Assume that all logarithms are natural.
Let $x$ and $y$ be integers that satisfy $x \geq 5$ and $1 \leq y \leq x-2$. I am trying to show that $$\log\left( \frac{x-y}{x}\right)-2\sqrt{\frac{x-y}{x}} < \log\left( \frac{x+y}{x}\right)-2\sqrt{\frac{x+y}{x}}.$$
This is equivalent to showing that $$\log\left( \frac{x-y}{x+y}\right)<2\left(\sqrt{\frac{x-y}{x}}-\sqrt{\frac{x+y}{x}}\right).$$
My first inclination was to apply the well known inequality, $\log(z)\leq 2(\sqrt{z}-1)$ if $z>0$, to the left side by letting $z=\frac{x-y}{x+y}$, but this did not help me.
I also tried double induction on $(x,y)$ (since $x$ and $y$ are integers) but I could not finish it.
I appreciate any help, thank you.
Best Answer
The inequality $$ \log\left( \frac{x-y}{x+y}\right)<2\left(\sqrt{\frac{x-y}{x}}-\sqrt{\frac{x+y}{x}}\right) $$ holds for all real numbers $x, y$ satisfying $0 < y < x$.
With the substitution $t=y/x$ this is equivalent to $$ \tag{*} \log\left( \frac{1+t}{1-t}\right)>2\left(\sqrt{1+t}-\sqrt{1-t}\right) $$ for $0 < t < 1$. This suggests to investigate the function $$ f(t) = \log\left( \frac{1+t}{1-t}\right) -2\left(\sqrt{1+t}-\sqrt{1-t}\right) \, . $$ Then $f(0) = 0$, and for $0 < t < 1$ is $$ f'(t) = \frac{2}{1-t^2} - \left( \frac{1}{\sqrt{1+t}} + \frac{1}{\sqrt{1-t}} \right) \\ = \frac{2 - \sqrt{1-t^2}\left(\sqrt{1+t} + \sqrt{1-t}\right)}{1-t^2} $$ and that is positive, because $$ \sqrt{1-t^2} \cdot (\sqrt{1+t} + \sqrt{1-t}) < \sqrt{1+t} + \sqrt{1-t} \le 2 $$ as can be verified easily.
So $f$ is strictly increasing on $[0, 1)$, and that proves the inequality $(*)$.