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Algebra Difficulty 6.2 National olympiad Prove it China

Find all the positive real number pairs (a,b)(a, b), such that f(x)=ax2+bf(x) = ax^2 + b satisfies f(xy)+f(x+y)f(x)f(y)f(xy) + f(x + y) \ge f(x)f(y) (for any real numbers x,yx, y).

Solution

The given condition is equivalent to
(ax2y2+b)+(a(x+y)2+b)(ax2+b)(ay2+b). (ax^2 y^2 + b) + (a(x + y)^2 + b) \ge (ax^2 + b)(ay^2 + b). \quad ①
In ①, let y=0y = 0. We have b+(ax2+b)(ax2+b)bb + (ax^2 + b) \ge (ax^2 + b) \cdot b, or
(1b)ax2+b(2b)0. (1 - b)ax^2 + b(2 - b) \ge 0.
As a>0a > 0 and ax2ax^2 can be sufficiently large, then 1b01 - b \ge 0, i.e., 0<b10 < b \le 1.
In ①, let y=xy = -x. We have (ax4+b)+b(ax2+b)2(ax^4 + b) + b \ge (ax^2 + b)^2, or
(aa2)x42abx2+(2bb2)0. (a - a^2)x^4 - 2abx^2 + (2b - b^2) \ge 0. \quad ②
Denote the left-hand side of ② as g(x)g(x). It is obvious that aa20a - a^2 \ne 0 (otherwise, from a>0a > 0 we know a=1a = 1. Then g(x)=2bx2+(2bb2)g(x) = -2bx^2 + (2b - b^2) with b>0b > 0, which means g(x)g(x) can be negative. A contradiction). Then
g(x)=(aa2)(x2abaa2)2(ab)2aa2+(2bb2)=(aa2)(x2b1a)2+b1a(22ab)0 \begin{align*} g(x) &= (a - a^2) \left( x^2 - \frac{ab}{a - a^2} \right)^2 - \frac{(ab)^2}{a - a^2} + (2b - b^2) \\ &= (a - a^2) \left( x^2 - \frac{b}{1-a} \right)^2 + \frac{b}{1-a} (2 - 2a - b) \\ &\ge 0 \end{align*}
holds for any real number xx. So we have aa2>0a - a^2 > 0, i.e., 0<a<10 < a < 1.
Furthermore, from b1a>0\frac{b}{1-a} > 0 and
g(b1a)=b1a(22ab)0, g\left(\sqrt{\frac{b}{1-a}}\right) = \frac{b}{1-a}(2 - 2a - b) \ge 0,
we have 2a+b22a + b \le 2.
So far, we get the necessary condition that a,ba, b must satisfy as follows:
0<b1,0<a<1,2a+b2.3 0 < b \le 1, \quad 0 < a < 1, \quad 2a + b \le 2. \qquad \textcircled{3}
We are going to prove that for any pair (a,b)(a, b) satisfying ③ and any real numbers x,yx, y, ① holds, or equivalently,
h(x,y)=(aa2)x2y2+a(1b)(x2+y2)+2axy+(2bb2)0. h(x, y) = (a - a^2)x^2 y^2 + a(1 - b)(x^2 + y^2) + 2axy + (2b - b^2) \ge 0.
As a matter of fact, when ③ holds, we then have
a(1b)0,aa2>0andb1a(22ab)0. a(1-b) \ge 0, \quad a - a^2 > 0 \quad \text{and} \quad \frac{b}{1-a}(2 - 2a - b) \ge 0.
Combining it with x2+y22xyx^2 + y^2 \ge -2xy, we get
h(x,y)(aa2)x2y2+a(1b)(2xy)+2axy+(2bb2)=(aa2)x2y2+2abxy+(2bb2)=(aa2)(xy+b1a)2+b1a(22ab)0. \begin{align*} h(x, y) &\ge (a - a^2)x^2 y^2 + a(1 - b)(-2xy) + 2axy + (2b - b^2) \\ &= (a - a^2)x^2 y^2 + 2abxy + (2b - b^2) \\ &= (a - a^2) \left( xy + \frac{b}{1-a} \right)^2 + \frac{b}{1-a} (2 - 2a - b) \ge 0. \end{align*}
Therefore, the set of all the pairs (a,b)(a, b) meeting the given condition is
{(a,b)0<b1,0<a<1,2a+b2}. \{(a, b) \mid 0 < b \le 1, 0 < a < 1, 2a + b \le 2\}.

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