Problem

Source: 2019 Dürer Math Competition Finals E+1.1

Tags: algebra, inequalities, Sequence, Sum



Let $a_o,a_1,a_2,..,a_ n$ be a non-decreasing sequence of $n+1$ real numbers where $a_0 = 0$ and for every $j > i $ we have $a_j - a_i \le j - i$. Show that $$\left (\sum_{i=0}^n a_i \right )^2 \ge \sum_{i=0}^n a_i^3$$