from $\prod_{i=1}^{n}\frac{(1-a_i)}{a_i}=\frac{\prod_{i}(\sum_{j\ne i}a_j)}{\prod_{i}a_i}\ge \frac{(n-1)^n\prod_{i}(\prod_{j\ne i}a_j)^{\frac{1}{n-1}})}{\prod_{i}a_i}=(n-1)^n$, where the greater or equal to is just the AM-GM. Each of these steps are reversible, so we're done. $\blacksquare$
This post has been edited 1 time. Last edited by huashiliao2020, Jun 7, 2023, 2:19 AM
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vsamc
3789 posts
#32
Y by
@above, I think the product should go from $i=1$ to $i=n+1$, no? And then you would get $\prod_{i=1}^{n+1} \geq n^{n+1}$ instead of $\prod_{i=1}^{n}\frac{1-a_i}{a_i} \geq (n-1)^n$.
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huashiliao2020
1292 posts
#33
Y by
Sorry, yeah. The Latexing took a long time so I couldn't notice what was wrong. The index would be changed over by 1 (1->n+1) and like you said.
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ryanbear
1055 posts
#34
Y by
Let $a_{n+1}=1-a_1-a_2-...-a_n$.
$\frac{a_1a_2...a_{n+1}}{(1-a_1)(1-a_2)...(1-a_{n+1})}=\Pi_{k=1}^{n+1} \frac{a_k}{1-a_k}$. Note that for $x \neq y$, $\frac{(\frac{x+y}{2})^2}{(1-\frac{x+y}{2})(1-\frac{x+y}{2})} < \frac{xy}{(1-x)(1-y)}$, so turning $x$ and $y$ into their averages makes the product smaller. So all the numbers being equal is the minimum case, which results in $\frac{1}{n^{n+1}}$.
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ezpotd
1253 posts
#35
Y by
Replace $\sum a_i$ with $a_{n + 1}$, now we have the better condition $a_1 + \cdots a_{n} = 1$, prove $\prod \frac{a_i}{1 - a_i} \le \frac{1}{n-1^n}$. We proceed by smoothing, we show replacing any two $a_i$ with their average does not decrease the product. We desire $\frac{x}{1 - x}\frac{y}{1 - y} \le (\frac{\frac{x + y}{2}}{ 1 - \frac{x + y}{2}})^2 $, equivalently $xy(2 - (x + y))^2 \le (1 - x)(1 - y)(x + y)^2$, standard expansion gives the desired as $xy((x + y)^2 - 4(x + y) + 4) \le (xy - x - y + 1)(x + y)^2$, cancellation gives $(x + y)^3 + 4xy \le 4(x + y)xy  + (x + y)^2$. We can write this as $x^3 + y^3 \le (x-y)^2 + xy^2 + yx^2$. We can now write the left hand side as $(x + y)(x - y)^2 + xy^2 + yx^2$, since $x + y \le  1$, the bound is now obvious.

Thus applying this operation to the largest and smallest elements of $a_i$ repeatedly, we can see $a_i$ approaches $\frac 1n$. Assume there exists some tuple $b_i$ for which the product is a factor of $x$ greater than the claimed maximum. After applying the operation some arbitrarily large number of times, we can eventually reach a tuple $c_i$ for which each element is a factor $y$ away from $\frac 1n$ for arbitrarily small $y$, so we can then bound the product for $c_i$ as $z$ away from desired for arbitrarily small $z$, choosing $z < x$ forces a contradiction.
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pie854
243 posts
#36
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Note that there exists a number $a_{n+1}\in (0,1)$ such that $a_1+a_2+\dots+a_n+a_{n+1}=1$. Then we need to prove the nicer inequality $$\frac{a_1a_2\cdots a_{n+1}}{(1-a_1)(1-a_2)\cdots (1-a_{n+1})} \leq \frac{1}{n^{n+1}}.$$But this is the same as proving \begin{align*} & \frac{a_2+a_3+\dots+a_{n+1}}n \cdot \frac{a_1+a_3+\dots+a_{n+1}}n \cdot \frac{a_1+a_2+a_4+\dots+a_{n+1}}n \cdots \frac{a_1+a_2+\dots+a_{n-1}+a_{n+1}}n \cdot \frac{a_1+a_2+\dots+a_{n-1}+a_n}n \\ & \qquad \geq \sqrt[n]{a_2a_3 \cdots a_{n+1}}\sqrt[n]{a_1a_3 \cdots a_{n+1}}\sqrt[n]{a_1a_2 a_4 \cdots a_{n+1}}\cdots \sqrt[n]{a_1a_2\cdots a_{n-1}a_{n+1}}\sqrt[n]{a_1a_2 \cdots a_{n-1}a_n}\end{align*}which is just AM-GM.
This post has been edited 1 time. Last edited by pie854, Nov 1, 2024, 6:39 AM
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Maximilian113
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#37
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Let $a_0 = 1-(a_1+a_2+\cdots + a_n) > 0.$ Then the inequality is equivalent to $$n^{n+1} \leq \prod_{i=0}^{n} \frac{a_0+a_1+\cdots + a_n - a_i}{ a_i}$$which is true by AM-GM. QED
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Marcus_Zhang
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#38
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