Maths Olympiad Prep

Library / Turkish Mathematical Olympiad /1 of 47

Turkish Mathematical Olympiad

Algebra Difficulty 5.0 AIME, harder Prove it Turkey

Show that
(b+c)(a4−b2c2)ab+2bc+ca+(c+a)(b4−c2a2)bc+2ca+ab+(a+b)(c4−a2b2)ca+2ab+bc≥0 \frac{(b+c)(a^4 - b^2c^2)}{ab + 2bc + ca} + \frac{(c+a)(b^4 - c^2a^2)}{bc + 2ca + ab} + \frac{(a+b)(c^4 - a^2b^2)}{ca + 2ab + bc} \geq 0
for all positive real numbers a,b,ca, b, c.

Solution

∑cyc(b+c)(a4−b2c2)ab+2bc+ca≥12∑cyc(a3+abc−b2c−bc2)≥12(a(a−b)(a−c)+b(b−c)(b−a)+c(c−a)(c−b))≥0 \begin{align*} \sum_{\text{cyc}} \frac{(b+c)(a^4 - b^2c^2)}{ab+2bc+ca} &\ge \frac{1}{2} \sum_{\text{cyc}} (a^3 + abc - b^2c - bc^2) \\ &\ge \frac{1}{2} (a(a-b)(a-c) + b(b-c)(b-a) + c(c-a)(c-b)) \ge 0 \end{align*}

by Schur's Inequality if (b+c)(a4−b2c2)ab+2bc+ca≥a3+abc−b2c−bc22\frac{(b+c)(a^4 - b^2c^2)}{ab + 2bc + ca} \ge \frac{a^3 + abc - b^2c - bc^2}{2} for all positive real numbers a,b,ca, b, c.
This last inequality is equivalent to (b+c)a4−2bca3−bc(b+c)a2+abc(b2+c2)≥0(b+c)a^4 - 2bca^3 - bc(b+c)a^2 + abc(b^2+c^2) \ge 0, and since
(b+c)a3−2bca2−bc(b+c)a+bc(b2+c2)≥4bcb+ca3−2bca2−bc(b+c)a+bc(b+c)22=bc2(b+c)(2a+b+c)(2a−b−c)2≥0, (b+c)a^3 - 2bca^2 - bc(b+c)a + bc(b^2+c^2) \\ \ge \frac{4bc}{b+c}a^3 - 2bca^2 - bc(b+c)a + bc\frac{(b+c)^2}{2} \\ = \frac{bc}{2(b+c)}(2a+b+c)(2a-b-c)^2 \ge 0,
we are done.

Want a route through all this instead of an archive? The track puts 2,604 problems in a working order, from Junior Challenge level to the IMO shortlist.

Source: MathNet, licensed CC-BY-4.0. Statement reproduced verbatim; metadata (topic, difficulty) added by this project.