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IMC / 2016 / Problems / Day 2, P6

IMC 2016 · Day 2 · P6

easy

Let (x1,x2,… )(x_1, x_2, \dots) be a sequence of positive real numbers satisfying ∑n=1∞xn2n−1=1\displaystyle\sum_{n=1}^{\infty} \frac{x_n}{2n-1} = 1. Prove that ∑k=1∞∑n=1kxnk2≤2.\sum_{k=1}^{\infty} \sum_{n=1}^{k} \frac{x_n}{k^2} \le 2. (Proposed by Gerhard J. Woeginger, The Netherlands)

Solution (official)

By interchanging the sums, ∑k=1∞∑n=1kxnk2=∑1≤n≤kxnk2=∑n=1∞xn(∑k=n∞1k2).\sum_{k=1}^{\infty} \sum_{n=1}^{k} \frac{x_n}{k^2} = \sum_{1 \le n \le k} \frac{x_n}{k^2} = \sum_{n=1}^{\infty} x_n \left( \sum_{k=n}^{\infty} \frac{1}{k^2} \right). Then we use the upper bound ∑k=n∞1k2≤∑k=n∞1k2−14=∑k=n∞(1k−12−1k+12)=1n−12\sum_{k=n}^{\infty} \frac{1}{k^2} \le \sum_{k=n}^{\infty} \frac{1}{k^2 - \frac14} = \sum_{k=n}^{\infty} \left( \frac{1}{k - \frac12} - \frac{1}{k + \frac12} \right) = \frac{1}{n - \frac12} and get ∑k=1∞∑n=1kxnk2=∑n=1∞xn(∑k=n∞1k2)<∑n=1∞xn⋅1n−12=2∑n=1∞xn2n−1=2.\sum_{k=1}^{\infty} \sum_{n=1}^{k} \frac{x_n}{k^2} = \sum_{n=1}^{\infty} x_n \left( \sum_{k=n}^{\infty} \frac{1}{k^2} \right) < \sum_{n=1}^{\infty} x_n \cdot \frac{1}{n - \frac12} = 2 \sum_{n=1}^{\infty} \frac{x_n}{2n-1} = 2.

How the field did

contestants scored
314
average (of 10)
6.98
solved (≥ 80%)
56.4%
near-0 (≤ 10%)
9.9%
discrimination
0.42

Score distribution (field cohort)

Computed on contestants with a meaningful total (field cohort); discrimination is the corrected item–total correlation.

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