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Algebra Difficulty 8.3 Shortlist Prove it Netherlands

Determine all triples (x,y,z)(x, y, z) of real numbers satisfying:
x2yz=yz+1,y2zx=zx+1,z2xy=xy+1. \begin{aligned} x^2 - yz &= |y - z| + 1, \\ y^2 - zx &= |z - x| + 1, \\ z^2 - xy &= |x - y| + 1. \end{aligned}

Solution

The system of equations is symmetric: if you swap xx and yy, for example, then the third equation stays the same and the first two equations are swapped. Hence, we can assume without loss of generality that xyzx \ge y \ge z. Then the system of equations becomes:
x2yz=yz+1,y2zx=xz+1,z2xy=xy+1. \begin{aligned} x^2 - yz &= y - z + 1, \\ y^2 - zx &= x - z + 1, \\ z^2 - xy &= x - y + 1. \end{aligned}
Subtracting the second equation from the first, we obtain x2y2+z(xy)=yxx^2 - y^2 + z(x - y) = y - x, or (xy)(x+y+z+1)=0(x - y)(x + y + z + 1) = 0. This yields x=yx = y or x+y+z=1x + y + z = -1. Subtracting the third equation from the second, we obtain y2z2+x(yz)=yzy^2 - z^2 + x(y - z) = y - z, or (yz)(y+z+x1)=0(y - z)(y + z + x - 1) = 0. This yields y=zy = z or x+y+z=1x + y + z = 1.

We now distinguish two cases: x=yx = y and xyx \neq y. In the first case, we have yzy \neq z, as otherwise we would have x=y=zx = y = z for which the first equation becomes 0=10 = 1, a contradiction. Now it follows that x+y+z=1x + y + z = 1, or 2x+z=12x + z = 1. Substituting y=xy = x and z=12xz = 1 - 2x in the first equation yields x2x(12x)=x(12x)+1x^2 - x(1 - 2x) = x - (1 - 2x) + 1, which can be simplified to 3x2x=3x3x^2 - x = 3x, or 3x2=4x3x^2 = 4x. We get x=0x = 0 or x=43x = \frac{4}{3}. With x=0x = 0, we find y=0y = 0, z=1z = 1, but does not satisfy our assumption xyzx \ge y \ge z. Thus, the only remaining possibility is x=43x = \frac{4}{3}, which gives the triple (43,43,53)(\frac{4}{3}, \frac{4}{3}, -\frac{5}{3}). We verify that this is indeed a solution.

Now consider the case xyx \neq y. Then we have x+y+z=1x + y + z = -1, hence we cannot have x+y+z=1x + y + z = 1, and we see that y=zy = z. Now x+y+z=1x + y + z = -1 yields x+2z=1x + 2z = -1, hence x=12zx = -1 - 2z. Now the first equality becomes (12z)2z2=1(-1 - 2z)^2 - z^2 = 1, which can be simplified to 3z2+4z=03z^2 + 4z = 0. From this, we conclude that z=0z = 0 or z=43z = -\frac{4}{3}. With z=0z = 0, we find y=0y = 0, x=1x = -1, which does not satisfy our assumption xyzx \ge y \ge z. Hence, the only remaining possibility is z=43z = -\frac{4}{3}, and this gives rise to the triple (53,43,43)(\frac{5}{3}, -\frac{4}{3}, -\frac{4}{3}). We verify that this is indeed a solution.

By also considering the permutations of these two solutions, we find all six solutions: (43,43,53)(\frac{4}{3}, \frac{4}{3}, -\frac{5}{3}), (43,53,43)(\frac{4}{3}, -\frac{5}{3}, \frac{4}{3}), (53,43,43)(-\frac{5}{3}, \frac{4}{3}, \frac{4}{3}), (53,43,43)(\frac{5}{3}, -\frac{4}{3}, -\frac{4}{3}), (43,53,43)(-\frac{4}{3}, \frac{5}{3}, -\frac{4}{3}), and (43,43,53)(-\frac{4}{3}, -\frac{4}{3}, \frac{5}{3}). \square

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