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Bulgarian Mathematical Olympiad

Algebra Difficulty 5.3 AIME, harder Prove it Bulgaria

Prove that if α,β,γ∈[0,π2]\alpha, \beta, \gamma \in [0, \frac{\pi}{2}] and tan⁡α+tan⁡β+tan⁡γ≤3\tan\alpha + \tan\beta + \tan\gamma \le 3, then
cos⁡2α+cos⁡2β+cos⁡2γ≥0. \cos 2\alpha + \cos 2\beta + \cos 2\gamma \ge 0.

Solution

First solution. The inequality follows by the fact that if θ∈[0,π2]\theta \in [0, \frac{\pi}{2}], then
cos⁡2θ=1−sin⁡2θ⋅tan⁡θ≥1−tan⁡θ. \cos 2\theta = 1 - \sin 2\theta \cdot \tan \theta \ge 1 - \tan \theta.

Second solution. Set x=tan⁡αx = \tan\alpha, y=tan⁡βy = \tan\beta and z=tan⁡γz = \tan\gamma. Then x,y,z≥0x, y, z \ge 0, x+y+z≤3x+y+z \le 3 and we have to prove that
cos⁡2α+cos⁡2β+cos⁡2γ=1−x21+x2+1−y21+y2+1−z21+z2≥0. \cos 2\alpha + \cos 2\beta + \cos 2\gamma = \frac{1-x^2}{1+x^2} + \frac{1-y^2}{1+y^2} + \frac{1-z^2}{1+z^2} \ge 0.
This inequality can be written as
11+x2+11+y2+11+z2≥32. \frac{1}{1+x^2} + \frac{1}{1+y^2} + \frac{1}{1+z^2} \ge \frac{3}{2}.
To prove the last inequality, it remains to use that 11+t2≥1−t2\frac{1}{1+t^2} \ge 1 - \frac{t}{2} is equivalent to t(t−1)2≥0t(t-1)^2 \ge 0.

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