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Algebra Difficulty 7.9 National Olympiad, round 2 Prove it United States

Let aa, bb and cc be positive real numbers. Prove that
(a5a2+3)(b5b2+3)(c5c2+3)(a+b+c)3. (a^5 - a^2 + 3)(b^5 - b^2 + 3)(c^5 - c^2 + 3) \geq (a + b + c)^3.

Solution

First Solution: For any positive number xx, the quantities x21x^2 - 1 and x31x^3 - 1 have the same sign. Thus, we have 0(x31)(x21)=x5x3x2+10 \le (x^3 - 1)(x^2 - 1) = x^5 - x^3 - x^2 + 1, or
x5x2+3x3+2. x^5 - x^2 + 3 \geq x^3 + 2.
It follows that
(a5a2+3)(b5b2+3)(c5c2+3)(a3+2)(b3+2)(c3+2). (a^5 - a^2 + 3)(b^5 - b^2 + 3)(c^5 - c^2 + 3) \geq (a^3 + 2)(b^3 + 2)(c^3 + 2).
It suffices to show that
(a3+2)(b3+2)(c3+2)(a+b+c)3.() (a^3 + 2)(b^3 + 2)(c^3 + 2) \geq (a + b + c)^3. \quad (*)
We finish with three approaches.

First approach Expanding both sides of inequality () and cancelling like terms gives
a3b3c3+3(a3+b3+c3)+2(a3b3+b3c3+c3a3)+83(a2b+b2a+b2c+c2b+c2a+ac2)+6abc. \begin{aligned} & a^3b^3c^3 + 3(a^3 + b^3 + c^3) + 2(a^3b^3 + b^3c^3 + c^3a^3) + 8 \\ & \geq 3(a^2b + b^2a + b^2c + c^2b + c^2a + ac^2) + 6abc. \end{aligned}
By the AM-GM Inequality, we have a3+a3b3+13a2ba^3 + a^3 b^3 + 1 \ge 3a^2b. Combining similar results, the desired inequality reduces to
a3b3c3+a3+b3+c3+1+16abc, a^3 b^3 c^3 + a^3 + b^3 + c^3 + 1 + 1 \geq 6abc,
which is evident by the AM-GM Inequality.

Second Solution: By the AM-GM Inequality,
a5+a5+1+1+15a2 \frac{a^5 + a^5 + 1 + 1 + 1}{5} \geq a^2
with equality when a=1a = 1. Hence the left hand side of the desired inequality is bounded by
(3a5+12)(3b5+12)(3c5+12)125, \frac{(3a^5 + 12)(3b^5 + 12)(3c^5 + 12)}{125},
so it suffices to prove that
(3a5+12)(3b5+12)(3c5+12)125(a+b+c)3. (3a^5 + 12)(3b^5 + 12)(3c^5 + 12) \geq 125(a + b + c)^3.
After expanding the expressions by brute force, we find that this is equivalent to the following, which we will refer to as (†):
27a5b5c5+108cyca5b5+432cyca5+123125(cyca3+3cyca2b+3cycab2+6abc). \begin{aligned} & 27a^5b^5c^5 + 108 \sum_{\text{cyc}} a^5b^5 + 432 \sum_{\text{cyc}} a^5 + 12^3 \\ & \geq 125 \left( \sum_{\text{cyc}} a^3 + 3 \sum_{\text{cyc}} a^2b + 3 \sum_{\text{cyc}} ab^2 + 6abc \right). \end{aligned}
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Next, we apply AM-GM seven times to derive the following family of inequalities, referred as (‡),
(1) a5+a5+a5+1+15a3a^5 + a^5 + a^5 + 1 + 1 \ge 5a^3, and so
25[6+cyc3a55cyca3].() 25 \left[ 6 + \sum_{\text{cyc}} 3a^5 \ge 5 \sum_{\text{cyc}} a^3 \right]. \qquad (\ddagger)
(2) a5b5c5+1+1+1+15abca^5 b^5 c^5 + 1 + 1 + 1 + 1 \ge 5abc, and so
27[a5b5c5+45abc].() 27 [a^5 b^5 c^5 + 4 \ge 5abc]. \qquad (\ddagger)
(3) a5+a5b5+1+1+15a2ba^5 + a^5 b^5 + 1 + 1 + 1 \ge 5a^2b, and so
54[cyca5+cyca5b5+9cyca2b].() 54 \left[ \sum_{\text{cyc}} a^5 + \sum_{\text{cyc}} a^5 b^5 + 9 \ge \sum_{\text{cyc}} a^2 b \right]. \qquad (\ddagger)
Likewise, we have
54[cycb5+cyca5b5+9cycab2].() 54 \left[ \sum_{\text{cyc}} b^5 + \sum_{\text{cyc}} a^5 b^5 + 9 \ge \sum_{\text{cyc}} ab^2 \right]. \qquad (\ddagger)
(4) a5+b5+c5+1+15abca^5 + b^5 + c^5 + 1 + 1 \ge 5abc, and so
123[a5+b5+c5+25abc].() 123 [a^5 + b^5 + c^5 + 2 \ge 5abc]. \qquad (\ddagger)
(5) a5+a5+b5+1+15a2ba^5 + a^5 + b^5 + 1 + 1 \ge 5a^2b, and so
21[cyc2a5+cycb5+6cyca2b].() 21 \left[ \sum_{\text{cyc}} 2a^5 + \sum_{\text{cyc}} b^5 + 6 \ge \sum_{\text{cyc}} a^2 b \right]. \qquad (\ddagger)
Likewise, we have
21[cyc2b5+cyca5+6cycab2].() 21 \left[ \sum_{\text{cyc}} 2b^5 + \sum_{\text{cyc}} a^5 + 6 \ge \sum_{\text{cyc}} ab^2 \right]. \qquad (\ddagger)
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Miraculously, the sum of the seven inequalities marked (‡) is precisely inequality (†), which was what we wanted. The equality condition in each application of AM-GM is a=b=c=1a = b = c = 1, so that is the equality condition for (†) as well.

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