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Algebra Difficulty 5.2 AIME, harder Prove it Belarus

Prove that
1x+y+11(x+1)(y+1)<111 \frac{1}{x+y+1} - \frac{1}{(x+1)(y+1)} < \frac{1}{11}
for all positive xx and yy.

Solution

By the Cauchy inequality,
(x+1)(y+1)((x+1)+(y+1))24=(x+y+2)24. (x+1)(y+1) \le \frac{((x+1) + (y+1))^2}{4} = \frac{(x+y+2)^2}{4}.
So the required inequality
1x+y+11(x+1)(y+1)<111,if x>0 and y>0,(1) \frac{1}{x+y+1} - \frac{1}{(x+1)(y+1)} < \frac{1}{11}, \quad \text{if } x > 0 \text{ and } y > 0, \quad (1)
is a consequence of the inequality
1x+y+14(x+y+2)2<111,if x>0 and y>0.(2) \frac{1}{x+y+1} - \frac{4}{(x+y+2)^2} < \frac{1}{11}, \quad \text{if } x > 0 \text{ and } y > 0. \quad (2)
Putting x+y+1=tx+y+1 = t (t>1t > 1, since xx and yy are positive) into (2), we obtain the inequality
1t4(t+1)2<111,if t>1(3) \frac{1}{t} - \frac{4}{(t+1)^2} < \frac{1}{11}, \quad \text{if } t > 1 \quad (3)
which is equivalent to (2). This inequality can be represented as
t39t2+23t11>0,if t>1.(4) t^3 - 9t^2 + 23t - 11 > 0, \quad \text{if } t > 1. \quad (4)
Inequality (1) will be proved once we prove (4). We rearrange (4) as
t39t2+23t11=(t3)34t+16=(t3)34(t3)+4=(t1)(t3)(t5)+4. t^3 - 9t^2 + 23t - 11 = (t-3)^3 - 4t + 16 = (t-3)^3 - 4(t-3) + 4 = (t-1)(t-3)(t-5) + 4.
Therefore, (4) is equivalent to the inequality
(t1)(t3)(t5)+4>0,if t>1.(5) (t-1)(t-3)(t-5) + 4 > 0, \quad \text{if } t > 1. \quad (5)
We see that for t>1t > 1 the polynomial (t1)(t3)(t5)0(t-1)(t-3)(t-5) \le 0 only if t[3;5]t \in [3; 5]. But in this case 0<t140 < t - 1 \le 4 and (t3)(t5)1(t-3)(t-5) \ge -1, therefore, (t1)(t3)(t5)4(t-1)(t-3)(t-5) \ge -4 for t[3;5]t \in [3; 5]. Thus (5) is proved, which implies that (1) holds.

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