Wednesday, June 28, 2017

inequality - Maximise $(x+1)sqrt{1-x^2}$ without calculus

Problem



Maximise $f:[-1,1]\rightarrow \mathbb{R}$, with $f(x)=(1+x)\sqrt{1-x^2}$



With calculus, this problem would be easily solved by setting $f'(x)=0$ and obtaining $x=\frac{1}{2}$, then checking that $f''(\frac{1}{2})<0$ to obtain the final answer of $f(\frac{1}{2})=\frac{3\sqrt{3}}{4}$



The motivation behind this function comes from maximising the area of an inscribed triangle in the unit circle, for anyone that is curious.



My Attempt




$$f(x)=(1+x)\sqrt{1-x^2}=\sqrt{(1-x^2)(1+x)^2}=\sqrt 3 \sqrt{(1-x^2)\frac{(1+x)^2}{3}}$$



By the AM-GM Inequality, $\sqrt{ab}\leq \frac{a+b}{2}$, with equality iff $a=b$



This means that



$$\sqrt 3 \sqrt{ab} \leq \frac{\sqrt 3}{2}(a+b)$$



Substituting $a=1-x^2, b=\frac{(1+x)^2}{3}$,




$$f(x)=\sqrt 3 \sqrt{(1-x^2)\frac{(1+x)^2}{3}} \leq \frac{\sqrt 3}{2} \left((1-x^2)+\frac{(1+x)^2}{3}\right)$$



$$=\frac{\sqrt 3}{2} \left(\frac{4}{3} -\frac{2}{3} x^2 + \frac{2}{3} x\right)$$



$$=-\frac{\sqrt 3}{2}\frac{2}{3}(x^2-x-2)$$



$$=-\frac{\sqrt 3}{3}\left(\left(x-\frac{1}{2}\right)^2-\frac{9}{4}\right)$$



$$\leq -\frac{\sqrt 3}{3}\left(-\frac{9}{4}\right)=\frac{3\sqrt 3}{4}$$




Both inequalities have equality when $x=\frac{1}{2}$



Hence, $f(x)$ is maximum at $\frac{3\sqrt 3}{4}$ when $x=\frac{1}{2}$



However, this solution is (rather obviously I think) heavily reverse-engineered, with the two inequalities carefully manipulated to give identical equality conditions of $x=\frac{1}{2}$. Is there some better or more "natural" way to find the minimum point, perhaps with better uses of AM-GM or other inequalities like Jensen's inequality?

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