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Algebra Difficulty 5.9 AIME, harder Prove it JBMO

Problem:
Let a,b,ca, b, c be positive real numbers. Prove that
1ab(b+1)(c+1)+1bc(c+1)(a+1)+1ca(a+1)(b+1)3(1+abc)2 \frac{1}{a b(b+1)(c+1)}+\frac{1}{b c(c+1)(a+1)}+\frac{1}{c a(a+1)(b+1)} \geq \frac{3}{(1+a b c)^{2}}

Solution

Solution:
The required inequality is equivalent to
c(a+1)+a(b+1)+b(c+1)abc(a+1)(b+1)(c+1)3(1+abc)2 \frac{c(a+1)+a(b+1)+b(c+1)}{a b c(a+1)(b+1)(c+1)} \geq \frac{3}{(1+a b c)^{2}}
or equivalently to,
(1+abc)2(ab+bc+ca+a+b+c)3abc(ab+bc+ca+a+b+c+abc+1) (1+a b c)^{2}(a b+b c+c a+a+b+c) \geq 3 a b c(a b+b c+c a+a+b+c+a b c+1)
Let m=a+b+c,n=ab+bc+cam=a+b+c, n=a b+b c+c a and x3=abcx^{3}=a b c, then the above can be rewritten as
(m+n)(1+x3)23x3(x3+m+n+1) (m+n)\left(1+x^{3}\right)^{2} \geq 3 x^{3}\left(x^{3}+m+n+1\right)
or
(m+n)(x6x3+1)3x3(x3+1) (m+n)\left(x^{6}-x^{3}+1\right) \geq 3 x^{3}\left(x^{3}+1\right)
By the AM-GM inequality we have m3xm \geq 3 x and n3x2n \geq 3 x^{2}, hence m+n3x(x+1)m+n \geq 3 x(x+1). It is sufficient to prove that
x(x+1)(x6x3+1)x3(x+1)(x2x+1)3(x6x3+1)x2(x2x+1)(x21)20 \begin{aligned} x(x+1)\left(x^{6}-x^{3}+1\right) & \geq x^{3}(x+1)\left(x^{2}-x+1\right) \\ 3\left(x^{6}-x^{3}+1\right) & \geq x^{2}\left(x^{2}-x+1\right) \\ \left(x^{2}-1\right)^{2} & \geq 0 \end{aligned}
which is true.

Alternative solution by PSC. We present here an approach without fully expanding.
Let abc=k3a b c=k^{3} and set a=kxy,b=kyz,c=kzxa=k \frac{x}{y}, b=k \frac{y}{z}, c=k \frac{z}{x}, where k,x,y,z>0k, x, y, z>0. Then, the inequality can be rewritten as
z2(ky+z)(kz+x)+x2(kz+x)(kx+y)+y2(kx+y)(ky+z)3k2(1+k3)2 \frac{z^{2}}{(k y+z)(k z+x)}+\frac{x^{2}}{(k z+x)(k x+y)}+\frac{y^{2}}{(k x+y)(k y+z)} \geq \frac{3 k^{2}}{\left(1+k^{3}\right)^{2}}
Using the Cauchy-Schwarz inequality we have that
cyclicz2(ky+z)(kz+x)(x+y+z)2(ky+z)(kz+x)+(kz+x)(kx+y)+(kx+y)(ky+z) \sum_{\text{cyclic}} \frac{z^{2}}{(k y+z)(k z+x)} \geq \frac{(x+y+z)^{2}}{(k y+z)(k z+x)+(k z+x)(k x+y)+(k x+y)(k y+z)}
therefore it suffices to prove that
(x+y+z)2(ky+z)(kz+x)+(kz+x)(kx+y)+(kx+y)(ky+z)3k2(1+k3)2 \frac{(x+y+z)^{2}}{(k y+z)(k z+x)+(k z+x)(k x+y)+(k x+y)(k y+z)} \geq \frac{3 k^{2}}{\left(1+k^{3}\right)^{2}}
or
((1+k3)23k3)(x2+y2+z2)(3k2(k2+k+1)2(1+k3)2)(xy+yz+zx) \left(\left(1+k^{3}\right)^{2}-3 k^{3}\right)\left(x^{2}+y^{2}+z^{2}\right) \geq\left(3 k^{2}\left(k^{2}+k+1\right)-2\left(1+k^{3}\right)^{2}\right)(x y+y z+z x)
Since x2+y2+z2xy+yz+zxx^{2}+y^{2}+z^{2} \geq x y+y z+z x and (1+k3)23k3>0\left(1+k^{3}\right)^{2}-3 k^{3}>0, it is enough to prove that
(1+k3)23k33k2(k2+k+1)2(1+k3)2 \left(1+k^{3}\right)^{2}-3 k^{3} \geq 3 k^{2}\left(k^{2}+k+1\right)-2\left(1+k^{3}\right)^{2}
or
(k1)2(k2+1)(k+1)20 (k-1)^{2}\left(k^{2}+1\right)(k+1)^{2} \geq 0
which is true.

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