A sharp double inequality between harmonic and identric means (Q642726)

Summary: We find the greatest value \(p\) and the least value \(q\) in \((0, 1/2)\) such that the double inequality \(H(pa + (1 - p)b, pb + (1 - p)a) < I(a, b) < H(qa + (1 - q)b, qb + (1 - q)a)\) holds for all \(a, b > 0\) with \(a \neq b\). Here, \(H(a, b)\), and \(I(a, b)\) denote the harmonic and identric means of two positive numbers \(a\) and \(b\), respectively.