Hindawi Publishing Corporation Journal of Inequalities and Applications Volume 2008, Article ID 879273, 9 pages doi:10.1155/2008/879273 Research ArticleSchurConvexityofGeneralizedHeronianMeansInvolvingTwo Parameters Huan-Nan Shi, 1 Mih ´ aly Bencze, 2 Shan-He Wu, 3 and Da-Mao Li 1 1 Department of Electronic Information, Teacher’s College, Beijing Union University, Beijing 100011, China 2 Department of Mathematics, Aprily Lajos High School, Str. Dupa Ziduri 3, 500026 Brasov, Romania 3 Department of Mathematics and Computer Science, Longyan University, Longyan, Fujian 364000, China Correspondence should be addressed to Shan-He Wu, shanhely@yahoo.com.cn Received 2 September 2008; Accepted 26 December 2008 Recommended by A. Laforgia The Schurconvexity and Schur-geometric convexityofgeneralizedHeronianmeansinvolvingtwo parameters are studied, the main result is then used to obtain several interesting and significantly inequalities for generalizedHeronian means. Copyright q 2008 Huan-Nan Shi et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. 1. Introduction Throughout the paper, R denotes the set of real numbers, x x 1 ,x 2 , ,x n denotes n-tuple n-dimensional real vector, the set of vectors can be written as R n x x 1 , ,x n : x i ∈ R,i 1, ,n , R n x x 1 , ,x n : x i ≥ 0,i 1, ,n , R n x x 1 , ,x n : x i > 0,i 1, ,n . 1.1 In particular, the notations R, R ,andR denote R 1 , R 1 ,andR 1 , respectively. In what follows, we assume that a, b ∈ R 2 . The classical Heronianmeansof a and b is defined as 1,seealso2 H e a, b a √ ab b 3 . 1.2 2 Journal of Inequalities and Applications In 3, an analogue ofHeronianmeans is defined by Ha, b a 4 √ ab b 6 . 1.3 Janous 4 presented a weighted generalization of the above Heronian-type means, as follows: H w a, b ⎧ ⎪ ⎪ ⎨ ⎪ ⎪ ⎩ a w √ ab b w 2 , 0 ≤ w<∞, √ ab, w ∞. 1.4 Recently, the following exponential generalization ofHeronianmeans was considered by Jia and Cao in 5, H p H p a, b ⎧ ⎪ ⎪ ⎨ ⎪ ⎪ ⎩ a p ab p/2 b p 3 1/p ,p / 0, √ ab, p 0. 1.5 Several variants as well as interesting applications ofHeronianmeans can be found in the recent papers 6–11. The weighted and exponential generalizations ofHeronianmeans motivate us to consider a unified generalization ofHeronianmeans 1.4 and 1.5, as follows: H p,w a, b ⎧ ⎪ ⎪ ⎨ ⎪ ⎪ ⎩ a p wab p/2 b p w 2 1/p ,p / 0, √ ab, p 0, 1.6 where w ≥ 0. In this paper, the Schur convexity, Schur-geometric convexity, and monotonicity of the generalizedHeronianmeans H p,w a, b are discussed. As consequences, some interesting inequalities for generalizedHeronianmeans are obtained. 2. Definitions and lemmas We begin by introducing the following definitions and lemmas. Definition 2.1 see 12, 13.Letx x 1 , ,x n and y y 1 , ,y n ∈ R n . 1 x is said to be majorized by y in symbols x ≺ y if k i1 x i ≤ k i1 y i for k 1, 2, ,n− 1and n i1 x i n i1 y i , where x 1 ≥···≥x n and y 1 ≥···≥y n are rearrangements of x and y in a descending order. 