Generalizations and analogues of the Nesbitts inequality

Fuhua Wei and Shanhe Wu

Department of Mathematics and Computer Science, Longyan University, Longyan, Fujian 364012, P. R. China
E-mail: wushanhe@yahoo.com.cn

Corresponding Author
Abstract: The Nesbitts inequality is generalized by introducing exponent and weight parameters. Several
Nesbitt-type inequalities for n variables are provided. Finally, two analogous forms of Nesbitts inequality
are given.
Keywords: Nesbitts inequality; Cauchy-Schwarz inequality; Chebyshevs inequality; power mean inequal-
ity; generalization; analogue
2000 Mathematics Subject Classication: 26D15
1 Introduction
The Nesbitts inequality states that if x, y, z are positive real numbers, then
x
y + z
+
y
z + x
+
z
x + y

3
2
, (1)
the equality occurs if and only if the three variables are equal ([1], see also [2]).
It is well known that this cyclic sum inequality has many applications in the proof of fractional inequalities.
In this paper we shall establish some generalizations and analogous forms of the Nesbitts inequality.
2 Generalizations of the Nesbitts inequality
Theorem 1. Let x, y, z, k be positive real numbers. Then
x
ky + z
+
y
kz + x
+
z
kx + y

3
1 + k
. (2)
Proof. By using the Cauchy-Schwarz inequality (see [3]), we have
(kxy + zx + kyz + xy + kxz + yz)
_
x
2
kxy + zx
+
y
2
kyz + xy
+
z
2
kxz + yz
_
(x + y + z)
2
.
Hence
x
ky + z
+
y
kz + x
+
z
kx + y

(x + y + z)
2
(1 + k)(xy + yz + zx)
=
x
2
+ y
2
+ z
2
+ 2xy + 2yz + 2zx
(1 + k)(xy + yz + zx)

3
1 + k
.
The Theorem 1 is proved.
1
Theorem 2. Let x
1
, x
2
, . . . , x
n
be positive real numbers, n 2. Then
x
1
x
2
+ x
3
+ + x
n
+
x
2
x
1
+ x
3
+ x
4
+ + x
n
+ +
x
n
x
1
+ x
2
+ + x
n1

n
n 1
. (3)
Proof. Let s = x
1
+ x
2
+ + x
n
, one has
x
1
x
2
+ x
3
+ + x
n
+
x
2
x
1
+ x
3
+ x
4
+ + x
n
+ +
x
n
x
1
+ x
2
+ + x
n1
=
x
1
s x
1
+
x
2
s x
2
+ +
x
n
s x
n
.
By symmetry, we may assume that x
1
x
2
x
n
, then
s x
1
s x
2
s x
n
,
x
1
s x
1

x
2
s x
2

x
n
s x
n
.
Using the Chebyshevs inequality (see [3]) gives
x
1
s x
1
(s x
1
) +
x
2
s x
2
(s x
2
) + +
x
n
s x
n
(s x
n
)

1
n
_
x
1
s x
1
+
x
2
s x
2
+ +
x
n
s x
n
_
[(s x
1
) + (s x
2
) + + (s x
n
)],
or equivalently
x
1
s x
1
+
x
2
s x
2
+ +
x
n
s x
n

n
n 1
,
this is exactly the required inequality.
Theorem 3. Let x
1
, x
2
, . . . , x
n
be positive real numbers, n 2, k 1. Then
_
x
1
x
2
+ x
3
+ + x
n
_
k
+
_
x
2
x
1
+ x
3
+ x
4
+ + x
n
_
k
+ +
_
x
n
x
1
+ x
2
+ + x
n1
_
k

n
(n 1)
k
. (4)
Proof. Using the power mean inequality and the inequality (3), we have
_
x
1
x
2
+ x
3
+ + x
n
_
k
+
_
x
2
x
1
+ x
3
+ x
4
+ + x
n
_
k
+ +
_
x
n
x
1
+ x
2
+ + x
n1
_
k
n
1k
_
n

i=1
x
i
s x
i
_
k

n
(n 1)
k
.
This completes the proof.
Theorem 4. Let x
1
, x
2
, . . . , x
n
be positive real numbers, and let 1, r s > 0,
n

i=1
x
s
i
= p. Then
n

i=1
_
x
r
i
p x
s
i
_

n
1
_
n
n 1
_
_
p
n
_
(
r
s
1 )
. (5)
Proof. Using the power mean inequality (see [3]), we have
n

i=1
_
x
r
i
p x
s
i
_

n
1
_
n

i=1
x
r
i
p x
s
i
_

.
2
On the other hand, by symmetry, we may assume that x
1
x
2
x
n
, then
x
s
1
x
s
2
x
s
n
> 0, p x
s
n
p x
s
n1
p x
s
1
> 0.
Applying the generalized Radons inequality (see [4-7])
n

i=1
a

i
b
i
n
2
(
n

i=1
a
i
)

