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let $a_{1}<a_{2}<\cdots<a_{n}=2n$ be postive integers,Prove that $$\sum_{i=1}^{n}\binom{a_{i}}{i}\ge\dfrac{\binom{2n+1}{n}}{2^{2n+1}}\sum_{i=1}^{n}2^{a_{i}}$$

from Yongxi wang

I want use induction to prove it.

Suppose that the inequality is true for $n$ and Let us prove it for $n+1$,under the inductive hypothesis,it suffices to show that $$\binom{a_{2n+2}}{n+1}+\dfrac{\binom{2n+1}{n}}{2^{2n+1}}\sum_{i=1}^{n}2^{a_{i}}\ge \dfrac{\binom{2n+3}{n+1}}{2^{2n+3}}\sum_{i=1}^{n+1}2^{a_{i}}$$ I fell last inequality don't right,Thanks

math110
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    "I fell last inequality don't right" isn't English, and I can't guess what you mean to say. Try again, please. – saulspatz Jun 09 '20 at 16:28
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    The problem with doing this by induction is the requirement that $a_n=2n$. When you go to the $n+1$ case, the induction hypothesis doesn't necessarily tell you anything about the first $n$ terms of the sequence. – saulspatz Jun 09 '20 at 16:34
  • @saulspatz: I’ll take a guess that that last line is I feel that the last inequality isn’t right. – Brian M. Scott Jun 09 '20 at 16:45
  • @BrianM.Scott I feel that's probably right. I should have been able o see that myself. – saulspatz Jun 09 '20 at 16:56
  • Let $f(x) = \sum_{i=1}^n (1+x)^{a_i} x^{n-i}$. Let $g(x) = (1+x)^{2n+1}$. Let $[m]p$ denote the coefficient of $x^m$ in a polynomial $p$. The inequality is written as $[n]f \cdot g(1) \ge [n]g \cdot f(1).$ – River Li Jun 11 '20 at 03:27
  • Why are you even sure that this inequality is true? Since the description of the problem seems like from a contest, could you present the source of the problem? – Ѕᴀᴀᴅ Jun 13 '20 at 00:51
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    @Saad I checked it exhaustively by computer for $n\leq13$ – saulspatz Jun 13 '20 at 05:32
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    Re-asked over at MO: https://mathoverflow.net/questions/363395/how-prove-this-inequality I'm not sure it's on-topic there, I also want to know where the question is from. – theHigherGeometer Jun 18 '20 at 04:29

1 Answers1

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The induction approach is a good choice in this case, but we have to take into account the fact that, when passing from $n$ to $n+1$, only the first terms of the sequence can be left unchanged. For given $n$, the $n^{th}$ term is necessarily equal to $2n$, whereas for $n+1$ it has no fixed value and can range from $n$ to $2n+1$, depending on the distribution of the first $n-1$ terms. A method to solve this problem is to determine the change in the LHS and that in the RHS when passing from $n$ to $n+1$, trying to identify the case in which any increase in the LHS is minimized and any increase in the RHS is maximized (and vice versa for the decreasing components). If the inequality holds even in this worst scenario, it is true.

For $n=1$, the inequality is trivially satisfied. Passing from $n$ to $n+1$, there is a new term at the end of the sequence, given by $a_{n+1}=2n+2$. So the first component of LHS change is positive and given by

$$\Delta_{1}(LHS)=\binom{2n+2}{n+1}$$

However, we must take into account the above mentioned behaviour of the $n^{th}$ term. If this term decreases when passing to $n+1$, this creates a second component of change for the LHS, which tends to decrease it. In this regard, we can note that this decreasing component is maximal when the $n^{th}$ term changes from $2n$ to $n$, implying that the first $n-1$ terms are the integers from $1$ to $n-1$. In this case, the change in LHS is $$\Delta_2(LHS)=-\binom{2n}{n}+\binom{n}{n}=- \frac{n+1}{2(2n+1)} \binom{2n+2}{n+1} +1$$

On the other hand, passing from $n$ to $n+1$, the RHS changes by two components as well. Firstly, the summation of the first $n$ terms is no longer multiplied to $\binom{2n+1}{n}/(2^{2n+1})$, but to $\binom{2n+3}{n+1}/(2^{2n+3})$. Considering that the $n^{th}$ term changes from $2n$ to $n$, the RHS changes by

$$ \left[\dfrac{\binom{2n+3}{n+1}}{2^{2n+3}} - \dfrac{\binom{2n+1}{n}}{2^{2n+1}} \right] \sum_{i=1}^{n-1}2^{a_i} + \left[\dfrac{\binom{2n+3}{n+1}}{2^{2n+3}}2^n - \dfrac{\binom{2n+1}{n}}{2^{2n+1}}2^{2n} \right] $$

which can be simplified, after some hand calculations on factorials, as $$\left[-\frac{1}{(n+2) 2^{2n+3}}\binom{2n+2}{n+1} \right]\sum_{i=1}^{n-1}2^{a_i} + \left( \frac{2n+3}{(n+2)2^{n+3}} -\frac{1}{4}\right)\binom{2n+2}{n+1} $$

Note that both terms are negative, i.e. this component of the change in RHS leads to a decrease. Also note that the minimal decrease occurs when the first $n-1$ terms correspond to the integers between $1$ and $n-1$, as already assumed. In this case the summation of the first $n+1$ terms is $\sum_{i=1}^{n-1}2^{i} = 2^n-2$. So the last quantity can be rewritten as

$$\Delta_1(RHS)=\left[-\frac{1}{(n+2) 2^{n+3}} + \frac{1}{(n+2) 2^{2n+2}} \right] \binom{2n+2}{n+1} + \left( \frac{2n+3}{(n+2)2^{n+3}} -\frac{1}{4}\right)\binom{2n+2}{n+1} $$

In addition, the new $a_{n+1}=2n+2$ term at the end of the sequence generates in the RHS a positive quantity equal to

$$\Delta_2(RHS)=\dfrac{\binom{2n+3}{n+1}}{2^{2n+3}} 2^{2n+2} = \dfrac{1}{2}\binom{2n+3}{n+1}\ = \frac{(2n+3)}{2(n+2)}\binom{2n+2}{n+1}$$

We can now collect all these results by taking the main terms of the $\Delta$ components (it is not difficult to show that the effect of the other terms is negligible and tends to zero as $n\rightarrow \infty$). Thus, passing from $n$ to $n+1$, we create a difference between the LHS and the RHS given by

$$\Delta_1(LHS)+\Delta_2(LHS)-\Delta_1(RHS)-\Delta_2(RHS)\\ =\left[1- \frac{n+1}{2(2n+1)} +\frac{1}{4} - \frac{(2n+3)}{2(n+2)} \right]\binom{2n+2}{n+1} \\= \left[\frac{5}{4}- \frac{5 n^2 + 11 n + 5}{4 n^2 + 10 n + 4} \right]\binom{2n+2}{n+1} $$

The term in square brackets is always positive for positive $n$, and tends to $0$ as $n\rightarrow \infty$ (here is a plot). So, even in the worst scenario, passing from $n$ to $n+1$ we create a positive difference between the LHS and the RHS. This proves the inequality of the OP.

Anatoly
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    This solution uses the method that you hypotesized in your question, with the only difference that it accounts for the different behaviour of the $n^{th}$ term. – Anatoly Jun 19 '20 at 08:37