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Algebra Difficulty 6.1 National Olympiad Prove it Ireland

Suppose a,b,ca, b, c are real numbers such that a+b+c=1a + b + c = 1 and a2+b2+c2=1a^2 + b^2 + c^2 = 1. Prove that
427abc0. -\frac{4}{27} \le abc \le 0.

Solutions — 4

Solution 1

To begin with,
1=(a+b+c)2=a2+b2+c2+2(ab+bc+ca)=1+2(ab+bc+ca) 1 = (a + b + c)^2 = a^2 + b^2 + c^2 + 2(ab + bc + ca) = 1 + 2(ab + bc + ca)
so that ab+bc+ca=0ab+bc+ca = 0. Now we can prove the upper bound of zero. Suppose (for a contradiction) that a real triple a,b,ca, b, c satisfies the given constraints and abc>0abc > 0. Then either

(i) all three of a,b,ca, b, c are positive, or
(ii) some two are negative and the other one is positive.
If (i) holds, then each of the products ab,bc,caab, bc, ca is positive, in which case ab+bc+ca>0ab + bc + ca > 0, a contradiction. Say (ii) happens with a<0,b<0,c>0a < 0, b < 0, c > 0. Then
0=ab+bc+ca=ab+c(a+b)=ab+(a+b)(1(a+b))=ab+a+b(a+b)2=a+ba2abb2 \begin{aligned} 0 &= ab + bc + ca \\ &= ab + c(a + b) = ab + (a + b)(1 - (a + b)) \\ &= ab + a + b - (a + b)^2 = a + b - a^2 - ab - b^2 \end{aligned}
a sum of five negative numbers equal to zero, also a contradiction. Thus (ii) can't occur either. The conclusion is that abc0abc \le 0 for all triples satisfying the given constraints.

Next, we will prove that abc427abc \ge -\frac{4}{27}. In any case, abc0abc \le 0 and a+b+c>0a + b + c > 0, hence at most one of a,b,ca, b, c is negative. Suppose a>0,b>0,c<0a > 0, b > 0, c < 0. Since, 0=ab+bc+ca0 = ab+bc+ca, therefore ac=b(a+c)=b(1b)-ac = b(a+c) = b(1-b). Thus ab(c)=b2(1b)ab(-c) = b^2(1-b). But a2+b2+c2=1a^2 + b^2 + c^2 = 1, so that b2<1b^2 < 1, in which case 0<b<10 < b < 1. Hence, by AM-GM,
(b2(1b)4)1/3=(b2b2(1b))1/313(b2+b2+1b)=13 \left(\frac{b^2(1-b)}{4}\right)^{1/3} = \left(\frac{b}{2} \cdot \frac{b}{2} \cdot (1-b)\right)^{1/3} \le \frac{1}{3}\left(\frac{b}{2} + \frac{b}{2} + 1 - b\right) = \frac{1}{3}
whence ab(c)=b2(1b)427ab(-c) = b^2(1-b) \le \frac{4}{27} as desired.

Solution 2

First observe that 2ab=(a+b)2(a2+b2)=(1c)2(1c2)=2c22c2ab = (a+b)^2 - (a^2+b^2) = (1-c)^2 - (1-c^2) = 2c^2 - 2c. So abc=c3c2=c2(c1)abc = c^3 - c^2 = c^2(c-1).

Next observe that aa and bb satisfy the equation x2(a+b)x+ab=0x^2 - (a+b)x + ab = 0, that is x2(1c)x+c2c=0x^2 - (1-c)x + c^2 - c = 0. Since aa and bb (and hence cc) are real, the quadratic has a non-negative discriminant so that (1c)24(c2c)0(1-c)^2 - 4(c^2-c) \ge 0. That reduces to 1+2c3c201+2c-3c^2 \ge 0 and hence (c1)(c+13)0(c-1)(c+\frac{1}{3}) \le 0. So cc must satisfy 13c1-\frac{1}{3} \le c \le 1. It follows immediately that abc=c2(c1)0abc = c^2(c-1) \le 0, which proves the right side of the inequality.

Note that if 0<c<10 < c < 1, then AM-GM implies:
2(c2c3)=(c)(c)(22c)(c+c+22c3)3=827 2(c^2 - c^3) = (c)(c)(2 - 2c) \le \left( \frac{c+c+2-2c}{3} \right)^3 = \frac{8}{27}
So c3c2427c^3 - c^2 \ge -\frac{4}{27} which proves the left side of the inequality for these values of cc. In the remaining case, 13c0-\frac{1}{3} \le c \le 0, we note that c3c2c^3 - c^2 is an increasing function of cc on that range (an increasing function minus a decreasing function) and so c3c2c^3 - c^2 is at most the value of that expression when c=13c = -\frac{1}{3}, completing the proof.

