Let a, b, c, d be positive real numbers satisfying abcd=1. Prove that (a2b+b2c+c2d+d2a)(ab2+bc2+cd2+da2)≥(a+c)(b+d)(ac+bd+2). When does equality hold?
Solution
By the Cauchy-Schwarz inequality, we have (a2b+c2d+ad2+cb2)(a2d+c2b+ab2+cd2)≥(a2bd+c2bd+abd+CBD)2=(aca2+c2+abd+CBD)2. Together with a2+c2≥21(a+c)2≥(a+c)ac, we have (a2b+b2c+c2d+d2a)(ab2+bc2+cd2+da2)≥(a+c)2(1+bd)2. Due to symmetry, we also have (a2b+b2c+c2d+d2a)(ab2+bc2+cd2+da2)≥(b+d)2(1+ac)2. Multiplying these inequalities, we obtain (a2b+b2c+c2d+d2a)(ab2+bc2+cd2+da2)≥(a+c)(b+d)(1+ac)(1+bd) where (1+ac)(1+bd)=1+ac+bd+abcd=ac+bd+2. The result follows readily. For equality in the application of the Cauchy-Schwarz inequality, we need b=d and a=c. Note that the other inequalities also have these as equality. Together with abcd=1, equality holds when a=c=t and b=d=t1 for some t>0. □
Want a route through all this instead of an archive? The track
puts 2,000 problems in a working order, from AMC 10 level to the IMO shortlist.
Source: MathNet,
licensed CC-BY-4.0.
Statement reproduced verbatim; metadata (topic, difficulty) added by this project.