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IMO Hk TST

Algebra Difficulty 7.8 National Olympiad, round 2 Prove it Hong Kong

Given that p,qp, q and rr are positive real numbers, prove that
1q+r+1r+p+1p+q≥92(p+q+r) \frac{1}{q+r} + \frac{1}{r+p} + \frac{1}{p+q} \ge \frac{9}{2(p+q+r)}
Hence prove that if mm is a real number greater than 11, then
pmq+r+qmr+p+rmp+q≥(p+q+r)m−12⋅3m−2 \frac{p^m}{q+r} + \frac{q^m}{r+p} + \frac{r^m}{p+q} \ge \frac{(p+q+r)^{m-1}}{2 \cdot 3^{m-2}}

Solution

By the Cauchy-Schwarz inequality, we have
((q+r)+(r+p)+(p+q))(1q+r+1r+p+1p+q)≥(1+1+1)2=9. ((q+r) + (r+p) + (p+q)) \left( \frac{1}{q+r} + \frac{1}{r+p} + \frac{1}{p+q} \right) \ge (1+1+1)^2 = 9.
Dividing both sides by 2(p+q+r)2(p+q+r), we obtain
1q+r+1r+p+1p+q≥92(p+q+r). \frac{1}{q+r} + \frac{1}{r+p} + \frac{1}{p+q} \ge \frac{9}{2(p+q+r)}.

Next, WLOG assume p≥q≥rp \ge q \ge r. Then we have 1q+r≥1r+p≥1p+q\frac{1}{q+r} \ge \frac{1}{r+p} \ge \frac{1}{p+q} and pm≥qm≥rmp^m \ge q^m \ge r^m. By Chebyshev's inequality, we obtain
pmq+r+qmr+p+rmp+q≥pm+qm+rm3⋅(1q+r+1r+p+1p+q). \frac{p^m}{q+r} + \frac{q^m}{r+p} + \frac{r^m}{p+q} \ge \frac{p^m+q^m+r^m}{3} \cdot \left( \frac{1}{q+r} + \frac{1}{r+p} + \frac{1}{p+q} \right).

By the power mean inequality, since m>1m > 1, we have
pm+qm+rm3≥(p+q+r3)m. \frac{p^m + q^m + r^m}{3} \geq \left( \frac{p+q+r}{3} \right)^m .
Combining these and the result of the first part, we obtain
pmq+r+qmr+p+rmp+q≥(p+q+r3)m⋅92(p+q+r)=(p+q+r)m−12⋅3m−2. \frac{p^m}{q+r} + \frac{q^m}{r+p} + \frac{r^m}{p+q} \geq \left(\frac{p+q+r}{3}\right)^m \cdot \frac{9}{2(p+q+r)} = \frac{(p+q+r)^{m-1}}{2 \cdot 3^{m-2}}.

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