Let $n$ be in $\mathbb { N } ^ { * }$. We denote by $U _ { n }$ the open set $\left( \mathbb { R } _ { + } ^ { * } \right) ^ { n }$. We consider the map $F _ { n }$ from $\overline { U _ { n } }$ to $\mathbb { R }$, defined by
$$\forall \left( x _ { 1 } , \ldots , x _ { n } \right) \in \overline { U _ { n } } , \quad F _ { n } \left( x _ { 1 } , \ldots , x _ { n } \right) = x _ { 1 } + \left( x _ { 1 } x _ { 2 } \right) ^ { 1 / 2 } + \left( x _ { 1 } x _ { 2 } x _ { 3 } \right) ^ { 1 / 3 } + \cdots + \left( x _ { 1 } \cdots x _ { n } \right) ^ { 1 / n } .$$
We denote by $M _ { n }$ the maximum of $F _ { n }$ on $\overline { U _ { n } } \cap H _ { n }$ and we denote by $( a _ { 1 } , \ldots , a _ { n } )$ a point of $U _ { n } \cap H _ { n }$ at which it is attained. For $k$ between 1 and $n$, we denote $\gamma _ { k } = \left( a _ { 1 } a _ { 2 } \cdots a _ { k } \right) ^ { 1 / k }$. We assume by contradiction that $\lambda > \mathrm { e }$, where $\lambda$ is the real number from Q17, and $\omega_k$ is as defined in Q18b.
Reach a contradiction on $\omega _ { n }$. Deduce that, for all $n$ in $\mathbb { N } ^ { * }$, for all $\left( x _ { 1 } , \ldots , x _ { n } \right) \in \left( \mathbb { R } _ { + } ^ { * } \right) ^ { n }$ such that $x _ { 1 } + \cdots + x _ { n } = 1$,
$$\sum _ { k = 1 } ^ { n } \left( x _ { 1 } x _ { 2 } \cdots x _ { k } \right) ^ { 1 / k } \leqslant \mathrm { e }$$