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Algebra Difficulty 7.7 National Olympiad, round 2 Prove it Switzerland

Problem:
Let aa, bb, cc, λ\lambda be positive real numbers with λ1/4\lambda \geq 1 / 4. Show that
ab2+λbc+c2+bc2+λca+a2+ca2+λab+b23λ+2 \frac{a}{\sqrt{b^{2}+\lambda b c+c^{2}}}+\frac{b}{\sqrt{c^{2}+\lambda c a+a^{2}}}+\frac{c}{\sqrt{a^{2}+\lambda a b+b^{2}}} \geq \frac{3}{\sqrt{\lambda+2}}

Solution

Solution:
Denote the left side of the inequality by LSLS. By Hölder we have
(a(b2+λbc+c2)+b(c2+λca+a2)+c(a2+λab+b2))(LS)2(a+b+c)3 \left(a\left(b^{2}+\lambda b c+c^{2}\right)+b\left(c^{2}+\lambda c a+a^{2}\right)+c\left(a^{2}+\lambda a b+b^{2}\right)\right)(LS)^{2} \geq (a+b+c)^{3}
So now it is sufficient to prove
(a+b+c)3a2b+ab2+b2c+bc2+c2a+ca2+3λabc9λ+2 \frac{(a+b+c)^{3}}{a^{2} b+a b^{2}+b^{2} c+b c^{2}+c^{2} a+c a^{2}+3 \lambda a b c} \geq \frac{9}{\lambda+2}
Now for easier notation write a2b\sum a^{2} b for a2b+ab2+b2c+bc2+c2a+ca2a^{2} b+a b^{2}+b^{2} c+b c^{2}+c^{2} a+c a^{2}. Multiplying by the denominators and cancelling terms on both sides results in the inequality
2(a3+b3+c3)+12abc+λ(a3+b3+c321abc+3a2b)3a2b 2\left(a^{3}+b^{3}+c^{3}\right)+12 a b c+\lambda\left(a^{3}+b^{3}+c^{3}-21 a b c+3 \sum a^{2} b\right) \geq 3 \sum a^{2} b
Note that a3+b3+c3+3a2b21abc0a^{3}+b^{3}+c^{3}+3 \sum a^{2} b-21 a b c \geq 0 by AM-GM. Since the LSLS is a linear function in λ\lambda and the coefficient for λ\lambda is positive, the inequality is stricter for smaller λ\lambda. So in other words we can now assume λ=1/4\lambda=1 / 4. Multiplying by 4/94 / 9 and rearranging once again we arrive at the final inequality:
(a3+b3+c3)+3abca2b0 \left(a^{3}+b^{3}+c^{3}\right)+3 a b c-\sum a^{2} b \geq 0
and this inequality is true by Schur.

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