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Algebra Difficulty 8.0 National olympiad, round 2 Prove it IMO

Let aa, bb, cc be positive real numbers such that 1a+1b+1c=a+b+c\frac{1}{a} + \frac{1}{b} + \frac{1}{c} = a + b + c. Prove that
1(2a+b+c)2+1(2b+c+a)2+1(2c+a+b)2316 \frac{1}{(2a + b + c)^2} + \frac{1}{(2b + c + a)^2} + \frac{1}{(2c + a + b)^2} \leq \frac{3}{16}

Solutions — 2

Solution 1

For positive real numbers xx, yy, zz, from the arithmetic-geometric-mean inequality,
2x+y+z=(x+y)+(x+z)2(x+y)(x+z) 2x + y + z = (x + y) + (x + z) \geq 2 \sqrt{(x + y)(x + z)}
we obtain
1(2x+y+z)214(x+y)(x+z) \frac{1}{(2x + y + z)^2} \leq \frac{1}{4(x + y)(x + z)}
Applying this to the left-hand side terms of the inequality to prove, we get
1(2a+b+c)2+1(2b+c+a)2+1(2c+a+b)214(a+b)(a+c)+14(b+c)(b+a)+14(c+a)(c+b)=(b+c)+(c+a)+(a+b)4(a+b)(b+c)(c+a)=a+b+c2(a+b)(b+c)(c+a) \begin{align*} \frac{1}{(2a + b + c)^2} &+ \frac{1}{(2b + c + a)^2} + \frac{1}{(2c + a + b)^2} \\ &\leq \frac{1}{4(a + b)(a + c)} + \frac{1}{4(b + c)(b + a)} + \frac{1}{4(c + a)(c + b)} \\ &= \frac{(b + c) + (c + a) + (a + b)}{4(a + b)(b + c)(c + a)} = \frac{a + b + c}{2(a + b)(b + c)(c + a)} \tag{1} \end{align*}
A second application of the inequality of the arithmetic-geometric mean yields
a2b+a2c+b2a+b2c+c2a+c2b6abc a^2 b + a^2 c + b^2 a + b^2 c + c^2 a + c^2 b \geq 6abc
or, equivalently,
9(a+b)(b+c)(c+a)8(a+b+c)(ab+bc+ca) \begin{equation*} 9(a + b)(b + c)(c + a) \geq 8(a + b + c)(ab + bc + ca) \tag{2} \end{equation*}
The supposition 1a+1b+1c=a+b+c\frac{1}{a} + \frac{1}{b} + \frac{1}{c} = a + b + c can be written as
ab+bc+ca=abc(a+b+c). \begin{equation*} ab + bc + ca = abc(a + b + c) . \tag{3} \end{equation*}
Applying the arithmetic-geometric-mean inequality x2y2+x2z22x2yzx^2 y^2 + x^2 z^2 \geq 2x^2 y z thrice, we get
a2b2+b2c2+c2a2a2bc+ab2c+abc2 a^2 b^2 + b^2 c^2 + c^2 a^2 \geq a^2 b c + a b^2 c + a b c^2
which is equivalent to
(ab+bc+ca)23abc(a+b+c) \begin{equation*} (ab + bc + ca)^2 \geq 3abc(a + b + c) \tag{4} \end{equation*}
Combining (1), (2), (3), and (4), we will finish the proof:
a+b+c2(a+b)(b+c)(c+a)=(a+b+c)(ab+bc+ca)2(a+b)(b+c)(c+a)ab+bc+caabc(a+b+c)abc(a+b+c)(ab+bc+ca)2928113=316 \begin{aligned} \frac{a + b + c}{2(a + b)(b + c)(c + a)} &= \frac{(a + b + c)(ab + bc + ca)}{2(a + b)(b + c)(c + a)} \cdot \frac{ab + bc + ca}{abc(a + b + c)} \cdot \frac{abc(a + b + c)}{(ab + bc + ca)^2} \\ &\leq \frac{9}{2 \cdot 8} \cdot 1 \cdot \frac{1}{3} = \frac{3}{16} \end{aligned}

Solution 2

Equivalently, we prove the homogenized inequality
(a+b+c)2(2a+b+c)2+(a+b+c)2(a+2b+c)2+(a+b+c)2(a+b+2c)2316(a+b+c)(1a+1b+1c) \frac{(a + b + c)^2}{(2a + b + c)^2} + \frac{(a + b + c)^2}{(a + 2b + c)^2} + \frac{(a + b + c)^2}{(a + b + 2c)^2} \leq \frac{3}{16}(a + b + c)\left(\frac{1}{a} + \frac{1}{b} + \frac{1}{c}\right)
for all positive real numbers aa, bb, cc. Without loss of generality we choose a+b+c=1a + b + c = 1. Thus, the problem is equivalent to prove for all aa, bb, c>0c > 0, fulfilling this condition, the inequality
1(1+a)2+1(1+b)2+1(1+c)2316(1a+1b+1c) \begin{equation*} \frac{1}{(1 + a)^2} + \frac{1}{(1 + b)^2} + \frac{1}{(1 + c)^2} \leq \frac{3}{16}\left(\frac{1}{a} + \frac{1}{b} + \frac{1}{c}\right) \tag{5} \end{equation*}
Applying Jensen's inequality to the function f(x)=x(1+x)2f(x) = \frac{x}{(1 + x)^2}, which is concave for 0x20 \leq x \leq 2 and increasing for 0x10 \leq x \leq 1, we obtain
αa(1+a)2+βb(1+b)2+γc(1+c)2(α+β+γ)A(1+A)2, where A=αa+βb+γcα+β+γ. \alpha \frac{a}{(1 + a)^2} + \beta \frac{b}{(1 + b)^2} + \gamma \frac{c}{(1 + c)^2} \leq (\alpha + \beta + \gamma) \frac{A}{(1 + A)^2}, \quad \text{ where } \quad A = \frac{\alpha a + \beta b + \gamma c}{\alpha + \beta + \gamma} .
Choosing α=1a\alpha = \frac{1}{a}, β=1b\beta = \frac{1}{b}, and γ=1c\gamma = \frac{1}{c}, we can apply the harmonic-arithmetic-mean inequality
A=31a+1b+1ca+b+c3=13<1 A = \frac{3}{\frac{1}{a} + \frac{1}{b} + \frac{1}{c}} \leq \frac{a + b + c}{3} = \frac{1}{3} < 1
Finally we prove (5):

1(1+a)2+1(1+b)2+1(1+c)2(1a+1b+1c)A(1+A)2(1a+1b+1c)13(1+13)2=316(1a+1b+1c)\begin{aligned} \frac{1}{(1 + a)^2} + \frac{1}{(1 + b)^2} + \frac{1}{(1 + c)^2} &\leq \left(\frac{1}{a} + \frac{1}{b} + \frac{1}{c}\right) \frac{A}{(1 + A)^2} \\ &\leq \left(\frac{1}{a} + \frac{1}{b} + \frac{1}{c}\right) \frac{\frac{1}{3}}{\left(1 + \frac{1}{3}\right)^2} = \frac{3}{16}\left(\frac{1}{a} + \frac{1}{b} + \frac{1}{c}\right) \end{aligned}

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