Problem

Source: Iberoamerican Problem 6

Tags: inequalities, Iberoamerican



Let $n > 2$ be an even positive integer and let $a_1 < a_2 < \dots < a_n$ be real numbers such that $a_{k + 1} - a_k \leq 1$ for each $1 \leq k \leq n - 1$. Let $A$ be the set of ordered pairs $(i, j)$ with $1 \leq i < j \leq n$ such that $j - i$ is even, and let $B$ the set of ordered pairs $(i, j)$ with $1 \leq i < j \leq n$ such that $j - i$ is odd. Show that $$\prod_{(i, j) \in A} (a_j - a_i) > \prod_{(i, j) \in B} (a_j - a_i)$$