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Algebra Difficulty 6.0 AIME, harder Prove it North Macedonia

If aa, bb, cc, dd are positive real numbers such that abcd=1abcd = 1 then prove that the inequality
1bc+cd+da1+1ab+cd+da1+1ab+bc+da1+1ab+bc+cd12 \frac{1}{bc+cd+da-1} + \frac{1}{ab+cd+da-1} + \frac{1}{ab+bc+da-1} + \frac{1}{ab+bc+cd-1} \le 2
holds.

Solutions — 2

Solution 1

By multiplying 1+bc+cd+da1+bc+cd+da and 1+ab1+ab together we get
(1+bc+cd+da)(1+ab)=1+bc+cd+da+ab+ab2c+abcd+a2bd==2+ab+bc+cd+da+bd+ac (1+bc+cd+da)(1+ab) = 1+bc+cd+da+ab+ab^2c+abcd+a^2bd = \\ = 2+ab+bc+cd+da+\frac{b}{d}+\frac{a}{c}
From the inequality between the arithmetic and the geometric mean for the positive numbers bd\frac{b}{d} and ac\frac{a}{c}, and from the equality abcd=1abcd=1 we get bd+ac2abcd=2ab\frac{b}{d} + \frac{a}{c} \ge 2\sqrt{\frac{ab}{cd}} = 2ab, and hence it holds that (1+bc+cd+da)(1+ab)2+2ab+ab+bc+cd+da(1+bc+cd+da)(1+ab) \ge 2+2ab+ab+bc+cd+da
i.e.
1+bc+cd+da2+ab+bc+cd+da1+ab 1+bc+cd+da \ge 2+\frac{ab+bc+cd+da}{1+ab}
or
1+abab+bc+cd+da1bc+cd+da1(1) \frac{1+ab}{ab+bc+cd+da} \ge \frac{1}{bc+cd+da-1} \quad (1)
Analogously we get
1+bcab+bc+cd+da1ab+cd+da1(2) \frac{1+bc}{ab+bc+cd+da} \ge \frac{1}{ab+cd+da-1} \quad (2)
1+daab+bc+cd+da1ab+bc+cd1(3) \frac{1+da}{ab+bc+cd+da} \ge \frac{1}{ab+bc+cd-1} \quad (3)
and
1+daab+bc+cd+da1ab+bc+cd1(4) \frac{1+da}{ab+bc+cd+da} \ge \frac{1}{ab+bc+cd-1} \quad (4)
By adding (1), (2), (3) and (4) together we get the inequality
4+ab+bc+cd+daab+bc+cd+da1bc+cd+da1+1ab+cd+da1+1ab+bc+da1+1ab+bc+cd1 \frac{4+ab+bc+cd+da}{ab+bc+cd+da} \geq \frac{1}{bc+cd+da-1} + \frac{1}{ab+cd+da-1} + \frac{1}{ab+bc+da-1} + \frac{1}{ab+bc+cd-1}
Since ab+bc+cd+da4(abcd)24=4ab + bc + cd + da \geq 4\sqrt[4]{(abcd)^2} = 4 it follows that
1bc+cd+da1+1ab+cd+da1+1ab+bc+da1+1ab+bc+cd11+4ab+bc+cd+da2 \frac{1}{bc+cd+da-1} + \frac{1}{ab+cd+da-1} + \frac{1}{ab+bc+da-1} + \frac{1}{ab+bc+cd-1} \le 1 + \frac{4}{ab+bc+cd+da} \le 2
which was to be proven.

Solution 2

We will introduce the substitutions ab=pab = p and bc=qbc = q. According to that, cd=1pcd = \frac{1}{p} and ad=1qad = \frac{1}{q}, so the given inequality is equivalent to the inequality
1q+1p+1q1+1p+1p+1q1+1p+q+1q1+1p+q+1p12 \frac{1}{q + \frac{1}{p} + \frac{1}{q} - 1} + \frac{1}{p + \frac{1}{p} + \frac{1}{q} - 1} + \frac{1}{p + q + \frac{1}{q} - 1} + \frac{1}{p + q + \frac{1}{p} - 1} \le 2
On the other hand, if we use the inequalities p+1p2p + \frac{1}{p} \ge 2 and q+1q2q + \frac{1}{q} \ge 2 we get
1q+1p+1q1+1p+1p+1q1+1p+q+1q1+1p+q+1p111+1p+11+1q+11+p+11+q==pp+1+1p+1+qq+1+1q+1=2. \begin{aligned} & \frac{1}{q + \frac{1}{p} + \frac{1}{q} - 1} + \frac{1}{p + \frac{1}{p} + \frac{1}{q} - 1} + \frac{1}{p + q + \frac{1}{q} - 1} + \frac{1}{p + q + \frac{1}{p} - 1} \\ & \le \frac{1}{1+\frac{1}{p}} + \frac{1}{1+\frac{1}{q}} + \frac{1}{1+p} + \frac{1}{1+q} = \\ & = \frac{p}{p+1} + \frac{1}{p+1} + \frac{q}{q+1} + \frac{1}{q+1} = 2. \end{aligned}

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