/(
n

i=1
b
i
)
(a
1
a
2
a
n
> 0, b
n
b
n1
b
1
> 0, 1), we deduce that
n

i=1
x
r
i
p x
s
i
=
n

i=1
(x
s
i
)
r
s
p x
s
i
n
2
r
s

(
n

i=1
x
s
i
)
r
s
n

i=1
(p x
s
i
)
=
n
n 1
_
p
n
_r
s
1
,
Therefore
n

i=1
_
x
r
i
p x
s
i
_

n
1
_
n

i=1
x
r
i
p x
s
i
_

n
1
_
n
n 1
_
_
p
n
_
(
r
s
1 )
.
The proof of Theorem 4 is complete.
In Theorem 4, choosing = 1, s = 1, n = 3, x
1
= x, x
2
= y, x
3
= z, we get
Theorem 5. Let x, y, z be positive real numbers, and let x + y + z = p, r 1. Then
x
r
y + z
+
y
r
z + x
+
z
r
x + y

3
2
_
p
3
_
r1
. (6)
In particular, when r = 1, the inequality (6) becomes the Nesbitts inequality (1).
3 Analogous forms of the Nesbitts inequality
Theorem 6. Let x, y, z be positive real numbers, Then
_
x
x + y
+
_
y
y + z
+
_
z
z + x

3

2
2
(7)
Proof. Note that
_
x
x + y
+
_
y
y + z
+
_
z
z + x
=

z + x
_
x
(x + y)(z + x)
+

x + y
_
y
(y + z)(x + y)
+

y + z
_
z
(z + x)(y + z)
.
By using the Cauchy-Schwarz inequality, we have
_

z + x
_
x
(x + y)(z + x)
+

x + y
_
y
(y + z)(x + y)
+

y + z
_
z
(z + x)(y + z)
_
2
(z + x + x + y + y + z)
_
x
(x + y) (z + x)
+
y
(y + z) (x + y)
+
z
(z + x) (y + z)
_
.
Thus, to prove the inequality (7), it suces to show that
(x + y + z)
_
x
(x + y) (z + x)
+
y
(y + z) (x + y)
+
z
(z + x) (y + z)
_

9
4
.
3
Direct computation gives
(x + y + z)
_
x
(x + y) (z + x)
+
y
(y + z) (x + y)
+
z
(z + x) (y + z)
_

9
4
=
(x + y + z)[x(y + z) + y(z + x) + z(x + y)]
(x + y) (y + z) (z + x)

9
4
=
4(x + y + z)[x(y + z) + y(z + x) + z(x + y)] 9 (x + y) (y + z) (z + x)
4 (x + y) (y + z) (z + x)
=
8(x + y + z)(xy + yz + zx) 9 (x + y) (y + z) (z + x)
4 (x + y) (y + z) (z + x)
=
6xyz x
2
y x
2
z xy
2
y
2
z xz
2
yz
2
4 (x + y) (y + z) (z + x)
0,
where the inequality sign is due to the arithmetic-geometric means inequality. The Theorem 6 is thus proved.
Theorem 7. Let x, y, z be positive real numbers, 1/2, Then
_
x
x + y
_

+
_
y
y + z
_

+
_
z
z + x
_

3
2

. (8)
Proof. It follows from the power mean inequality that
_
x
x + y
_

+
_
y
y + z
_

+
_
z
z + x
_

3
12
__
x
x + y
+
_
y
y + z
+
_
z
z + x
_
2
3
12
_
3

2
_
2
=
3
2

.
The inequality (8) is proved.
Remark. The inequality (8) is the exponential generalization of inequality (7). As a further generaliza-
tion of inequality (7), we put forward the following the following conjecture.
Conjecture. Let x
1
, x
2
, . . . , x
n
be positive real numbers, n 2, 1/2. Then
_
x
1
x
1
+ x
2
_

+
_
x
2
x
2
+ x
3
_

+ +
_
x
n1
x
n1
+ x
n
_

+
_
x
n
x
n
+ x
1
_

n
2

. (9)
Acknowledgements. The present investigation was supported, in part, by the innovative experiment
project for university students from Fujian Province Education Department of China under Grant No.214,
and, in part, by the innovative experiment project for university students from Longyan University of China.
References
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4
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(2003), 109112.
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