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Is it possible to show that $L^a-l^a \ge (L-l)^a$ (or the opposite), where $l \in [0,L]$ and $0<a<1$?

Thanks a lot!

Yorgos
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1 Answers1

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Hint:

With $\lambda = l/L \in [0, 1], \qquad (1-\lambda)^a \geqslant 1-\lambda^a $ is true, as $f(\lambda) = (1-\lambda)^a + \lambda^a$ is concave for $a \in (0, 1)$ and hence its minima have to be when $\lambda$ takes extreme values in the interval.

Macavity
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