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Team Selection Test Selection Test

Algebra Difficulty 7.8 National Olympiad, round 2 Prove it United States

Let aa, bb, cc be real numbers in the interval [0,1][0, 1] with a+ba + b, b+cb + c, c+a≥1c + a \ge 1. Prove that
1≤(1−a)2+(1−b)2+(1−c)2+22abca2+b2+c2. 1 \le (1-a)^2 + (1-b)^2 + (1-c)^2 + \frac{2\sqrt{2abc}}{\sqrt{a^2+b^2+c^2}}.

Solution

We may assume without loss of generality that a≥b≥ca \ge b \ge c. Noting that (1−b)2+(1−c)2=(b+c−1)2−2bc+1(1-b)^2 + (1-c)^2 = (b+c-1)^2 - 2bc + 1, we may transform the right hand side of the desired inequality into
(1−a)2+(1−b)2+(1−c)2+22abca2+b2+c2=22abca2+b2+c2−2bc+(1−a)2+(b+c−1)2+1. (1-a)^2 + (1-b)^2 + (1-c)^2 + \frac{2\sqrt{2abc}}{\sqrt{a^2 + b^2 + c^2}} = \frac{2\sqrt{2abc}}{\sqrt{a^2 + b^2 + c^2}} - 2bc + (1-a)^2 + (b+c-1)^2 + 1.
Rearranging, it suffices to show that
2bc(a2+b2+c2−2a)a2+b2+c2≤(1−a)2+(b+c−1)2,(19) \frac{2bc(\sqrt{a^2 + b^2 + c^2} - \sqrt{2a})}{\sqrt{a^2 + b^2 + c^2}} \le (1-a)^2 + (b+c-1)^2, \quad (19)
which after rationalizing the numerator is equivalent to
2bc(b2+c2−a2)a2+b2+c2(2a+a2+b2+c2)≤(1−a)2+(b+c−1)2.(20) \frac{2bc(b^2 + c^2 - a^2)}{\sqrt{a^2 + b^2 + c^2} (\sqrt{2}a + \sqrt{a^2 + b^2 + c^2})} \le (1-a)^2 + (b+c-1)^2. \quad (20)
If b2+c2−a2≤0b^2 + c^2 - a^2 \le 0, then (20) is clearly true. We may therefore assume that b2+c2−a2>0b^2 + c^2 - a^2 > 0. To simplify (20), we want to produce the term b2+c2−a2b^2 + c^2 - a^2 from the right-hand side of (20). By the RMS-AM inequality, we have
(1−a)2+(b+c−1)2≥[(1−a)+(b+c−1)]22=(b+c−a)22.(21) (1-a)^2 + (b+c-1)^2 \ge \frac{[(1-a) + (b+c-1)]^2}{2} = \frac{(b+c-a)^2}{2}. \quad (21)
By our assumption that a≥b≥ca \ge b \ge c, we obtain
b2+c2−a2−(b+c−a)2=2(ab+ac−bc−a2)=−2(a−b)(a−c)≤0, b^2 + c^2 - a^2 - (b + c - a)^2 = 2(ab + ac - bc - a^2) = -2(a - b)(a - c) \le 0,
hence
(b+c−a)22≥b2+c2−a22≥0.(22) \frac{(b+c-a)^2}{2} \ge \frac{b^2+c^2-a^2}{2} \ge 0. \quad (22)
Together, (21) and (22) show that
(1−a)2+(b+c−1)2≥b2+c2−a22.(23) (1-a)^2 + (b+c-1)^2 \ge \frac{b^2+c^2-a^2}{2}. \quad (23)
On the other hand, the ordering a≥b≥c≥0a \ge b \ge c \ge 0 implies a2≥bca^2 \ge bc, so a≥bca \ge \sqrt{bc}. Hence by the AM-GM inequality, we have
a2+b2+c2(2a+a2+b2+c2)≥bc+2bc(2bc+bc+2bc)=(3+6)bc>4bc.(24) \sqrt{a^2 + b^2 + c^2} (\sqrt{2a} + \sqrt{a^2 + b^2 + c^2}) \ge \sqrt{bc + 2bc} (\sqrt{2bc} + \sqrt{bc + 2bc}) = (3 + \sqrt{6})bc > 4bc. \quad (24)
Dividing both sides of (24) by the left hand side and combining it with (23), we find that
(1−a)2+(b+c−1)2≥b2+c2−a22⋅4bca2+b2+c2(2a+a2+b2+c2), (1-a)^2 + (b+c-1)^2 \ge \frac{b^2+c^2-a^2}{2} \cdot \frac{4bc}{\sqrt{a^2 + b^2 + c^2} (\sqrt{2a} + \sqrt{a^2 + b^2 + c^2})},
which is the desired (20).

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