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Algebra Difficulty 5.2 AIME, harder Prove it North Macedonia

Let a,b,ca, b, c be positive real numbers such that abc=1abc = 1. Prove that
a+b+c+341a+b+1b+c+1c+a. \frac{a+b+c+3}{4} \ge \frac{1}{a+b} + \frac{1}{b+c} + \frac{1}{c+a}.

Solutions — 2

Solution 1

Rewrite the left hand side of inequality in following way:
a+b+c+34=a+b+c+34abc=a+14abc+b+14abc+c+14abc \frac{a+b+c+3}{4} = \frac{a+b+c+3}{4\sqrt{abc}} = \frac{a+1}{4\sqrt{abc}} + \frac{b+1}{4\sqrt{abc}} + \frac{c+1}{4\sqrt{abc}}
Rewrite denominators:
a+14abc+b+14abc+c+14abc=a+12abc+2acb+b+12bac+2bca+c+12cab+2cba= \frac{a+1}{4\sqrt{abc}} + \frac{b+1}{4\sqrt{abc}} + \frac{c+1}{4\sqrt{abc}} = \frac{a+1}{2\sqrt{ab \cdot c} + 2\sqrt{ac \cdot b}} + \frac{b+1}{2\sqrt{ba \cdot c} + 2\sqrt{bc \cdot a}} + \frac{c+1}{2\sqrt{ca \cdot b} + 2\sqrt{cb \cdot a}} =
and then by arithmetic mean-geometric mean inequality, we have
=a+1ab+c+ac+b+b+1bc+a+ba+c+c+1ca+b+cb+a=a+1(a+1)(b+c)+b+1(b+1)(a+c)+c+1(c+1)(b+a)==1b+c+1a+c+1b+a=1a+b+1b+c+1c+a. \begin{aligned} &= \frac{a+1}{ab+c+ac+b} + \frac{b+1}{bc+a+ba+c} + \frac{c+1}{ca+b+cb+a} = \frac{a+1}{(a+1)(b+c)} + \frac{b+1}{(b+1)(a+c)} + \frac{c+1}{(c+1)(b+a)} = \\&= \frac{1}{b+c} + \frac{1}{a+c} + \frac{1}{b+a} = \frac{1}{a+b} + \frac{1}{b+c} + \frac{1}{c+a}. \end{aligned}

Solution 2

We introduce change of variables: x=a3,y=b3,z=c3x=a^3, y=b^3, z=c^3. We now have the condition xyz=1xyz=1.
We apply Schur inequality (with exponent r=1r=1) to the numerator of the left hand side:
x3+y3+z3+3xyzx2y+x2z+y2x+y2z+z2x+z2y x^3 + y^3 + z^3 + 3xyz \ge x^2y + x^2z + y^2x + y^2z + z^2x + z^2y
to obtain inequality
x2y+x2z+y2x+y2z+z2x+z2y41x3+y3+1y3+z3+1z3+x3. \frac{x^2y + x^2z + y^2x + y^2z + z^2x + z^2y}{4} \ge \frac{1}{x^3+y^3} + \frac{1}{y^3+z^3} + \frac{1}{z^3+x^3}.
We apply arithmetic mean-geometric mean inequality for the denominators of the right hand side:
x3+y32x3/2y3/21x3+y312x3/2y3/2=12z2xy x^3 + y^3 \ge 2x^{3/2}y^{3/2} \quad \Rightarrow \quad \frac{1}{x^3 + y^3} \le \frac{1}{2x^{3/2}y^{3/2}} = \frac{1}{2}z^2\sqrt{xy}
and similarly to the other terms. We now have to prove
x2y+x2z+y2x+y2z+z2x+z2y412x2yz+12y2xz+12z2xy \frac{x^2y + x^2z + y^2x + y^2z + z^2x + z^2y}{4} \ge \frac{1}{2}x^2\sqrt{yz} + \frac{1}{2}y^2\sqrt{xz} + \frac{1}{2}z^2\sqrt{xy}
x2y+x2z+y2x+y2z+z2x+z2y2x2yz+y2xz+z2xy. \frac{x^2y + x^2z + y^2x + y^2z + z^2x + z^2y}{2} \ge x^2\sqrt{yz} + y^2\sqrt{xz} + z^2\sqrt{xy}.
We apply arithmetic mean-geometric mean inequality in pairs on the left hand side:
x2y+x2z2x2yz \frac{x^2y + x^2z}{2} \ge x^2\sqrt{yz}
y2z+y2x2y2xz \frac{y^2z + y^2x}{2} \ge y^2\sqrt{xz}
z2x+z2y2z2xy. \frac{z^2x + z^2y}{2} \ge z^2\sqrt{xy}.
Summing up inequalities from above finishes the proof.

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