Solution 3

Observing that
2ab=(a+b)2(a2+b2)=(1c)2(1c2)=2c22c, 2ab = (a+b)^2 - (a^2+b^2) = (1-c)^2 - (1-c^2) = 2c^2 - 2c,
we obtain abc=c2(c1)0abc = c^2(c-1) \le 0 because we have c1c \le 1 from a2+b2+c2=1a^2 + b^2 + c^2 = 1. Now we see that
abc427    c3c2+4270    27c327c2+40    x33x2+40 \begin{align*} abc \ge -\frac{4}{27} &\iff c^3 - c^2 + \frac{4}{27} \ge 0 \\ &\iff 27c^3 - 27c^2 + 4 \ge 0 \\ &\iff x^3 - 3x^2 + 4 \ge 0 \end{align*}
where we set x=3cx = 3c. We easily discover the root x=1x = -1 of x33x2+4x^3 - 3x^2 + 4 and then the factorisation x33x2+4=(x+1)(x2)2x^3 - 3x^2 + 4 = (x+1)(x-2)^2.
To show x=3c1x = 3c \ge -1, we assume c<1/3c < -1/3. This implies c2>1/9c^2 > 1/9 and a+b=1c>4/3a+b = 1-c > 4/3, hence we cannot have a0a \le 0 and b0b \le 0, i.e. at least one of a,ba,b is positive. Because abc0abc \le 0 and c<0c < 0 we have ab0ab \ge 0. This implies now that a0a \ge 0 and b0b \ge 0 and we can use AM-QM to get a2+b2(a+b)2/2>8/9a^2 + b^2 \ge (a+b)^2/2 > 8/9 which leads to the contradiction a2+b2+c2>1a^2 + b^2 + c^2 > 1. It follows that x1x \ge -1 and so x33x2+4=(x+1)(x2)20x^3 - 3x^2 + 4 = (x+1)(x-2)^2 \ge 0, as desired.

Solution 4

The plane a+b+c=1a+b+c=1 intersects the unit sphere in a circle containing the points (1,0,0)(1,0,0), (0,1,0)(0,1,0), (0,0,1)(0,0,1), and these three points divide the circle into arcs. At the three points, the inequalities are trivial. Except at these three points, we cannot have all three coordinates on these arcs non-negative, because ab+bc+ca=0ab+bc+ca=0 as seen in Solution 1. In fact, exactly one coordinate is negative, since if a,b<0a,b < 0, say, then the first equation implies c>1c > 1, whence c2>1c^2 > 1, contradicting the second equation. This shows, in particular, abc0abc \le 0.

Let us assume, without loss of generality, that c<0c < 0, so a,b>0a, b > 0. We claim the point on the circle where cc is minimal equates aa and bb, that is (a,b,c)=(2/3,2/3,1/3)(a, b, c) = (2/3, 2/3, -1/3). For the proof of minimality suppose c<1/3c < -1/3, then a+b>4/3a+b > 4/3 and a2+b212(a+b)2>8/9a^2+b^2 \ge \frac{1}{2}(a+b)^2 > 8/9, while c2>1/9c^2 > 1/9, contradicting the second equation. If c=1/3c = -1/3 we get a+b=4/3a+b = 4/3 and a2+b2=8/9a^2+b^2 = 8/9. Then we are in the equality case of the AM-QM inequality 89=a2+b212(a+b)2=89\frac{8}{9} = a^2+b^2 \ge \frac{1}{2}(a+b)^2 = \frac{8}{9}, hence a=b=2/3a = b = 2/3.
Next we show for fixed cc satisfying 1/3c<0-1/3 \le c < 0 that abab is maximised (and so abcabc is minimised) over the set {(a,b):0<a,b;a2+b21c2}\{(a,b) : 0 < a, b; a^2 + b^2 \le 1 - c^2\} when 2a2=2b2=1c22a^2 = 2b^2 = 1 - c^2. Call the corresponding point PcP_c.
To maximise xyxy inside the closed disc centred at the origin, intersected with the first quadrant, {(x,y):0<x,y;x2+y2r2}\{(x, y) : 0 < x, y; x^2 + y^2 \le r^2\}, we proceed as follows. It is easy to see that on any line of slope 1-1, i.e. for fixed x+yx+y, the maximum of xyxy occurs when x=yx = y. We then head out along the diagonal to the maximum at x=y=r2x = y = \frac{r}{\sqrt{2}} and see that the maximum of xyxy is equal to r2/2r^2/2. In our situation, r2=1c2r^2 = 1 - c^2 and so the minimum of abcabc (for fixed 1/3c<0-1/3 \le c < 0) occurs at the point PcP_c, and is equal to c(1c2)2\frac{c(1-c^2)}{2}.

To find the minimum of abcabc for these points PcP_c (now allowing cc to vary), we substitute c=x13c = x - \frac{1}{3} to obtain
abc=c(1c2)2=427x6(3x23x2). abc = \frac{c(1 - c^2)}{2} = -\frac{4}{27} - \frac{x}{6}(3x^2 - 3x - 2).
For 0x<1/30 \le x < 1/3 we have 3x<13x < 1 and 3x2x3x<3x+23x^2 \le x \le 3x < 3x + 2 and therefore
x6(3x23x2)0with equality iff x=0. -\frac{x}{6}(3x^2 - 3x - 2) \ge 0 \quad \text{with equality iff } x = 0.
Thus we have shown that the minimum of abcabc is obtained for x=0x = 0, i.e. c=1/3c = -1/3, and this corresponds to the point P1/3=(2/3,2/3,1/3)P_{-1/3} = (2/3, 2/3, -1/3), where abc=427abc = -\frac{4}{27}. This is the minimum over all (a,b,c)(a, b, c) that satisfy a2+b2+c21a^2+b^2+c^2 \le 1, a,b>0a, b > 0, and 1/3c<0-1/3 \le c < 0. Earlier we showed that (a,b,c)(a, b, c) satisfies these conditions if it is a point on the arc mentioned above on which c<0c < 0. By symmetry it follows that abc427abc \ge -\frac{4}{27} for all points considered in the problem.

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