2 x ≥ y means that x i ≥ y i for all i 1, 2, ,n.LetΩ ⊂ R n , ϕ : Ω → R is said to be increasing if x ≥ y implies ϕx ≥ ϕy. ϕ is said to be decreasing if and only if −ϕ is increasing. Huan-Nan Shi et al. 3 3 Let Ω ⊂ R n , ϕ : Ω → R is said to be a Schur-convex function on Ω if x ≺ y on Ω implies ϕx ≤ ϕy. ϕ is said to be a Schur-concave function on Ω if and only if −ϕ is Schur-convex function. Definition 2.2 see 14, 15.Letx x 1 , ,x n and y y 1 , ,y n ∈ R n . 1Ωis called a geometrically convex set if x α 1 y β 1 , ,x α n y β n ∈ Ω for any x and y ∈ Ω, where α and β ∈ 0, 1 with α β 1. 2 Let Ω ⊂ R n , ϕ : Ω → R is said to be a Schur-geometrically convex function on Ω if ln x 1 , ,ln x n ≺ ln y 1 , ,ln y n on Ω implies ϕx ≤ ϕy. ϕ is said to be a Schur-geometrically concave function on Ω if and only if −ϕ is Schur-geometrically convex function. Lemma 2.3 see 12, page 38. A function ϕx is increasing if and only if ∇ϕx ≥ 0 for x ∈ Ω, where Ω ⊂ R n is an open set, ϕ : Ω → R is differentiable, and ∇ϕx ∂ϕx ∂x 1 , , ∂ϕx ∂x n ∈ R n . 2.1 Lemma 2.4 see 12, page 58. Let Ω ⊂ R n is symmetric and has a nonempty interior set. Ω 0 is the interior of Ω. ϕ : Ω → R is continuous on Ω and differentiable in Ω 0 . Then, ϕ is the Schur-convexSchur-concave function, if and only if ϕ is symmetric on Ω and x 1 − x 2 ∂ϕ ∂x 1 − ∂ϕ ∂x 2 ≥ 0 ≤ 02.2 holds for any x x 1 ,x 2 , ,x n ∈ Ω 0 . Lemma 2.5 see 14, page 108. Let Ω ⊂ R n is a symmetric and has a nonempty interior geometrically convex set. Ω 0 is the interior of Ω. ϕ : Ω → R is continuous on Ω and differentiable in Ω 0 .Ifϕ is symmetric on Ω and ln x 1 − ln x 2 x 1 ∂ϕ ∂x 1 − x 2 ∂ϕ ∂x 2 ≥ 0 ≤ 02.3 holds for any x x 1 ,x 2 , ,x n ∈ Ω 0 ,thenϕ is the Schur-geometrically convex (Schur- geometrically concave) function. Lemma 2.6 see 12, page 5. Let x ∈ R n and x 1/n n i1 x i . Then, x, ,x ≺ x. 2.4 4 Journal of Inequalities and Applications Lemma 2.7 see 16, page 43. The generalized logarithmic means (Stolarsky’s means) oftwo positive numbers a and b is defined as follows S p a, b ⎧ ⎪ ⎪ ⎪ ⎪ ⎪ ⎪ ⎪ ⎪ ⎪ ⎪ ⎪ ⎪ ⎪ ⎨ ⎪ ⎪ ⎪ ⎪ ⎪ ⎪ ⎪ ⎪ ⎪ ⎪ ⎪ ⎪ ⎪ ⎩ b p − a p pb − a 1/p−1 ,p / 0, 1,a / b, e −1 a a b b 1/a−b ,p 1,a / b, b − a ln b − ln a ,p 0,a / b, b, a b, 2.5 when a / b, S p a, b is a strictly increasing function for p ∈ R. Lemma 2.8 see 17. Let a, b > 0 and a / b.Ifx>0,y≤ 0 and x y ≥ 0, then, b xy − a xy b x − a x ≤ x y x ab y/2 . 2.6 3. Main results and their proofs Our main results are stated in Theorems 3.1 and 3.2 below. Theorem 3.1. For fixed p, w ∈ R 2 , 1 H p,w a, b is increasing for a, b ∈ R 2 ; 2 if p, w ∈{p ≤ 1,w ≥ 0}∪{1 <p≤ 3/2,w ≥ 1}∪{3/2 <p≤ 2,w ≥ 2}, then, H p,w a, b is Schur concave for a, b ∈ R 2 ; 3 if p ≥ 2, 0 ≤ w ≤ 2, then, H p,w a, b is Schur convex for a, b ∈ R 2 . Proof. Let ϕa, b a p wab p/2 b p w 2 , 3.1 when p / 0andw ≥ 0, we have H p,w a, bϕ 1/p a, b. It is clear that H p,w a, b is symmetric with a, b ∈ R 2 . Since ∂H p,w a, b ∂a 1 w 2 a p−1 wb 2 ab p/2−1 ϕ 1/p−1 a, b ≥ 0, ∂H p,w a, b ∂b 1 w 2 b p−1 wa 2 ab p/2−1 ϕ 1/p−1 a, b ≥ 0, 3.2 we deduce from Lemma 2.3 that H p,w a, b is increasing for a, b ∈ R 2 . Huan-Nan Shi et al. 5 Let Λ :b − a ∂H p,w a, b ∂b − ∂H p,w a, b ∂a , 3.3 when a b, then Λ0. We assume a / b below. Let Λb − a 2 /w 2ϕ 1/p−1 a, bQ, where Q b p−1 − a p−1 b − a − w 2 ab p/2−1 . 