Suppose that a,b,c are positive real numbers, prove that 1<a2+b2a+b2+c2b+c2+a2c≤232.
Solution
Set x=a2b2, y=b2c2, z=c2a2, then x,y,z∈R+ and xyz=1. It suffices to prove that 1<1+x1+1+y1+1+z1≤232.
Without loss of generality, we assume that x≤y≤z. Set A=xy, we have z=A1, A≤1. Thus 1+x1+1+y1+1+z1>1+x1+1+x11=1+x1+x>1. Let u=1+A+x+xA1, then u∈(0,1+A1], and x=A if and only if u=1+A1. Hence (1+x1+1+y1)2=1+x1+1+xA12 =1+x1+1+xA1+1+A+x+xA2=1+A+x+xA2+x+xA+1+A+x+xA2=1+(1−A)u2+2u. Set f(u)=(1−A)u2+2u+1, we see that f(u) is an increasing function on u∈(0,1+A1], which implies that 1+x1+1+y1≤f(1+A1)=1+A2 Now set A=v, we get 1+x1+1+y1+1+z1≤1+A2+1+A11=1+v2+2(1+v2)2v≤1+v2+1+v2v=1+v2+2−1+v2=−2[1+v1−22]2+232≤232.
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