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Algebra Difficulty 5.0 AIME Prove it Mongolia

Let aa, bb, cc and dd be non-negative real numbers satisfying a+b+c+d=2a + b + c + d = 2. Prove that
(a2+b2)(b2+c2)(c2+d2)(d2+a2)1. (a^2 + b^2)(b^2 + c^2)(c^2 + d^2)(d^2 + a^2) \le 1.

Solution

Since aa, bb, cc, d0d \ge 0, we see that
(a+b)2a2+b2,(b+c)2b2+c2,(c+d)2c2+d2,(d+a)2d2+a2. (a+b)^2 \ge a^2 + b^2, \quad (b+c)^2 \ge b^2 + c^2, \quad (c+d)^2 \ge c^2 + d^2, \quad (d+a)^2 \ge d^2 + a^2.

Therefore it is enough to prove that (a+b)(b+c)(c+d)(d+a)1(a+b)(b+c)(c+d)(d+a) \le 1. However, by the Cauchy-Schwartz inequality, we have
(a+b)(b+c)(c+d)(d+a)(a+b+b+c+c+d+d+a4)4=1. (a+b)(b+c)(c+d)(d+a) \le \left( \frac{a+b+b+c+c+d+d+a}{4} \right)^4 = 1.
Equality holds only when a+b=b+c=c+d=d+aa+b = b+c = c+d = d+a and ab=bc=cd=da=0ab = bc = cd = da = 0. Now it is easy to check that equality holds if and only if a=c=1a = c = 1, b=d=0b = d = 0 or a=c=0a = c = 0, b=d=1b = d = 1.

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