3.4 We consider the following four cases. Case 1. If p ≤ 1,w≥ 0, then b p−1 − a p−1 /b − a ≤ 0, which implies that Λ ≤ 0. It follows from Lemma 2.4 that H p,w a, b is Schur concave. Case 2. If 1 <p≤ 3/2,w≥ 1, then p − 1 ≤ 1/2 ≤ w/2. In Lemma 2.8, letting x 1,y p − 2, which implies x>0,y<0,x y>0. By Lemma 2.8 we have b p−1 − a p−1 b − a ≤ p − 1ab p−2/2 ≤ w 2 ab p/2−1 . 3.5 We conclude that Λ ≤ 0. Therefore, H p,w a, b is Schur concave. Case 3. If 3/2 <p≤ 2,w≥ 2, then p − 1 ≤ 1 ≤ w/2. In Lemma 2.8, letting x 1,y p − 2, which implies x>0,y≤ 0,x y>0. By Lemma 2.8 we have b p−1 − a p−1 b − a ≤ p − 1ab p−2/2 ≤ w 2 ab p/2−1 , 3.6 it follows that Λ ≤ 0. Therefore, H p,w a, b is Schur concave. Case 4. If p ≥ 2, 0 ≤ w ≤ 2. Note that Q p − 1 S p−1 a, b p−2 − w 2 S −1 a, b p−2 . 3.7 By Lemma 2.7,weobtainthatS p a, b is increasing for p ∈ R. Thus, we conclude that S p−1 a, b p−2 ≥ S −1 a, b p−2 . Then, using p − 1 ≥ 1 ≥ w/2, we have Λ ≥ 0. Therefore, H p,w a, b is Schur convex. This completes the proof of Theorem 3.1. 6 Journal of Inequalities and Applications Theorem 3.2. For fixed p, w ∈ R 2 , 1 if p<0,w≥ 0,thenH p,w a, b is Schur-geometrically concave for a, b ∈ R 2 ; 2 if p>0,w≥ 0,thenH p,w a, b is Schur-geometrically convex for a, b ∈ R 2 . Proof. Since a ∂H p,w a, b ∂a 1 w 2 a p wb 2 ab p/2 ϕ 1/p−1 a, b, b ∂H p,w a, b ∂b 1 w 2 b p wa 2 ab p/2 ϕ 1/p−1 a, b, 3.8 we have Δ :ln b − ln a a ∂H p,w a, b ∂b − b ∂H p,w a, b ∂a ln b − ln a b p − a p w 2 ϕ 1/p−1 a, b, 3.9 when p<0,w≥ 0, then ln b − ln ab p − a p ≤ 0, which implies that Δ ≤ 0. Therefore, H p,w a, b is Schur-geometrically concave. When p>0,w≥ 0, then ln b −ln ab p −a p ≥ 0, which implies that Δ ≥ 0. Therefore, H p,w a, b is Schur-geometrically convex. The proof of Theorem 3.2 is complete. 4. Some applications In this section, we provide several interesting applications of Theorems 3.1 and 3.2. Theorem 4.1. Let 0 <a≤ b, Aa, ba b/2,uttb 1−ta, vtta1 −tb, and let 1/2 ≤ t 2 ≤ t 1 ≤ 1 or 0 ≤ t 1 ≤ t 2 ≤ 1/2.Ifp, w ∈{p ≤ 1,w ≥ 0}∪{1 <p≤ 3/2,w ≥ 1}∪{3/2 < p ≤ 2,w≥ 2}, then, Aa, b ≥ H p,w u t 2 ,v t 2 ≥ H p,w u t 1 ,v t 1 ≥ H p,w a, b. 4.1 If p ≥ 2, 0 ≤ w ≤ 2, then each of the inequalities in 4.1 is reversed. Proof. When 1/2 ≤ t 2 ≤ t 1 ≤ 1. From 0 <a≤ b,itiseasytoseethatut 1 ≥ vt 1 ,ut 2 ≥ vt 2 ,b≥ ut 1 ≥ ut 2 ,andut 2 vt 2 ut 1 vt 1 a b. We thus conclude that u t 2 ,v t 2 ≺ u t 1 ,v t 1 ≺ a, b. 4.2 When 0 ≤ t 1 ≤ t 2 ≤ 1/2, then 1/2 ≤ 1 − t 2 ≤ 1 − t 1 ≤ 1, it follows that u 1 − t 2 ,v 1 − t 2 ≺ u 1 − t 1 ,v 