<s>[INST] Proving that $\frac{e^x + e^{-x}}2 \le e^{x^2/2}$ 
Prove the following inequality:
  $$\dfrac{e^x + e^{-x}}2 \le e^{\frac{x^2}{2}}$$

This should be solved using Taylor series.
I tried expanding the left to the 5th degree and the right site to the 3rd degree, but it didn't help.
Any tips?
 [/INST] $$\frac{e^x+e^{-x}}{2} = \frac{\left(1 + x + \frac{x^2}{2!} + \frac{x^3}{3!} + \cdots \right) + \left(1 - x + \frac{x^2}{2!} - \frac{x^3}{3!} + \cdots \right)}{2} = \frac{2 + 2 \frac{x^2}{2!} + 2 \frac{x^4}{4!} + \cdots}{2}$$
$$ = 1 + \frac{x^2}{2} + \frac{x^4}{24} + \frac{x^6}{720}+ \cdots$$
$$e^{\frac{x^2}{2}} = 1 + \frac{x^2}{2} + \frac{\left(\frac{x^2}{2}\right)^2}{2!} + \frac{\left(\frac{x^2}{2}\right)^3}{3!} + \cdots = 1 + \frac{x^2}{2} + \frac{x^4}{8} + \frac{x^6}{48} + \cdots$$

Basically, it comes down to comparing $\displaystyle \frac{1}{(2n)!}$ and $\displaystyle \frac{1}{2^n n!}$, because they are the coefficients for $\displaystyle \frac{e^x + e^{-x}}{2}$ and $e^{\frac{x^2}{2}}$, respectively. We note that $$\frac{1}{(2n)!} = \frac{1}{1 \cdot 2 \cdot 3 \cdots (2n-1) \cdot (2n)}$$ while $$\frac{1}{2^n n!} = \frac{1}{2 \cdot 4 \cdot 6 \cdots (2n-2) \cdot (2n)}$$
Because the denominator for the second one is obviously smaller than that of the first, the second fraction is bigger than the first. This applies to every $n$, and therefore $$\frac{e^x+e^{-x}}{2} \le e^{\frac{x^2}{2}}$$
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