Documente Academic
Documente Profesional
Documente Cultură
Andre Rzym
November 2005
Introduction
A good deal of the material for this article is taken from Inequalities by
Hardy, Littlewood, Pólya, with examples culled from various sources.
Majorisation
0 0
Suppose we have two sequences of reals, (α1 , . . . , αn ) and (α1 , . . . , αn ),
0
which we refer to as (α) and (α ).
0 0
We say that (α) majorises (α ), or equivalently that (α ) is majorised by
(α), if the following conditions are met:
0
• αi ≥ 0 ∀i, αj ≥ 0 ∀j
0 0
• α1 + . . . + αn = α1 + . . . + αn
0
• If the elements of (α) and (α ) are arranged in descending order, then
0 0
α1 + . . . + αi ≥ α1 + . . . + αi 1≤i≤n
0
Note that there is no requirement that the αi , αi be integers.
1
0
If these conditions are satisfied then (α) majorises (α ), which we write
as
0
(α) (α )
For example:
• (0, 3, 0) (1, 0, 2)
Symmetric Means
For example:
2
• If (α) = (1, 3, 2) then the symmetric mean
1
[α] = (x1 x32 x23 + x1 x33 x22 + x2 x31 x23 + x2 x33 x21 + x3 x31 x22 + x3 x32 x21 )
3!
Muirhead’s Inequality
Now that we have defined majorisation and symmetric means, the state-
ment of Muirhead’s inequality is easy:
0 0
Muirhead’s Theorem: If (α) (α ) then [α] ≥ [α ]. There is equality if
0
and only if (α) and (α ) are identical or all the xi are equal.
For example:
• For positive x, y, prove that 2(x5 + y 5 ) ≥ (x2 + y 2 )(x3 + y 3 ).
Solution: We have:
(5, 0) (3, 2)
x5 + y 5 ≥ x3 y 2 + x2 y 3
hence
(4, 0, 0) (2, 1, 1)
and
(2, 2, 0) (2, 1, 1)
3
therefore
2 4 2 2
(x + y 4 + z 4 ) ≥ (x yz + xy 2 z + xyz 2 )
3! 3!
and
2 2 2 2 2
(x y + y 2 z 2 + z 2 x2 ) ≥ (x yz + xy 2 z + xyz 2 )
3! 3!
i.e.
x4 + y 4 + z 4 ≥ x2 yz + xy 2 z + xyz 2
and
x2 y 2 + y 2 z 2 + z 2 x2 ≥ x2 yz + xy 2 z + xyz 2
Adding the first to twice the second gives:
(x4 + y 4 + z 4 ) + 2(x2 y 2 + y 2 z 2 + z 2 x2 ) ≥ 3(x2 yz + xy 2 z + xyz 2 )
Rearranging:
(x2 + y 2 + z 2 )2 ≥ 3(x2 yz + xy 2 z + xyz 2 )
But x2 + y 2 + z 2 = 1, so
1 ≥ 3(x2 yz + xy 2 z + xyz 2 )
1
x2 yz + xy 2 z + xyz 2 ≤
3
Exercises
• For non-negative real x, y, z, prove that the RMS Mean is greater than
or equal to the Arithmetic Mean, which in turn is greater than or equal
to the Geometric Mean, which in turn is greater than or equal to the
Harmonic Mean. I.e.:
r
a2 + b 2 + c 2 a+b+c 3
≥ ≥ (xyz)1/3 ≥
3 3 1/x + 1/y + 1/z