A note on the hypergeometric mean value (Q1848418)

Given real numbers \(a\), \(b\), and \(c\) with \(c\neq 0,-1,-2, \dots \), let \( {}_2 F_1(a,b;c;r)\) stand for the Gaussian hypergeometric function. \textit{R. W. Barnard, K. Pearce} and \textit{K. C. Richards} proved in 2000 [see SIAM J. Math. Anal. 32, No. 2, 403--419 (2000; Zbl 0983.33006) and ibid. 31, No. 3, 693--699 (2000; Zbl 0943.33002)] that the following inequality is true for all \(r\in [0,1]:\) \[ \Big( {1+(r')^{3/2} \over 2} \Big)^{2/3} \leq {}_2F_1 \Big( - {1 \over 2},{1 \over 2}; 1;r^2\Big) \leq \Big( {1 +(r')^2 \over 2} \Big)^{1/2} , \] where \(r'=\sqrt{1-r^2}.\) For \(x,y,t >0\), let \(A_t(x,y) =((x^t +y^t)/2)^{1/t}\) stand for the power mean. Then one can express the lower and upper bounds as the power means \(A_{3/2}(1, r')\) and \(A_{2}(1, r'),\) respectively. One might seek a natural generalization of this inequality by replacing the parameters \( (- {1 \over 2},{1 \over 2},1)\) by a more general triple. In 1965 \textit{B. C. Carlson} [Proc. Am. Math. Soc. 17, 32--39 (1966; Zbl 0137.26803)] considered the approximation of the hypergeometric mean values in terms of means of order \(t.\) For \(r,s,t >0\) the \textit{mean of order } \(t\) is given by \[ M_t(s,r)= \{(1-s)+s(1-r)^t\}^{1/t}, \] and the \textit{hypergeometric mean} of order \(a\) is given by \[ M(a,b,c,r)=\{ {}_2F_1(-a,b;b+c;r)\}^{1/a}, \] for \(r \in (0,1), b,c >0 .\) The authors prove that for \(a \in (0,1),\) \(b,c>0\), \[ \infty <t<(a+ab+c)/(1+b+c),\quad M_t({{b}\over{b+c}},r)<M(a,b,c,r) \] for all \(r \in (0,1).\) This refines a result of Carlson's with \(M_a({{b}\over{b+c}},r)\) in place of \(M_t({{b}\over{b+c}},r)\).