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Belarusian Mathematical Olympiad

Algebra Difficulty 6.0 AIME, harder Prove it Belarus

Three distinct real numbers satisfy the following condition: the square of any of them is 11 greater than the product of the remaining two.

Find all possible values of the sum of pairwise products of these numbers.

Solution

Let the three distinct real numbers be aa, bb, and cc.

The condition says: the square of any of them is 11 greater than the product of the other two.
So:

a2=bc+1a^2 = bc + 1
b2=ca+1b^2 = ca + 1
c2=ab+1c^2 = ab + 1

Add all three equations:
a2+b2+c2=ab+bc+ca+3a^2 + b^2 + c^2 = ab + bc + ca + 3

Recall that (a+b+c)2=a2+b2+c2+2(ab+bc+ca)(a + b + c)^2 = a^2 + b^2 + c^2 + 2(ab + bc + ca), so:
a2+b2+c2=(a+b+c)2−2(ab+bc+ca)a^2 + b^2 + c^2 = (a + b + c)^2 - 2(ab + bc + ca)

Let S=ab+bc+caS = ab + bc + ca and T=a+b+cT = a + b + c.

So:
(a+b+c)2−2S=S+3(a + b + c)^2 - 2S = S + 3
T2−2S=S+3T^2 - 2S = S + 3
T2−3S=3T^2 - 3S = 3
T2=3S+3T^2 = 3S + 3

Now, let's try to find SS.

From the first equation: a2=bc+1a^2 = bc + 1
So a2−bc=1a^2 - bc = 1
Similarly, b2−ca=1b^2 - ca = 1, c2−ab=1c^2 - ab = 1

Now, consider a2−bc=1a^2 - bc = 1
But a2=bc+1a^2 = bc + 1
So a2−bc=1a^2 - bc = 1

Let us try to find the possible values of S=ab+bc+caS = ab + bc + ca.

Let us try to find the numbers explicitly.

Let aa, bb, cc be roots of the cubic x3−px2+Sx−Q=0x^3 - p x^2 + S x - Q = 0.
But perhaps it's easier to try to find the numbers directly.

Let us try to subtract the equations:
a2−b2=(bc+1)−(ca+1)=bc−ca=c(b−a)a^2 - b^2 = (bc + 1) - (ca + 1) = bc - ca = c(b - a)
So a2−b2=c(b−a)a^2 - b^2 = c(b - a)
But a2−b2=(a−b)(a+b)a^2 - b^2 = (a - b)(a + b)
So (a−b)(a+b)=c(b−a)(a - b)(a + b) = c(b - a)
So (a−b)(a+b+c)=0(a - b)(a + b + c) = 0
So either a=ba = b (contradicts distinctness), or a+b+c=0a + b + c = 0

Therefore, a+b+c=0a + b + c = 0
So T=0T = 0

Recall T2=3S+3T^2 = 3S + 3
So 0=3S+30 = 3S + 3
So S=−1S = -1

Therefore, the only possible value for the sum of pairwise products is −1\boxed{-1}.

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