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On a Converse of Jensen's Discrete Inequality
Journal of Inequalities and Applications volume 2009, Article number: 153080 (2009)
Abstract
We give the best possible global bounds for a form of discrete Jensen's inequality. By some examples the fruitfulness of this result is shown.
1. Introduction
Throughout this paper represents a finite sequence of real numbers belonging to a fixed closed interval
, and
is a positive weight sequence associated with
.
If is a convex function on
, then the well-known Jensen's inequality [1, 2] asserts that
![](http://media.springernature.com/full/springer-static/image/art%3A10.1155%2F2009%2F153080/MediaObjects/13660_2009_Article_1896_Equ1_HTML.gif)
There are many important inequalities which are particular cases of Jensen's inequality among which are the weighted inequality, Cauchy's inequality, the Ky Fan and Hölder's inequalities.
One can see that the lower bound zero is of global nature since it does not depend on but only on
and the interval
whereupon
is convex.
We give in [1] an upper global bound (i.e., depending on and
only) which happens to be better than already existing ones. Namely, we prove that
![](http://media.springernature.com/full/springer-static/image/art%3A10.1155%2F2009%2F153080/MediaObjects/13660_2009_Article_1896_Equ2_HTML.gif)
with
![](http://media.springernature.com/full/springer-static/image/art%3A10.1155%2F2009%2F153080/MediaObjects/13660_2009_Article_1896_Equ3_HTML.gif)
Note that, for a (strictly) positive convex function , Jensen's inequality can also be stated in the form
![](http://media.springernature.com/full/springer-static/image/art%3A10.1155%2F2009%2F153080/MediaObjects/13660_2009_Article_1896_Equ4_HTML.gif)
It is not difficult to prove that is the best possible global lower bound for Jensen's inequality written in the above form. Our aim in this paper is to find the best possible global upper bound for (1.4). We will show with examples that by following this approach one may consequently obtain converses of some important inequalities.
2. Results
Our main result is contained in what follows.
Theorem 2.1.
Let be a (strictly) positive, twice continuously differentiable function on
,
and
. One has that
(i)if is (strictly) convex function on
, then
![](http://media.springernature.com/full/springer-static/image/art%3A10.1155%2F2009%2F153080/MediaObjects/13660_2009_Article_1896_Equ5_HTML.gif)
(ii)if is (strictly) concave function on
, then
![](http://media.springernature.com/full/springer-static/image/art%3A10.1155%2F2009%2F153080/MediaObjects/13660_2009_Article_1896_Equ6_HTML.gif)
Both estimates are independent of .
The next assertion shows that (resp.,
) exists and is unique.
Theorem 2.2.
There is unique such that
![](http://media.springernature.com/full/springer-static/image/art%3A10.1155%2F2009%2F153080/MediaObjects/13660_2009_Article_1896_Equ7_HTML.gif)
Of particular importance is the following theorem.
Theorem 2.3.
The expression represents the best possible global upper bound for Jensen's inequality written in the form (1.4).
3. Proofs
We will give proofs of the previous assertions related to the first part of Theorem 2.1. Proofs concerning concave functions go along the same lines.
Proof of Theorem 2.1.
We apply the method already shown in [1]. Namely, since , there is a sequence
such that
.
Hence,
![](http://media.springernature.com/full/springer-static/image/art%3A10.1155%2F2009%2F153080/MediaObjects/13660_2009_Article_1896_Equ8_HTML.gif)
Denoting , we get
![](http://media.springernature.com/full/springer-static/image/art%3A10.1155%2F2009%2F153080/MediaObjects/13660_2009_Article_1896_Equ9_HTML.gif)
Proof of Theorem 2.2.
For fixed , denote
![](http://media.springernature.com/full/springer-static/image/art%3A10.1155%2F2009%2F153080/MediaObjects/13660_2009_Article_1896_Equ10_HTML.gif)
We get with
![](http://media.springernature.com/full/springer-static/image/art%3A10.1155%2F2009%2F153080/MediaObjects/13660_2009_Article_1896_Equ11_HTML.gif)
Also,
![](http://media.springernature.com/full/springer-static/image/art%3A10.1155%2F2009%2F153080/MediaObjects/13660_2009_Article_1896_Equ12_HTML.gif)
Since is strictly convex on
and
, we conclude that
is monotone decreasing on
with
. Since
is continuous, there exists unique
such that
. Also
, showing that
is attained at the point
. The proof is completed.
Proof of Theorem 2.3.
Let be an arbitrary global upper bound. By definition, the inequality
![](http://media.springernature.com/full/springer-static/image/art%3A10.1155%2F2009%2F153080/MediaObjects/13660_2009_Article_1896_Equ13_HTML.gif)
holds for arbitrary and
.
In particular, for we obtain that
as required.
4. Applications
In the sequel we will give some examples to demonstrate the fruitfulness of the assertions from Theorem 2.1. Since all bounds will be given as a combination of means from the Stolarsky class, here is its definition.
