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Taiwan IMO Selection Camp

Algebra Difficulty 5.4 AIME, harder Prove it Taiwan

Let x,yx, y be positive real numbers such that x+y=1x + y = 1. Prove that
xx2+y3+yx3+y2≤2(xx+y2+yx2+y). \frac{x}{x^2 + y^3} + \frac{y}{x^3 + y^2} \le 2 \left( \frac{x}{x+y^2} + \frac{y}{x^2 + y} \right).

Solution

Let t=xyt = xy, then
x2+y2=1−2t, x^2 + y^2 = 1 - 2t,
x3+y3=1−3t, x^3 + y^3 = 1 - 3t,
x4+y4=1−4t+t2 x^4 + y^4 = 1 - 4t + t^2
x5+y5=1−5t+5t2. x^5 + y^5 = 1 - 5t + 5t^2.
Since x2+y=x+y2x^2 + y = x + y^2, the original inequality is equivalent to
xx2+y3+yx3+y2≤2x+y2⇔x4+y4+xy(x2+y3)(x3+y2)≤4x+y+x2+y2⇔(1+x2+y2)(x4+y4+xy)≤4(x2+y3)(x3+y2)⇔(2−2t)(1−3t+2t2)≤4(1−5t+6t2+t3)⇔(4t−1)(t2+2t−1)≥0⇔(t−14)(t−(2−1))(t+2+1)≥0. \begin{aligned} & \frac{x}{x^2 + y^3} + \frac{y}{x^3 + y^2} \le \frac{2}{x+y^2} \\ \Leftrightarrow & \frac{x^4 + y^4 + xy}{(x^2 + y^3)(x^3 + y^2)} \le \frac{4}{x+y+x^2+y^2} \\ \Leftrightarrow & (1+x^2+y^2)(x^4+y^4+xy) \le 4(x^2+y^3)(x^3+y^2) \\ \Leftrightarrow & (2-2t)(1-3t+2t^2) \le 4(1-5t+6t^2+t^3) \\ \Leftrightarrow & (4t-1)(t^2+2t-1) \ge 0 \\ \Leftrightarrow & (t-\frac{1}{4})(t-(\sqrt{2}-1))(t+\sqrt{2}+1) \ge 0. \end{aligned}
From
0<t≤(x+y2)2=14 0 < t \le \left(\frac{x+y}{2}\right)^2 = \frac{1}{4}
we know that the last inequality above holds.

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Source: MathNet, licensed CC-BY-4.0. Statement translated into English from zh; metadata (topic, difficulty) added by this project.