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Mathematical Olympiad in Ukraine

Algebra Difficulty 5.2 AIME, harder Prove it Ukraine

Solve the system of equations over real numbers:
{x3=2y3+z−2,y3=2z3+x−2,z3=2x3+y−2. \begin{cases} x^3 = 2y^3 + z - 2, \\ y^3 = 2z^3 + x - 2, \\ z^3 = 2x^3 + y - 2. \end{cases}

Solution

From the first two equations of our system we obtain: x3−y3=2y3−2z3+y−z=(y−z)(2y2+2yz+2z2+1)x^3 - y^3 = 2y^3 - 2z^3 + y - z = (y-z)(2y^2 + 2yz + 2z^2 + 1), analogously, we can easily get equalities: y3−z3=(z−x)(2z2+2zx+2x2+1)y^3 - z^3 = (z-x)(2z^2 + 2zx + 2x^2 + 1), z3−x3=(x−y)(2x2+2xy+2y2+1)z^3 - x^3 = (x-y)(2x^2 + 2xy + 2y^2 + 1). It is easy to see that (2y2+2yz+2z2+1)=y2+z2+(y+z)2+1>0(2y^2 + 2yz + 2z^2 + 1) = y^2 + z^2 + (y+z)^2 + 1 > 0. If we suppose that y>zy > z, then from the first equality we have that x>yx > y, then applying third equality we conclude: z>x>y>zz > x > y > z - contradiction. The case when y<zy < z is completely analogous. Hence we obtain x=y=zx = y = z. and solving the equation we get the answer (1,1,1)(1,1,1).

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