Stolarsky (or extended) two-parametric mean values are defined for positive values of as
![](http://media.springernature.com/full/springer-static/image/art%3A10.1155%2F2009%2F153080/MediaObjects/13660_2009_Article_1896_Equ14_HTML.gif)
![](http://media.springernature.com/full/springer-static/image/art%3A10.1155%2F2009%2F153080/MediaObjects/13660_2009_Article_1896_IEq53_HTML.gif)
means can be continuously extended on the domain
![](http://media.springernature.com/full/springer-static/image/art%3A10.1155%2F2009%2F153080/MediaObjects/13660_2009_Article_1896_Equ15_HTML.gif)
by the following:
![](http://media.springernature.com/full/springer-static/image/art%3A10.1155%2F2009%2F153080/MediaObjects/13660_2009_Article_1896_Equ16_HTML.gif)
and this form is introduced by Stolarsky in [3].
Most of the classical two variable means are special cases of the class . For example,
is the arithmetic mean
,  
is the geometric mean
,  
is the logarithmic mean
,  
is the identric mean
, and so forth. More generally, the
th power mean
is equal to
.
Example 4.1.
Taking , after an easy calculation it follows that
. Therefore we consequently obtain the result.
Proposition 4.2.
If , then the inequality
![](http://media.springernature.com/full/springer-static/image/art%3A10.1155%2F2009%2F153080/MediaObjects/13660_2009_Article_1896_Equ17_HTML.gif)
holds for an arbitrary weight sequence .
This is the extended form of Schweitzer inequality.
Example 4.3.
For we get that the maximum of
is attained at the point
.
Hence, we have the following.
Proposition 4.4.
If , then the following means inequality
![](http://media.springernature.com/full/springer-static/image/art%3A10.1155%2F2009%2F153080/MediaObjects/13660_2009_Article_1896_Equ18_HTML.gif)
holds for an arbitrary weight sequence .
As a special case of the above inequality, that is, by putting and noting that
imply
, we obtain a converse of the well-known Cauchy's inequality.
Proposition 4.5.
If , then
![](http://media.springernature.com/full/springer-static/image/art%3A10.1155%2F2009%2F153080/MediaObjects/13660_2009_Article_1896_Equ19_HTML.gif)
In this form the Cauchy's inequality was stated in [2, page 80].
Note that the same result can be obtained from inequality (4.4) by taking .
Example 4.6.
Let . Since in this case
is a concave function, applying the second part of Theorem 2.1, we get the following.
Proposition 4.7.
If , then
![](http://media.springernature.com/full/springer-static/image/art%3A10.1155%2F2009%2F153080/MediaObjects/13660_2009_Article_1896_Equ20_HTML.gif)
independently of .
In the limiting cases we obtain two important converses. Namely, writing (4.7) as
![](http://media.springernature.com/full/springer-static/image/art%3A10.1155%2F2009%2F153080/MediaObjects/13660_2009_Article_1896_Equ21_HTML.gif)
and, letting , the converse of generalized
inequality arises.
Proposition 4.8.
If , then
![](http://media.springernature.com/full/springer-static/image/art%3A10.1155%2F2009%2F153080/MediaObjects/13660_2009_Article_1896_Equ22_HTML.gif)
Note that the right-hand side of (4.9) is exactly the Specht ratio (cf. [1]).
Analogously, writing (4.7) in the form
![](http://media.springernature.com/full/springer-static/image/art%3A10.1155%2F2009%2F153080/MediaObjects/13660_2009_Article_1896_Equ23_HTML.gif)
and taking the limit , one has the following.
Proposition 4.9.
If , then
![](http://media.springernature.com/full/springer-static/image/art%3A10.1155%2F2009%2F153080/MediaObjects/13660_2009_Article_1896_Equ24_HTML.gif)
Finally, putting in (4.7) , we obtain the converse of discrete Hölder's inequality.
Proposition 4.10.
If , then
![](http://media.springernature.com/full/springer-static/image/art%3A10.1155%2F2009%2F153080/MediaObjects/13660_2009_Article_1896_Equ25_HTML.gif)
It is interesting to compare (4.12) with the converse of Hölder's inequality for integral forms (cf. [4]).
References
Simic S: On an upper bound for Jensen's inequality. Journal of Inequalities in Pure and Applied Mathematics 2009,10(2, article 60):-5.
Polya G, Szego G: Aufgaben und Lehrsatze aus der Analysis. Springer, Berlin, Germany; 1964.
Stolarsky KB: Generalizations of the logarithmic mean. Mathematics Magazine 1975,48(2):87–92. 10.2307/2689825
Saitoh S, Tuan VK, Yamamoto M: Reverse weighted L p norm inequalities in convolutions. Journal of Inequalities in Pure and Applied Mathematics 2000,1(1, article 7):-7.
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Simic, S. On a Converse of Jensen's Discrete Inequality. J Inequal Appl 2009, 153080 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1155/2009/153080
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1155/2009/153080