Maths Olympiad Prep

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Algebra Difficulty 5.3 AIME, harder Prove it Canada

Let aa, bb, and cc be non-negative real numbers, no two of which are equal. Prove that
a2(bc)2+b2(ca)2+c2(ab)2>2. \frac{a^2}{(b-c)^2} + \frac{b^2}{(c-a)^2} + \frac{c^2}{(a-b)^2} > 2.

Solution

The left-hand side is symmetric with respect to aa, bb, cc. Hence, we may assume that a>b>c0a > b > c \ge 0. Note that replacing (a,b,c)(a, b, c) with (ac,bc,0)(a-c, b-c, 0) lowers the value of the left-hand side, since the numerators of each of the fractions would decrease and the denominators remain the same. Therefore, to obtain the minimum possible value of the left-hand side, we may assume that c=0c=0.
Then the left-hand side becomes
a2b2+b2a2, \frac{a^2}{b^2} + \frac{b^2}{a^2},
which yields, by the Arithmetic Mean - Geometric Mean Inequality,
a2b2+b2a22a2b2b2a2=2, \frac{a^2}{b^2} + \frac{b^2}{a^2} \ge 2\sqrt{\frac{a^2}{b^2} \cdot \frac{b^2}{a^2}} = 2,
with equality if and only if a2/b2=b2/a2a^2/b^2 = b^2/a^2, or equivalently, a4=b4a^4 = b^4. Since a,b0a, b \ge 0, a=ba = b. But since no two of a,b,ca, b, c are equal, aba \ne b. Hence, equality cannot hold. This yields
a2b2+b2a2>2. \frac{a^2}{b^2} + \frac{b^2}{a^2} > 2.
Ultimately, this implies the desired inequality. \square

a2(bc)2+b2(ca)2+c2(ab)22=[a(ab)(ac)+b(ba)(bc)+c(ca)(cb)]2[(ab)(bc)(ca)]2. \frac{a^2}{(b-c)^2} + \frac{b^2}{(c-a)^2} + \frac{c^2}{(a-b)^2} - 2 = \frac{[a(a-b)(a-c) + b(b-a)(b-c) + c(c-a)(c-b)]^2}{[(a-b)(b-c)(c-a)]^2}.
Then Schur's Inequality tells us that the numerator of the right-hand side cannot be zero. \square

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