1 − t 1 ≺ a, b. 4.3 Huan-Nan Shi et al. 7 Since u1 − t 2 vt 2 , v1 −t 2 ut 2 , u1 − t 1 vt 1 , v1 −t 1 ut 1 , we also have u t 2 ,v t 2 ≺ u t 1 ,v t 1 ≺ a, b. 4.4 On the other hand, it follows from Lemma 2.6 that ab/2, ab/2 ≺ ut 2 ,vt 2 . Applying Theorem 3.1 gives the inequalities asserted by Theorem 4.1. Theorem 4.1 enables us to obtain a large number of refined inequalities by assigning appropriate values to the parameters p, w, t 1 ,andt 2 , for example, putting p 1/2,w 1,t 1 3/4,t 2 1/2in4.1,weobtain a b 2 ≥ √ a 3b 4 a 3b3a b √ 3a b 6 2 ≥ √ a 4 √ ab √ b 3 2 . 4.5 Putting p 2,w 1,t 1 3/4,t 2 1/2in4.1,weget a b 2 ≤ a 3b 2 a 3b3a b3a b 2 48 ≤ a 2 ab b 2 3 . 4.6 Theorem 4.2. Let 0 <a≤ b, c ≥ 0.Ifp, w ∈{p ≤ 1,w ≥ 0}∪{1 <p≤ 3/2,w ≥ 1}∪{3/2 < p ≤ 2,w≥ 2},then H p,w a c, b c a b 2c ≥ H p,w a, b a b . 4.7 If p ≥ 2, 0 ≤ w ≤ 2, then the inequality 4.7 is reversed. Proof. From the hypotheses 0 ≤ a ≤ b, c ≥ 0, we deduce that a c a b 2c ≤ b c a b 2c , a a b ≤ b a b , b c a b 2c ≤ b a b , a c a b 2c b c a b 2c a a b b a b 1. 4.8 We hence have a c a b 2c , b c a b 2c ≺ a a b , b a b . 4.9 Using Theorem 3.1 yields the inequalities asserted by Theorem 4.2. 8 Journal of Inequalities and Applications Theorem 4.3. Let 0 <a≤ b, Ga, b √ ab, utb t a 1−t , vta t b 1−t , and let 1/2 ≤ t 2 ≤ t 1 ≤ 1 or 0 ≤ t 1 ≤ t 2 ≤ 1/2.Ifp>0,w≥ 0,then Ga, b ≤ H p,w u t 2 , v t 2 ≤ H p,w u t 1 , v t 1 ≤ H p,w a, b. 4.10 If p<0,w≥ 0, then each of the inequalities in 4.10 is reversed. Proof. From the hypotheses 0 <a≤ b,1/2 ≤ t 2 ≤ t 1 ≤ 1 or 0 ≤ t 1 ≤ t 2 ≤ 1/2,itiseasyto verify that ln u t 2 , ln v t 2 ≺ ln u t 1 , ln v t 1 ≺ ln a, ln b. 4.11 In addition, from Lemma 2.6 we have ln √ ab, ln √ ab ≺ ln ut 2 , ln vt 2 . By applying Theorem 3.2, we obtain the desired inequalities in Theorem 4.3. Combining the inequalities 4.1 and 4.10, we obtain the following refinement of arithmetic-geometric means inequality. Theorem 4.4. Let 0 <a≤ b, uttb1−ta, vtta1−tb, utb t a 1−t , vta t b 1−t , and let 1/2 ≤ t 2 ≤ t 1 ≤ 1 or 0 ≤ t 1 ≤ t 2 ≤ 1/2.Ifp, w ∈{0 <p≤ 1,w ≥ 0}∪{1 <p≤ 3/2,w ≥ 1}∪{3/2 <p≤ 2,w≥ 2},then Ga, b ≤ H p,w u t 2 , v t 2 ≤ H p,w u t 1 , v t 1 ≤ H p,w a, b ≤ H p,w u t 1 ,v t 1 ≤ H p,w u t 2 ,v t 2 ≤ Aa, b. 4.12 Acknowledgments The present investigation was supported, in part, by the Scientific Research Common Program of Beijing Municipal Commission of Education under Grant no. KM200611417009; in part, by the Natural Science Foundation of Fujian province of China under Grant no. S0850023; and, in part, by the Science Foundation of Project of Fujian Province Education Department of China under Grant no. JA08231. The authors would like to express heartily thanks to professor Kai-Zhong Guan for his useful suggestions. References 1 H. Alzer and W. Janous, “Solution of problem 8 ∗ ,” Crux Mathematicorum, vol. 13, pp. 173–178, 1987. 