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Algebra Difficulty 6.1 National olympiad Prove it Romania

Let aa, bb, cc be positive numbers with abc1abc \ge 1. Prove that
1a3+2b3+6+1b3+2c3+6+1c3+2a3+613. \frac{1}{a^3 + 2b^3 + 6} + \frac{1}{b^3 + 2c^3 + 6} + \frac{1}{c^3 + 2a^3 + 6} \le \frac{1}{3}.

Solution

Notice that a3+b3+13aba^3 + b^3 + 1 \ge 3ab and b3+1+13bb^3 + 1 + 1 \ge 3b to obtain that 1a3+2b3+613ab+3b+3\frac{1}{a^3+2b^3+6} \le \frac{1}{3ab+3b+3}, hence it is sufficient to show that 1ab+b+1+1bc+c+1+1ca+a+11\frac{1}{ab+b+1} + \frac{1}{bc+c+1} + \frac{1}{ca+a+1} \le 1.

To this end, observe that 1ab+b+1+1bc+c+1+1ca+a+1=1ab+b+1+abab2c+abc+ab+babc+ab+babc11ab+b+1+abb+1+ab+b1+ab+b=1+ab+bab+b+1=1\frac{1}{ab+b+1} + \frac{1}{bc+c+1} + \frac{1}{ca+a+1} = \frac{1}{ab+b+1} + \frac{ab}{ab^2c+abc+ab} + \frac{b}{abc+ab+b} \stackrel{abc \ge 1}{\le} \frac{1}{ab+b+1} + \frac{ab}{b+1+ab} + \frac{b}{1+ab+b} = \frac{1+ab+b}{ab+b+1} = 1.

Alternative Solution:

Subtract 1/61/6 from each of the left hand-side summands and write successively cyc(1a3+2b3+616)1312\sum_{cyc} \left(\frac{1}{a^3+2b^3+6} - \frac{1}{6}\right) \le \frac{1}{3} - \frac{1}{2}, then cyca32b36(a3+2b3+6)16\sum_{cyc} \frac{-a^3-2b^3}{6(a^3+2b^3+6)} \le -\frac{1}{6} or further cyca3+2b3a3+2b3+61\sum_{cyc} \frac{a^3+2b^3}{a^3+2b^3+6} \ge 1.

To this end, notice that
cyca3a3+2b3+6=cyca4a4+2ab3+6aCBS(a2+b2+c2)2a4+b4+c4+2(ab3+bc3+ca3)+6(a+b+c)(1)13. \begin{aligned} \sum_{cyc} \frac{a^3}{a^3 + 2b^3 + 6} &= \sum_{cyc} \frac{a^4}{a^4 + 2ab^3 + 6a} \\ &\stackrel{CBS}{\ge} \frac{(a^2 + b^2 + c^2)^2}{a^4 + b^4 + c^4 + 2(ab^3 + bc^3 + ca^3) + 6(a + b + c)} \stackrel{(1)}{\ge} \frac{1}{3}. \end{aligned}

The inequality (1) rewrites 3(a4+b4+c4)+6(a2b2+b2c2+c2a2)a4+b4+c4+2(ab3+bc3+ca3)+6(a+b+c)3(a^4+b^4+c^4)+6(a^2b^2+b^2c^2+c^2a^2) \ge a^4+b^4+c^4+2(ab^3+bc^3+ca^3)+6(a+b+c), and follows from 2(a4+b4+c4)2(ab3+bc3+ca3)2(a^4+b^4+c^4) \ge 2(ab^3+bc^3+ca^3) and 6(a2b2+b2c2+c2a2)6(abbc+bcca+caab)=6abc(a+b+c)6(a+b+c)6(a^2b^2+b^2c^2+c^2a^2) \ge 6(ab \cdot bc+bc \cdot ca+ca \cdot ab) = 6abc(a+b+c) \ge 6(a+b+c).

On the other hand,
cycb3a3+2b3+6=cycb4ba3+2b4+6bCBS(a2+b2+c2)22(a4+b4+c4)+(ba3+cb3+ac3)+6(a+b+c)(2)13. \begin{aligned} \sum_{cyc} \frac{b^3}{a^3 + 2b^3 + 6} &= \sum_{cyc} \frac{b^4}{ba^3 + 2b^4 + 6b} \\ &\stackrel{CBS}{\ge} \frac{(a^2 + b^2 + c^2)^2}{2(a^4 + b^4 + c^4) + (ba^3 + cb^3 + ac^3) + 6(a+b+c)} \\ &\stackrel{(2)}{\ge} \frac{1}{3}. \end{aligned}

The inequality (2) rewrites 3(a4+b4+c4)+6(a2b2+b2c2+c2a2)2(a4+b4+c4)+(ba3+cb3+ac3)+6(a+b+c)3(a^4+b^4+c^4)+6(a^2b^2+b^2c^2+c^2a^2) \ge 2(a^4+b^4+c^4)+(ba^3+cb^3+ac^3)+6(a+b+c), and follows from a4+b4+c4ba3+cb3+ac3a^4+b^4+c^4 \ge ba^3+cb^3+ac^3 and 6(a2b2+b2c2+c2a2)6(abbc+bcca+caab)=6abc(a+b+c)6(a+b+c)6(a^2b^2+b^2c^2+c^2a^2) \ge 6(ab \cdot bc+bc \cdot ca+ca \cdot ab) = 6abc(a+b+c) \ge 6(a+b+c).

Alternative Solution:

As a3+2b3=a3+b3+b33ab2a^3 + 2b^3 = a^3 + b^3 + b^3 \ge 3ab^2, it suffices to prove that 1ab2+2+1bc2+2+1ca2+21\frac{1}{ab^2+2} + \frac{1}{bc^2+2} + \frac{1}{ca^2+2} \le 1. Rewrite the inequality as ab22(ab2+2)bc22(bc2+2)ca22(ca2+2)132-\frac{ab^2}{2(ab^2+2)} - \frac{bc^2}{2(bc^2+2)} - \frac{ca^2}{2(ca^2+2)} \le 1 - \frac{3}{2}, or, equivalently,
ab2ab2+2+bc2bc2+2+ca2ca2+21. \frac{ab^2}{ab^2+2} + \frac{bc^2}{bc^2+2} + \frac{ca^2}{ca^2+2} \ge 1.
Recall that abc1abc \ge 1, and write ab2ab2+2abc+bc2bc2+2abc+ca2ca2+2abc1\frac{ab^2}{ab^2+2abc} + \frac{bc^2}{bc^2+2abc} + \frac{ca^2}{ca^2+2abc} \ge 1 to observe that it is enough to show that bb+2c+cc+2a+aa+2b1\frac{b}{b+2c} + \frac{c}{c+2a} + \frac{a}{a+2b} \ge 1. Indeed, bb+2c+cc+2a+aa+2b=b2b2+2bc+c2c2+2ca+a2a2+2abCBS(a+b+c)2b2+2bc+c2+2ca+a2+2ab=1\frac{b}{b+2c} + \frac{c}{c+2a} + \frac{a}{a+2b} = \frac{b^2}{b^2+2bc} + \frac{c^2}{c^2+2ca} + \frac{a^2}{a^2+2ab} \stackrel{CBS}{\ge} \frac{(a+b+c)^2}{b^2+2bc+c^2+2ca+a^2+2ab} = 1, which concludes the proof.

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