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Algebra Difficulty 6.3 National Olympiad Prove it JBMO

Problem:
Solve the following equation for x,y,zNx, y, z \in \mathbb{N}
(1+xy+z)2+(1+yz+x)2+(1+zx+y)2=274 \left(1+\frac{x}{y+z}\right)^{2}+\left(1+\frac{y}{z+x}\right)^{2}+\left(1+\frac{z}{x+y}\right)^{2}=\frac{27}{4}

Solution

Solution:
Call a=1+xy+za=1+\frac{x}{y+z}, b=1+yz+xb=1+\frac{y}{z+x}, c=1+zx+yc=1+\frac{z}{x+y} to get
a2+b2+c2=274 a^{2}+b^{2}+c^{2}=\frac{27}{4}
Since it is also true that
1a+1b+1c=2 \frac{1}{a}+\frac{1}{b}+\frac{1}{c}=2
the quadratic-harmonic means inequality implies
32=a2+b2+c2331a+1b+1c=32 \frac{3}{2}=\sqrt{\frac{a^{2}+b^{2}+c^{2}}{3}} \geq \frac{3}{\frac{1}{a}+\frac{1}{b}+\frac{1}{c}}=\frac{3}{2}
So the inequality in the middle holds as an equality, and this happens whenever a=b=ca=b=c, from which 1+xy+z=1+yz+x=1+zx+y1+\frac{x}{y+z}=1+\frac{y}{z+x}=1+\frac{z}{x+y}.
But 1+xy+z=1+yz+xx2+xz=y2+yz(xy)(x+y)=z(yx)1+\frac{x}{y+z}=1+\frac{y}{z+x} \Leftrightarrow x^{2}+x z=y^{2}+y z \Leftrightarrow(x-y)(x+y)=z(y-x) and the two sides of this equality will be of different sign, unless x=yx=y in which case both sides become 00. So x=yx=y, and similarly y=zy=z, thus x=y=zx=y=z.
Indeed, any triad of equal natural numbers x=y=zx=y=z is a solution for the given equation, and so these are all its solutions.

Solution 2:
The given equation is equivalent to
274=(x+y+z)2(1(y+z)2+1(z+x)2+1(x+y)2) \frac{27}{4}=(x+y+z)^{2}\left(\frac{1}{(y+z)^{2}}+\frac{1}{(z+x)^{2}}+\frac{1}{(x+y)^{2}}\right)
Now observe that by the well known inequality a2+b2+c2ab+bc+caa^{2}+b^{2}+c^{2} \geq ab+bc+ca, with 1y+z\frac{1}{y+z}, 1z+x\frac{1}{z+x}, 1x+y\frac{1}{x+y} in place of a,b,ca, b, c; we get:
274=(x+y+z)2(1(y+z)2+1(z+x)2+1(x+y)2)(x+y+z)2(1(y+z)(z+x)+1(z+x)(x+y)+1(x+y)(y+z))=2(x+y+z)3(x+y)(y+z)(z+x)=(2(x+y+z))34(x+y)(y+z)(z+x)=((x+y)+(y+z)+(z+x))34(x+y)(y+z)(z+x)AM-GM(3(x+y)(y+z)(z+x)3)34(x+y)(y+z)(z+x).=274 \begin{aligned} \frac{27}{4} & =(x+y+z)^{2}\left(\frac{1}{(y+z)^{2}}+\frac{1}{(z+x)^{2}}+\frac{1}{(x+y)^{2}}\right) \\ & \geq (x+y+z)^{2}\left(\frac{1}{(y+z)(z+x)}+\frac{1}{(z+x)(x+y)}+\frac{1}{(x+y)(y+z)}\right) = \frac{2(x+y+z)^{3}}{(x+y)(y+z)(z+x)} \\ & = \frac{(2(x+y+z))^{3}}{4(x+y)(y+z)(z+x)} = \frac{((x+y)+(y+z)+(z+x))^{3}}{4(x+y)(y+z)(z+x)} \stackrel{\text{AM-GM}}{\geq} \frac{(3 \sqrt[3]{(x+y)(y+z)(z+x)})^{3}}{4(x+y)(y+z)(z+x)} . \\ & = \frac{27}{4} \end{aligned}
This means all inequalities in the above calculations are equalities, and this holds exactly whenever x+y=y+z=z+xx+y=y+z=z+x, that is x=y=zx=y=z. By the statement's demand we need to have a,b,ca, b, c integers. And conversely, any triad of equal natural numbers x=y=zx=y=z is indeed a solution for the given equation, and so these are all its solutions.

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