2 P. S. Bullen, D. S. Mitrinvi ´ c, and P. M. Vasi ´ c, Means and Their Inequalities, Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht, The Netherlands, 1988. 3 Q J. Mao, “Dual means, logarithmic and Heronian dual meansoftwo positive numbers,” Journal of Suzhou College of Education, vol. 16, pp. 82–85, 1999. 4 W. Janous, “A note on generalizedHeronian means,” Mathematical Inequalities & Applications, vol. 4, no. 3, pp. 369–375, 2001. Huan-Nan Shi et al. 9 5 G. Jia and J. Cao, “A new upper bound of the logarithmic mean,” Journal of Inequalities in Pure and Applied Mathematics, vol. 4, no. 4, article 80, 4 pages, 2003. 6 K. Guan and H. Zhu, “The generalizedHeronian mean and its inequalities,” Univerzitet u Beogradu. Publikacije Elektrotehni ˇ ckog Fakulteta. Serija Matematika, vol. 17, pp. 60–75, 2006. 7 Z. Zhang and Y. Wu, “The generalized Heron mean and its dual form,” Applied Mathematics E-Notes, vol. 5, pp. 16–23, 2005. 8 Z. Zhang, Y. Wu, and A. Zhao, “The properties of the generalized Heron means and its dual form,” RGMIA Research Report Collection, vol. 7, no. 2, article 1, 2004. 9 Z. Liu, “Comparison of some means,” Journal of Mathematical Research and Exposition, vol. 22, no. 4, pp. 583–588, 2002. 10 N G. Zheng, Z H. Zhang, and X M. Zhang, “Schur-convexity oftwo types of one-parameter mean values in n variables,” Journal of Inequalities and Applications, vol. 2007, Article ID 78175, 10 pages, 2007. 11 H N. Shi, S H. Wu, and F. Qi, “An alternative note on the Schur-convexity of the extended mean values,” Mathematical Inequalities & Applications, vol. 9, no. 2, pp. 219–224, 2006. 12 B Y. Wang, Foundations of Majorization Inequalities, Beijing Normal University Press, Beijing, China, 1990. 13 A. W. Marshall and I. Olkin, Inequalities: Theory of Majorization and Its Applications, vol. 143 of Mathematics in Science and Engineering, Academic Press, New York, NY, USA, 1979. 14 X M. Zhang, Geometrically Convex Functions, Anhui University Press, Hefei, China, 2004. 15 C. P. Niculescu, “Convexity according to the geometric mean,” Mathematical Inequalities & Applications, vol. 3, no. 2, pp. 155–167, 2000. 16 J C. Kuang, Applied Inequalities, Shandong Science and Technology Press, Jinan, China, 3rd edition, 2004. 17 Z. Liu, “A note on an inequality,” Pure and Applied Mathematics, vol. 17, no. 4, pp. 349–351, 2001. . Corporation Journal of Inequalities and Applications Volume 2008, Article ID 879273, 9 pages doi:10.1155/2008/879273 Research Article Schur Convexity of Generalized Heronian Means Involving Two Parameters Huan-Nan. Accepted 26 December 2008 Recommended by A. Laforgia The Schur convexity and Schur- geometric convexity of generalized Heronian means involving two parameters are studied, the main result is then used. the Schur convexity, Schur- geometric convexity, and monotonicity of the generalized Heronian means H p,w a, b are discussed. As consequences, some interesting inequalities for generalized Heronian