I am working on this problem for real analysis and it's rather baffling. I've never really seen any of this kind of notation before which is part of it I think? But also it just seems utterly mysterious. Here's the problem:
For $j=1,2,...,n$, let $a_j,b_j$ be complex numbers. Define a real valued function $f(x,y)$ of two variables $x,y$ by $z=x+iy$ and $f(x,y)=\sum_j |a_j+zb_j|^2$. The idea is to make an optimal choice of $x,y$ and substitute it into $f(x,y)$.
a) Find $z=x+iy$ that solves $Lf=0$, where $L=\frac{1}{2}(\frac{\partial}{\partial x}-i\frac{\partial}{\partial y})$, if it exists. Use notation $A=\sum_j a_j \bar{a_j}, B=\sum_j b_j \bar{b_j}$, $C=\sum_j a_j \bar{b_j}$.
b) Prove that $|\sum_j a_j \bar{b}_j|^2 \leq (\sum_j|a_j|^2)(\sum_j|b_j|^2)$
I've made some strides but I feel like I'm fumbling around in the dark. I'm pretty sure I got part (a)—I just included it for reference but I got $z=-\frac{C}{B}$. As per the suggestion, I plugged that into $f$ and got $f(z=-\frac{C}{B})=A-\frac{C \bar{C}}{B}$. So that's the minimum value of $f$ but I can't for the life of me understand how that helps me.
Can someone help me out?