Let and be real numbers. It is known that the parabola intersects the curve at exactly three points. Prove that .
Solution
From the condition of the problem we conclude that the system of equations
has three solutions, i.e. that the cubic equation
has three real solutions. Let us denote these solutions by . Viète's formulas give
The inequality is equivalent to , which gives
It is not hard to see that this is equivalent to
and that inequality holds since the points (and consequently their abscissas) are mutually distinct.
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