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Exercise 2159Algebra › InequalitiesL1Added 3 Nov 2026

Hölder's inequality

#Hölder#inequality#conjugate exponents

Statement

Let p,q>1p,q>1 with 1p+1q=1\frac1p+\frac1q=1. Prove that for ai,bi≥0a_i,b_i\ge0:
∑i=1naibi≤(∑aip)1/p(∑biq)1/q.\sum_{i=1}^n a_ib_i\le\left(\sum a_i^p\right)^{1/p}\left(\sum b_i^q\right)^{1/q}.

Hint

Use Young's inequality xy≤xpp+yqqxy\le\frac{x^p}{p}+\frac{y^q}{q} for x,y≥0x,y\ge0.

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Solution

Young's inequality. For x,y≥0x,y\ge0 and 1p+1q=1\frac1p+\frac1q=1:
xy≤xpp+yqq.xy\le\frac{x^p}{p}+\frac{y^q}{q}.
This follows from concavity of ln⁡\ln (weighted AM-GM).

Normalization. Assume wlog that ∑aip=∑biq=1\sum a_i^p=\sum b_i^q=1 (the general case follows by scaling). Then we need to show ∑aibi≤1\sum a_ib_i\le1.

Apply Young. aibi≤aipp+biqqa_ib_i\le\frac{a_i^p}{p}+\frac{b_i^q}{q}. Summing:
∑aibi≤1p∑aip+1q∑biq=1p+1q=1.\sum a_ib_i\le\frac1p\sum a_i^p+\frac1q\sum b_i^q=\frac1p+\frac1q=1.

Conclusion. Hölder's inequality holds. For p=q=2p=q=2, it reduces to Cauchy-Schwarz.