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Algebra Difficulty 5.7 AIME, harder Prove it Saudi Arabia

Let S=x+y+zS = x + y + z where x,y,zx, y, z are three nonzero real numbers satisfying the following system of inequalities:
{xyz>1x+y+z>1x+1y+1z. \left\{\begin{array}{rl} x y z & > 1 \\ x + y + z & > \frac{1}{x} + \frac{1}{y} + \frac{1}{z} \end{array} .\right.

Prove that SS can take on any real values when x,y,zx, y, z vary.

Solution

First, if z=1yz = \frac{1}{y}, then the given system becomes
{xy1y>1x+y+1y>1x+1y+yx>1. \left\{\begin{array}{c} x \cdot y \cdot \frac{1}{y} > 1 \\ x + y + \frac{1}{y} > \frac{1}{x} + \frac{1}{y} + y \end{array} \Leftrightarrow x > 1 .\right.
So, all triples (x,y,1y)\left(x, y, \frac{1}{y}\right), with x>1x > 1 and y0y \neq 0, satisfy the given system of inequalities.

Next, note that the range of f(y):=y+1yf(y) := y + \frac{1}{y} is (,2][2,+)(-\infty, -2] \cup [2, +\infty) and that, for such triples, S=x+f(y)S = x + f(y). Then for each value aRa \in \mathbb{R}, we need only consider the following cases:

1. If a>1a > -1, we can choose x=a+2(>1),y=1x = a + 2 (> 1), y = -1, and get S=a+2+f(1)=aS = a + 2 + f(-1) = a.

2. If a<1a < -1, we let x=a(>1)x = -a (> 1) and choose y0y \neq 0 such that f(y)=2a((,2])f(y) = 2a (\in (-\infty, -2]). Then S=a+f(y)=aS = -a + f(y) = a.

3. If a=1a = -1, we choose x=1.5(>1),y=2x = 1.5 (> 1), y = -2 and get S=1.5+f(2)=1=aS = 1.5 + f(-2) = -1 = a.

Therefore, SS can take on any real values when x,y,zx, y, z vary.

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Source: MathNet, licensed CC-BY-4.0. Statement and solution reproduced as published; topic and difficulty added by this site.