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Algebra Difficulty 6.7 National Olympiad Prove it China

Let a,ba, b be real numbers and function f(x)=x3+ax2+bxf(x) = x^3 + a x^2 + b x. If there exist three real numbers x1,x2,x3x_1, x_2, x_3 satisfying x1+1x2x31x_1 + 1 \le x_2 \le x_3 - 1 and f(x1)=f(x2)=f(x3)f(x_1) = f(x_2) = f(x_3). Find the minimum of a+2b|a| + 2|b|.

Solution

For function f(x)f(x) and real numbers x1,x2,x3x_1, x_2, x_3 satisfying the conditions, let f(x1)=f(x2)=f(x3)=cf(x_1) = f(x_2) = f(x_3) = c, and then x1,x2,x3x_1, x_2, x_3 are the three real roots of cubic equation x3+ax2+bxc=0x^3 + a x^2 + b x - c = 0. By Vieta's formulas, we know that
a=(x1+x2+x3),b=x1x2+x2x3+x3x1. a = -(x_1 + x_2 + x_3), \quad b = x_1 x_2 + x_2 x_3 + x_3 x_1.
Further, by the condition we know that x2x11x_2 - x_1 \ge 1, x3x21x_3 - x_2 \ge 1, x3x12x_3 - x_1 \ge 2, and thus
a23b=x12+x22+x32x1x2x2x3x3x1=12((x1x2)2+(x2x3)2+(x3x1)2)12(1+1+4)=3, \begin{aligned} a^2 - 3b &= x_1^2 + x_2^2 + x_3^2 - x_1 x_2 - x_2 x_3 - x_3 x_1 \\ &= \frac{1}{2}((x_1 - x_2)^2 + (x_2 - x_3)^2 + (x_3 - x_1)^2) \\ &\ge \frac{1}{2}(1 + 1 + 4) = 3, \end{aligned}
i.e., ba231b \le \frac{a^2}{3} - 1.
If a3|a| \ge \sqrt{3}, then a+2ba+3|a| + 2|b| \ge |a| + \sqrt{3}.
If 0a<30 \le |a| < \sqrt{3}, then ba231<0b \le \frac{a^2}{3} - 1 < 0. Notice that at this point
a34<334,a+2ba+23(3a2)23(a34)2+19823(334)2+198=3. \begin{aligned} |a| - \frac{3}{4} &< \sqrt{3} - \frac{3}{4}, \\ |a| + 2|b| &\ge |a| + \frac{2}{3}(3 - a^2) \\ &\quad - \frac{2}{3}\left(|a| - \frac{3}{4}\right)^2 + \frac{19}{8} \\ &\quad - \frac{2}{3}\left(\sqrt{3} - \frac{3}{4}\right)^2 + \frac{19}{8} = \sqrt{3}. \end{aligned}
The above shows that a+2b3|a| + 2|b| \ge \sqrt{3}.
On the other hand, when a=3a = \sqrt{3}, b=0b = 0, real numbers x1=133x_1 = -1 - \frac{\sqrt{3}}{3}, x2=33x_2 = -\frac{\sqrt{3}}{3}, x3=133x_3 = 1 - \frac{\sqrt{3}}{3} satisfy the condition because the values of F1F_1, F2F_2, F3F_3 are all 239\frac{2\sqrt{3}}{9}. At this point a+2b=3|a| + 2|b| = \sqrt{3}.
In conclusion, the minimum of a+2b|a| + 2|b| is 3\sqrt{3}.

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