Maths Olympiad Prep

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, 2015

Algebra Difficulty 7.8 National Olympiad, round 2 Prove it Baltic Way

Consider four positive real numbers aa, bb, cc and dd, satisfying
a2+ab+b2=3c2anda3+a2b+ab2+b3=4d3. a^2 + ab + b^2 = 3c^2 \quad \text{and} \quad a^3 + a^2b + ab^2 + b^3 = 4d^3.
Prove that
a+b+d3c. a + b + d \le 3c.

Solution

Setting x=a+b2x = \frac{a+b}{2} and y=ab2y = \frac{a-b}{2}, we have a=x+ya = x + y and b=xyb = x - y. The given equations transform into
c2=x2+y23(1) c^2 = x^2 + \frac{y^2}{3} \quad (1)
d3=x(x2+y2),(2) d^3 = x(x^2 + y^2), \quad (2)
and the inequality to be proved into 2x+d3c2x + d \le 3c.

By (1), we have cx>0c \ge x > 0. Moreover, a simple calculation shows
(3c2x)2=9c212cx+4x2=3c2+6(cx)22x23c22x2=x2+y2, (3c - 2x)^2 = 9c^2 - 12cx + 4x^2 = 3c^2 + 6(c-x)^2 - 2x^2 \ge 3c^2 - 2x^2 = x^2 + y^2,
using (1) in the last step.
Next, we observe that (2) implies dxd \ge x and hence also x2+y2d2x^2 + y^2 \ge d^2. In combination with 3c2xc>03c - 2x \ge c > 0, this leads to
3c2xx2+y2d, 3c - 2x \ge \sqrt{x^2 + y^2} \ge d,
whereby the problem is solved.

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Source: MathNet, licensed CC-BY-4.0. Statement reproduced verbatim; metadata (topic, difficulty) added by this project.