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Algebra Difficulty 6.6 National Olympiad Prove it Hong Kong

Find the greatest real KK such that for every positive uu, vv and ww with u2>4vwu^2 > 4vw, the inequality
(u24vw)2>K(2v2uw)(2w2uv) (u^2 - 4vw)^2 > K(2v^2 - uw)(2w^2 - uv)
holds. Justify your claim.

Solution

The greatest KK is 1616.

We first prove the inequality when K=16K = 16. Note that
u24vw=u2+2vw6vwu2+2vw3(v2+w2)=u2+(v+w)24(v2+w2)2u(v+w)4(v2+w2)=2(uw2v2)+(uv2w2). \begin{aligned} u^2 - 4vw &= u^2 + 2vw - 6vw \\ &\ge u^2 + 2vw - 3(v^2 + w^2) \\ &= u^2 + (v+w)^2 - 4(v^2 + w^2) \\ &\ge 2u(v+w) - 4(v^2 + w^2) \\ &= 2(uw - 2v^2) + (uv - 2w^2). \end{aligned}
If uw2v2uw - 2v^2 and uv2w2uv - 2w^2 have different signs (possibly equal to 00), we have
(u24vw)20K(2v2uw)(2w2uv). (u^2 - 4vw)^2 \ge 0 \ge K(2v^2 - uw)(2w^2 - uv).
The equality case will be handled below.
If both uw2v2uw - 2v^2 and uv2w2uv - 2w^2 are negative, then (uw)(uv)<(2v2)(2w2)(uw)(uv) < (2v^2)(2w^2), which yields the contradiction u2<4vwu^2 < 4vw.
Therefore, we may assume both uw2v2uw - 2v^2 and uv2w2uv - 2w^2 are positive. Therefore, we obtain
(u24vw)24((uw2v2)+(uv2w2))216(uw2v2)(uv2w2). (u^2 - 4vw)^2 \ge 4((uw - 2v^2) + (uv - 2w^2))^2 \ge 16(uw - 2v^2)(uv - 2w^2).
For the equality to hold, we must have v=wv = w and u=v+wu = v + w. This implies
u2=(2v)2=4v2=4vw, u^2 = (2v)^2 = 4v^2 = 4vw,
contradicting u2>4vwu^2 > 4vw. Therefore, equality cannot hold, and the inequality is proven.

Next, we show K=16K = 16 is the largest possible. Consider v=w=1v = w = 1 and u=2+εu = 2 + \varepsilon for a sufficiently small positive ε\varepsilon. The relation u2>4vwu^2 > 4vw holds. Also, we have
(u24vw)2=(4+4ε+ε24)2=ε2(4+ε)2 (u^2 - 4vw)^2 = (4 + 4\varepsilon + \varepsilon^2 - 4)^2 = \varepsilon^2(4 + \varepsilon)^2
and
K(2v2uw)(2w2uv)=K(22ε)2=Kε2. K(2v^2 - uw)(2w^2 - uv) = K(2 - 2 - \varepsilon)^2 = K\varepsilon^2.
The inequality holds if and only if (4+ε)2>K(4 + \varepsilon)^2 > K. When ε\varepsilon approaches 00, the left-hand side approaches 1616. Therefore, K16K \le 16. This completes the proof.

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