<s>[INST] How to show that $\left(\sqrt{\binom{n}{1}}+\sqrt{\binom{n}{2}}+...+\sqrt{\binom{n}{n}}\right)^2≤n(2^n-1)$? I want to show that $\left(\sqrt{\binom{n}{1}}+\sqrt{\binom{n}{2}}+...+\sqrt{\binom{n}{n}}\right)^2≤n(2^n-1)$.
My attempt:
We know that $\sqrt{ab}≤\frac{a+b}{2}$ because $(\sqrt{a}-\sqrt{b})^2≥0$ and that $\binom{n}{0}+\binom{n}{1}+\binom{n}{2}+...+\binom{n}{n}=2^n$ by expanding $(1+x)^n$ and substituting $x=1$.
Next, I re-wrote $\left(\sqrt{\binom{n}{1}}+\sqrt{\binom{n}{2}}+...+\sqrt{\binom{n}{n}}\right)^2$ as $\binom{n}{1}+\binom{n}{2}+...+\binom{n}{1}+\sum_{0<i<j}\sqrt{\binom{n}{i}\binom{n}{j}}$
$≤2^n-1+\sum_{0<i<j}\frac{\binom{n}{i}+\binom{n}{j}}{2}$ using the two term $A_m G_m$ inequality.
$=2^n-1+\frac{1}{2}\left(\binom{n}{1}+\binom{n}{2}+\binom{n}{1}+\binom{n}{3}+...+\binom{n}{1}+\binom{n}{n}+\binom{n}{2}+\binom{n}{3}+\binom{n}{2}+\binom{n}{4}+...+\binom{n}{n-1}+\binom{n}{n}\right)$
$=2^n-1+\frac{n}{2}\left(\binom{n}{1}+\binom{n}{2}+\binom{n}{3}+...+\binom{n}{n}\right)$
$=2^n-1+\frac{n}{2}(2^n-1)$
$=\frac{n+2}{2}(2^n-1)$, which is clearly not the result.
Could someone point out the mistake in my working and help me finish the proof?
 [/INST] There is an error in your calculation. You should have
$$
 \left(\sqrt{\binom{n}{1}}+\sqrt{\binom{n}{2}}+...+\sqrt{\binom{n}{n}}\right)^2 = \sum_{i=1}^n \binom ni + 2 \sum_{0<i<j}\sqrt{\binom{n}{i}\binom{n}{j}} \\
\le
\sum_{i=1}^n \binom ni  + \sum_{0<i<j} \left(\binom{n}{i} + \binom{n}{j}\right)\, ,
$$
note the factor $2$ which is missing in your equation. The right-hand side is equal to
$$
 \frac 12 \sum_{i=1}^n\sum_{j=1}^n \left(\binom{n}{i} + \binom{n}{j}\right) = n \sum_{i=1}^n \binom{n}{i} = n (2^n-1) \, .
$$
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