Symmetric polynomials and symmetric mean inequalities (Q396860)

Summary: We prove generalized arithmetic-geometric mean inequalities for quasi-means arising from symmetric polynomials. The inequalities are satisfied by all positive, homogeneous symmetric polynomials, as well as a certain family of non-homogeneous polynomials; this family allows us to prove the following combinatorial result for marked square grids.Suppose that the cells of a \(n \times n\) checkerboard are each independently filled or empty, where the probability that a cell is filled depends only on its column. We prove that for any \(0 \leq \ell \leq n\), the probability that each column has at most \(\ell\) filled sites is less than or equal to the probability that each row has at most \(\ell\) filled sites.