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Algebra Difficulty 7.5 National olympiad, round 2 Prove it China

Given a positive integer nn, find the least positive number λ\lambda such that cosθ1+cosθ2++cosθn\cos \theta_1 + \cos \theta_2 + \cdots + \cos \theta_n is not greater than λ\lambda provided tanθ1tanθ2tanθn=2n2\tan \theta_1 \cdot \tan \theta_2 \cdot \cdots \cdot \tan \theta_n = 2^{\frac{n}{2}} for any θi(0,π2)\theta_i \in (0, \frac{\pi}{2}) (i=1,2,,ni=1, 2, \cdots, n).

Solution

When n=1n=1, cosθ1=(1+tan2θ1)12=33\cos\theta_1 = (1+\tan^2\theta_1)^{-\frac{1}{2}} = \frac{\sqrt{3}}{3}. Hence λ=33\lambda = \frac{\sqrt{3}}{3}.

When n=2n=2, we can prove
cosθ1+cosθ2233,1 \cos \theta_1 + \cos \theta_2 \le \frac{2\sqrt{3}}{3}, \qquad \textcircled{1}
and when θ1=θ2=arctan2\theta_1 = \theta_2 = \arctan\sqrt{2}, the equality holds.
In fact,
1cos2θ1+cos2θ2+2cosθ1cosθ234, \textcircled{1} \Leftrightarrow \cos^2\theta_1 + \cos^2\theta_2 + 2\cos\theta_1 \cdot \cos\theta_2 \le \frac{3}{4},
that is, 11+tan2θ1+11+tan2θ2+21(1+tan2θ1)(1+tan2θ2)34.2 \text{that is, } \frac{1}{1+\tan^2\theta_1} + \frac{1}{1+\tan^2\theta_2} + 2\sqrt{\frac{1}{(1+\tan^2\theta_1)(1+\tan^2\theta_2)}} \le \frac{3}{4}. \qquad \textcircled{2}
From tanθ1tanθ2=2\tan \theta_1 \cdot \tan \theta_2 = 2, we get
22+tan2θ1+tan2θ25+tan2θ1+tan2θ2+215+tan2θ1+tan2θ234.3 \textcircled{2} \Leftrightarrow \frac{2+\tan^2\theta_1 + \tan^2\theta_2}{5+\tan^2\theta_1 + \tan^2\theta_2} + 2\sqrt{\frac{1}{5+\tan^2\theta_1 + \tan^2\theta_2}} \le \frac{3}{4}. \qquad \textcircled{3}
Write x=tan2θ1+tan2θ2x = \tan^2\theta_1 + \tan^2\theta_2, then
3215+x14+x3(5+x), \textcircled{3} \Leftrightarrow 2\sqrt{\frac{1}{5+x}} \le \frac{14+x}{3(5+x)},
that is,36(5+x)196+28x+x2.4 \text{that is,}\qquad 36(5+x) \le 196+28x+x^2. \qquad \textcircled{4}
Obviously,4x8x+16=(x4)20. \text{Obviously,}\qquad \textcircled{4} \Leftrightarrow x-8x+16 = (x-4)^2 \ge 0.
Hence, λ=233. \text{Hence, } \lambda = \frac{2\sqrt{3}}{3}.

