Aczel's Inequality

Aczél's Inequality states that if $a_1^2>a_2^2+\cdots +a_n^2$ or $b_1^2>b_2^2+\cdots +b_n^2$ , then

$(a_1b_1-a_2b_2-\cdots -a_nb_n)^2\geq (a_1^2-a_2^2-\cdots -a_n^2)(b_1^2-b_2^2-\cdots -b_n^2).$

Proof

Consider the function $f(x)=(a_1 x - b_1)^2-\sum_{i=2}^n(a_i x - b_i)^2=$ $(a_1^2-a_2^2-\cdots -a_n^2)x^2-2(a_1b_1-a_2b_2-\cdots -a_nb_n)x+(b_1^2-b_2^2-\cdots -b_n^2)$ .

We have $f\left( \frac{b_1}{a_1} \right)=-\sum_{i=2}^n\left(a_i \frac{b_1}{a_1} - b_i\right)^2\leq 0$ , and from $a_1^2>a_2^2+\cdots +a_n^2$ we get $\lim_{x\rightarrow \infty}f(x)\rightarrow \infty$ . Therefore, $f(x)$ must have at least one root, $\Leftrightarrow$ $D=(a_1b_1-a_2b_2-\cdots -a_nb_n)^2- (a_1^2-a_2^2-\cdots -a_n^2)(b_1^2-b_2^2-\cdots -b_n^2)\geq 0$ .

General Form

Let $p_1,\dots,p_m \ge1$ such that $\sum_{i=1}^m\frac1{p_i} = 1$ and let

$(a_{11}, \dots,a_{1n}),$

$\vdots$

$(a_{m1}, \dots , a_{mn})$

be $m$ sequences of positive real numbers such that $a_{i1}^{ p_i} - a_{i2}^{ p_i} - \dots - a_{in}^{ p_i} > 0$ for $i=1,\dots,m$ . Then

$\prod_{i=1}^m a_{i1} - \prod_{i=1}^m a_{i2} -\dots- \prod_{i=1}^m a_{in} \ge\prod_{i=1}^m (a_{i1}^{ p_i} - a_{i2}^{ p_i} - \dots - a_{in}^{ p_i})^\frac 1{ p_i}$

with equality if and only if all the sequences are proportional.

Examples

Olympiad Suppose $a_1, a_2, \ldots, a_n$ and $b_1, b_2, \ldots, b_n$ are real numbers such that $(a_1 ^ 2 + a_2 ^ 2 + \cdots + a_n ^ 2 -1)(b_1 ^ 2 + b_2 ^ 2 + \cdots + b_n ^ 2 - 1) > (a_1 b_1 + a_2 b_2 + \cdots + a_n b_n - 1)^2.$ Prove that $a_1 ^ 2 + a_2 ^ 2 + \cdots + a_n ^ 2 > 1$ and $b_1 ^ 2 + b_2 ^ 2 + \cdots + b_n ^ 2 > 1$ .

References

Mascioni, Vania, A note on Aczél-type inequalities, JIPAM volume 3 (2002), issue 5, article 69.
Popoviciu, T., Sur quelques inégalités, Gaz. Mat. Fiz. Ser. A, 11 (64) (1959) 451–461

Page

Toolbox

Search

Aczel's Inequality

Contents

Proof

General Form

Examples

References

See also