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Algebra Difficulty 6.1 National olympiad Prove it Thailand

Let aa, bb and cc be positive real numbers such that abc=1abc = 1. Prove that
1a3+2b3+6+1b3+2c3+6+1c3+2a3+6a2a4+4b+4c+b2b4+4c+4a+c2c4+4a+4b \begin{aligned} & \frac{1}{\sqrt{a^3 + 2b^3 + 6}} + \frac{1}{\sqrt{b^3 + 2c^3 + 6}} + \frac{1}{\sqrt{c^3 + 2a^3 + 6}} \\ \le & \frac{a^2}{\sqrt{a^4 + 4b + 4c}} + \frac{b^2}{\sqrt{b^4 + 4c + 4a}} + \frac{c^2}{\sqrt{c^4 + 4a + 4b}} \end{aligned}

Solution

First we prove that
a2a4+4b+4c+b2b4+4c+4a+c2c4+4a+4b1 \frac{a^2}{\sqrt{a^4 + 4b + 4c}} + \frac{b^2}{\sqrt{b^4 + 4c + 4a}} + \frac{c^2}{\sqrt{c^4 + 4a + 4b}} \ge 1
Applying AM-GM inequality, we conclude that
a2a4+4b+4c=a2a4+4ab2c+4abc2a2a4+(a2b2+a2c2+b2c2+b4)+(a2b2+a2c2+b2c2+c4)=a2a2+b2+c2 \begin{aligned} \frac{a^2}{\sqrt{a^4 + 4b + 4c}} &= \frac{a^2}{\sqrt{a^4 + 4ab^2c + 4abc^2}} \\ &\ge \frac{a^2}{\sqrt{a^4 + (a^2b^2 + a^2c^2 + b^2c^2 + b^4) + (a^2b^2 + a^2c^2 + b^2c^2 + c^4)}} \\ &= \frac{a^2}{a^2 + b^2 + c^2} \end{aligned}
Similarly,
b2b4+4c+4ab2b2+c2+a2;c2c4+4a+4bc2c2+a2+b2 \frac{b^2}{\sqrt{b^4 + 4c + 4a}} \ge \frac{b^2}{b^2 + c^2 + a^2}; \quad \frac{c^2}{\sqrt{c^4 + 4a + 4b}} \ge \frac{c^2}{c^2 + a^2 + b^2}
Therefore
a2a4+4b+4c+b2b4+4c+4a+c2c4+4a+4b1 \frac{a^2}{\sqrt{a^4 + 4b + 4c}} + \frac{b^2}{\sqrt{b^4 + 4c + 4a}} + \frac{c^2}{\sqrt{c^4 + 4a + 4b}} \ge 1

Now it remains to prove that
1a3+2b3+6+1b3+2c3+6+1c3+2a3+61 \frac{1}{\sqrt{a^3 + 2b^3 + 6}} + \frac{1}{\sqrt{b^3 + 2c^3 + 6}} + \frac{1}{\sqrt{c^3 + 2a^3 + 6}} \le 1
Applying the AM-GM inequality we conclude that
1a3+2b3+613ab2+6=abc3ab2+6abc=13(cb+2c)12(13+cb+2c)=14(53aa+2b). \begin{aligned} \frac{1}{\sqrt{a^3 + 2b^3 + 6}} &\le \frac{1}{\sqrt{3ab^2 + 6}} \\ &= \sqrt{\frac{abc}{3ab^2 + 6abc}} = \sqrt{\frac{1}{3}\left(\frac{c}{b+2c}\right)} \\ &\le \frac{1}{2}\left(\frac{1}{3} + \frac{c}{b+2c}\right) \\ &= \frac{1}{4}\left(\frac{5}{3} - \frac{a}{a+2b}\right). \end{aligned}

Therefore using the Cauchy-Schwartz inequality we have
1a3+2b3+6+1b3+2c3+6+1c3+2a3+65414(bb+2c+cc+2a+aa+2b)54(a+b+c)24(b(b+2c)+c(c+2a)+a(a+2b))=1. \begin{aligned} & \frac{1}{\sqrt{a^3 + 2b^3 + 6}} + \frac{1}{\sqrt{b^3 + 2c^3 + 6}} + \frac{1}{\sqrt{c^3 + 2a^3 + 6}} \\ \le & \frac{5}{4} - \frac{1}{4} \left( \frac{b}{b+2c} + \frac{c}{c+2a} + \frac{a}{a+2b} \right) \\ \le & \frac{5}{4} - \frac{(a+b+c)^2}{4(b(b+2c) + c(c+2a) + a(a+2b))} = 1. \end{aligned}
Hence the proof of this problem follows. □

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