Journal of Inequalities in Pure and

Applied Mathematics
http://jipam.vu.edu.au/
Volume 7, Issue 4, Article 148, 2006

NEW INEQUALITIES ABOUT CONVEX FUNCTIONS

LAZHAR BOUGOFFA
A L - IMAM M UHAMMAD I BN S AUD I SLAMIC U NIVERSITY
FACULTY OF C OMPUTER S CIENCE
D EPARTMENT OF M ATHEMATICS
P.O. B OX 84880, R IYADH 11681
S AUDI A RABIA .
bougoffa@hotmail.com

Received 11 June, 2006; accepted 15 October, 2006

Communicated by B. Yang

A BSTRACT. If f is a convex function and x1 , . . . , xn or a1 , . . . , an lie in its domain the following inequalities are proved


n
X
x1 + + xn
f (xi ) f
n
i=1
 





n1
x1 + x2
xn1 + xn
xn + x1

f
+ + f
+f
n
2
2
2
and
(n 1) [f (b1 ) + + f (bn )] n [f (a1 ) + + f (an ) f (a)] ,
a1 ++an
i
and bi = naa
where a =
n
n1 , i = 1, . . . , n.
Key words and phrases: Jensens inequality, Convex functions.
2000 Mathematics Subject Classification. 26D15.

1. M AIN T HEOREMS
The well-known Jensens inequality is given as follows [1]:
Theorem 1.1. Let f be a convex function on an interval I and let w1 , . . . , wn be nonnegative
real numbers whose sum is 1. Then for all x1 , . . . , xn I,
(1.1)

w1 f (x1 ) + + wn f (xn ) f (w1 x1 + + wn xn ).

Recall that a function f is said to be convex if for any t [0, 1] and any x, y in the domain of
f,
(1.2)

tf (x) + (1 t)f (y) f (tx + (1 t)y).

ISSN (electronic): 1443-5756

c 2006 Victoria University. All rights reserved.

166-06

L AZHAR B OUGOFFA

The aim of the present note is to establish new inequalities similar to the following known
inequalities:
(Via Titu Andreescu (see [2, p. 6]))


x1 + x2 + x3
f (x1 ) + f (x2 ) + f (x3 ) + f
3
 





4
x1 + x2
x2 + x3
x3 + x1

f
+f
+f
,
3
2
2
2
where f is a convex function and x1 , x2 , x3 lie in its domain,
(Popoviciu inequality [3])




n
X
x1 + + xn
2 X
xi + xj
n
f

f
,
f (xi ) +
n2
n
n 2 i<j
2
i=1
where f is a convex function on I and x1 , . . . , xn I, and
(Generalized Popoviciu inequality)
(n 1) [f (b1 ) + + f (bn )] f (a1 ) + + f (an ) + n(n 2)f (a),
n
i
where a = a1 ++a
and bi = naa
, i = 1, . . . , n, and a1 , . . . , an I.
n
n1
Our main results are given in the following theorems:

Theorem 1.2. If f is a convex function and x1 , x2 , . . . , xn lie in its domain, then

(1.3)

n
X
i=1


x1 + + xn
f (xi ) f
n
 





n1
x1 + x2
xn1 + xn
xn + x1

f
+ + f
+f
.
n
2
2
2

Proof. Using (1.2) with t = 12 , we obtain







x1 + x2
xn1 + xn
xn + x1
(1.4) f
++f
+f
f (x1 ) + f (x2 ) + + f (xn ).
2
2
2
P
In the summation on the right side of (1.4), the expression ni=1 f (xi ) can be written as
n
X
i=1

n
X
i=1

n X
1 X
f (xi ) =
f (xi )
f (xi ),
n 1 i=1
n 1 i=1
" n
#
n
X
X
n
1
f (xi ) =
f (xi )
f (xi ) .
n 1 i=1
n
i=1

Pn

Replacing i=1 f (xi ) with the equivalent expression in (1.4),







x1 + x2
xn1 + xn
xn + x1
f
+ + f
+f
2
2
2
" n
#
n
X
X
n
1

f (xi )
f (xi ) .
n 1 i=1
n
i=1

J. Inequal. Pure and Appl. Math., 7(4) Art. 148, 2006

http://jipam.vu.edu.au/

N EW I NEQUALITIES A BOUT C ONVEX F UNCTIONS

Hence, applying Jensens inequality (1.1) to the right hand side of the above resulting inequality
we get






xn1 + xn
xn + x1
x1 + x2
f
+ + f
+f
2
2
2
" n
 Pn
#
X
x
n
i=1 i

f (xi ) f
,
n 1 i=1
n


and this concludes the proof.

Remark 1.3. Now we consider the simplest case of Theorem 1.2 for n = 3 to obtain the
following variant of via Titu Andreescu [2]:


x1 + x2 + x3
f (x1 ) + f (x2 ) + f (x3 ) f
3
 





2
x1 + x2
x2 + x3
x3 + x1
f
+f
+f
.

3
2
2
2
The variant of the generalized Popovicui inequality is given in the following theorem.
Theorem 1.4. If f is a convex function and a1 , . . . , an lie in its domain, then
(n 1) [f (b1 ) + + f (bn )] n [f (a1 ) + + f (an ) f (a)] ,

(1.5)
where a =

a1 ++an
n

and bi =

naai
,
n1

i = 1, . . . , n.

Proof. By using the Jensen inequality (1.1),

f (b1 ) + + f (bn ) f (a1 ) + + f (an ),
and so,
f (b1 ) + + f (bn )

n
1
[f (a1 ) + + f (an )]
[f (a1 ) + + f (an )] ,
n1
n1

or


n
n
1
1
f (b1 ) + + f (bn )
[f (a1 ) + + f (an )]
f (a1 ) + + f (an ) ,
n1
n1 n
n
and so



n
1
1
(1.6) f (b1 ) + + f (bn )
f (a1 ) + + f (an )
f (a1 ) + + f (an ) .
n1
n
n
Hence, applying Jensens inequality (1.1) to the right hand side of (1.6) we get



n
a1 + + an
f (b1 ) + + f (bn )
f (a1 ) + + f (an ) f
,
n1
n
and this concludes the proof.

R EFERENCES

J.E. PECARI
[1] D.S. MITRINOVIC,
C AND A.M. FINK, Classical and New Inequalities in Analysis,
Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht, 1993.
[2] KIRAN KEDLAYA, A<B (A is less than B), based on notes for the Math Olympiad Program (MOP)
Version 1.0, last revised August 2, 1999.
[3] T. POPOVICIU, Sur certaines ingalites qui caractrisent les fonctions convexes, An. Sti. Univ. Al.
I. Cuza Iasi. I-a, Mat. (N.S), 1965.

J. Inequal. Pure and Appl. Math., 7(4) Art. 148, 2006

http://jipam.vu.edu.au/