When n3n \ge 3, there is no loss of generality in supposing θ1θ2θn\theta_1 \ge \theta_2 \ge \dots \ge \theta_n, then
tanθ1tanθ2tanθ322. \tan \theta_1 \cdot \tan \theta_2 \cdot \tan \theta_3 \ge 2\sqrt{2}.
Since cosθi=1sin2θi<112sin2θi\cos \theta_i = \sqrt{1 - \sin^2 \theta_i} < 1 - \frac{1}{2} \sin^2 \theta_i, so
cosθ2+cosθ3<212(sin2θ2+sin2θ3)<2sinθ2sinθ3. \cos \theta_2 + \cos \theta_3 < 2 - \frac{1}{2}(\sin^2 \theta_2 + \sin^2 \theta_3) < 2 - \sin \theta_2 \cdot \sin \theta_3.
From tan2θ18tan2θ2tan2θ3\tan^2 \theta_1 \ge \frac{8}{\tan^2 \theta_2 \cdot \tan^2 \theta_3}, we have
1cos2θ18+tan2θ2tan2θ3tan2θ2tan2θ3, \frac{1}{\cos^2 \theta_1} \ge \frac{8 + \tan^2 \theta_2 \cdot \tan^2 \theta_3}{\tan^2 \theta_2 \cdot \tan^2 \theta_3},
that is,
cosθ1tanθ2tanθ38+tan2θ2tan2θ3=sinθ2sinθ38cos2θ2cos2θ3+sin2θ2sin2θ3. \begin{aligned} \cos \theta_1 &\le \frac{\tan \theta_2 \cdot \tan \theta_3}{\sqrt{8 + \tan^2 \theta_2 \cdot \tan^2 \theta_3}} \\ &= \frac{\sin \theta_2 \cdot \sin \theta_3}{\sqrt{8\cos^2 \theta_2 \cdot \cos^2 \theta_3 + \sin^2 \theta_2 \cdot \sin^2 \theta_3}}. \end{aligned}
Hence
cosθ2+cosθ3+cosθ1 \cos \theta_2 + \cos \theta_3 + \cos \theta_1
<2sinθ2sinθ3[118cos2θ2cos2θ3+sin2θ2sin2θ3]. < 2 - \sin \theta_2 \cdot \sin \theta_3 \left[ 1 - \frac{1}{\sqrt{8\cos^2 \theta_2 \cdot \cos^2 \theta_3 + \sin^2 \theta_2 \cdot \sin^2 \theta_3}} \right].
Note that
8cos2θ2cos2θ3+sin2θ2sin2θ31 8\cos^2 \theta_2 \cdot \cos^2 \theta_3 + \sin^2 \theta_2 \cdot \sin^2 \theta_3 \ge 1
8+tan2θ2tan2θ31cos2θ2cos2θ3=(1+tan2θ2)(1+tan2θ3)tan2θ2+tan2θ37. \begin{aligned} \Leftrightarrow & 8 + \tan^2 \theta_2 \tan^2 \theta_3 \ge \frac{1}{\cos^2 \theta_2 \cdot \cos^2 \theta_3} \\ &= (1 + \tan^2 \theta_2)(1 + \tan^2 \theta_3) \\ \Leftrightarrow & \tan^2 \theta_2 + \tan^2 \theta_3 \le 7. \end{aligned}
If this does not hold, then tan2θ2+tan2θ3>7\tan^2 \theta_2 + \tan^2 \theta_3 > 7,
tan2θ1tan2θ2>72 \tan^2 \theta_1 \ge \tan^2 \theta_2 > \frac{7}{2}
so
cosθ1cosθ2<11+72=23. \cos \theta_1 \le \cos \theta_2 < \sqrt{\frac{1}{1+\frac{7}{2}}} = \frac{\sqrt{2}}{3}.
Thus
cosθ1+cosθ2+cosθ3<223+1<2, \cos \theta_1 + \cos \theta_2 + \cos \theta_3 < \frac{2\sqrt{2}}{3} + 1 < 2,
that is, the bound holds too.

cosθ1+cosθ2+cosθ3++cosθn<n1. \cos \theta_1 + \cos \theta_2 + \cos \theta_3 + \dots + \cos \theta_n < n - 1.
On the other hand, if we take θ2=θ3==θn=α>0\theta_2 = \theta_3 = \dots = \theta_n = \alpha > 0, α0\alpha \to 0, then
θ1=arctan2n(tanα)n1. \theta_1 = \arctan \frac{2^n}{(\tan \alpha)^{n-1}}.
Obviously, θ1π2\theta_1 \to \frac{\pi}{2}, thus
cosθ1+cosθ2+cosθ3++cosθnn1. \cos \theta_1 + \cos \theta_2 + \cos \theta_3 + \dots + \cos \theta_n \to n - 1.
Consequently, we get λ=n1\lambda = n - 1.

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