Maths Olympiad Prep

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Algebra Difficulty 4.9 AIME Prove it India

Let a,b,ca, b, c be non-negative real numbers such that a+bc+1a+b \le c+1, b+ca+1b+c \le a+1 and c+ab+1c+a \le b+1. Prove that
a2+b2+c22abc+1. a^2 + b^2 + c^2 \le 2abc + 1.

Solutions — 2

Solution 1

Adding the first two, we get 2b22b \le 2 so that b1b \le 1. Similarly, we get c1c \le 1 and a1a \le 1. Put α=1a\alpha = 1 - a, β=1b\beta = 1 - b and γ=1c\gamma = 1 - c. Then 0α,β,γ10 \le \alpha, \beta, \gamma \le 1 and
α+βγ,β+γα,γ+αα. \alpha + \beta\gamma, \quad \beta + \gamma \ge \alpha, \quad \gamma + \alpha \ge \alpha.
The inequality to be proved reduces to
α2+β2+γ22(αβ+βγ+γα)2αβγ. \alpha^2 + \beta^2 + \gamma^2 \le 2(\alpha\beta + \beta\gamma + \gamma\alpha) - 2\alpha\beta\gamma.
We may assume that γ\gamma is the largest among the three, so that αγ\alpha \le \gamma and βγ\beta \le \gamma. Using γα+β\gamma \le \alpha + \beta, we get γ2γ(α+β)\gamma^2 \le \gamma(\alpha + \beta). Also α2αγ\alpha^2 \le \alpha\gamma and β2βγ\beta^2 \le \beta\gamma. Thus α2+β2+γ22(αγ+βγ)\alpha^2 + \beta^2 + \gamma^2 \le 2(\alpha\gamma + \beta\gamma). Hence it suffices to prove that 2αβγ2αβ2\alpha\beta\gamma \le 2\alpha\beta. This follows from γ1\gamma \le 1.

Solution 2

(Amar Arpit Goel, Utkarsh Tripati). As in the first solution, we conclude that 0a,b,c10 \le a, b, c \le 1. The symmetry shows that we may assume abca \ge b \ge c. We may write the inequality in the form
(ab)2(1c)(1+c2ab). (a-b)^2 \le (1-c)(1+c-2ab).
Observe that 1cab01-c \ge a-b \ge 0, by b+ca+1b+c \le a+1. Using 1+ca+b1+c \ge a+b, we get 1+ca+ba+aba(1+b)+b(a1)1+c \ge a+b \ge a+ab \ge a(1+b)+b(a-1), since b0b \ge 0 and a1a \le 1. Thus 1+c2bab01+c-2b \ge a-b \ge 0. It follows that
(ab)2(1c)(1+c2ab), (a-b)^2 \le (1-c)(1+c-2ab),
as required.

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