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Algebra Difficulty 5.3 AIME, harder Find the answer

For aa a positive real number, let x1,x2,x3x_{1}, x_{2}, x_{3} be the roots of the equation x3ax2+axa=0x^{3}-a x^{2}+a x-a=0. Determine the smallest possible value of x13+x23+x333x1x2x3x_{1}^{3}+x_{2}^{3}+x_{3}^{3}-3 x_{1} x_{2} x_{3}.

A number or a short expression. Fractions can be typed as 3/2, and spacing doesn't matter.

Solution

Note that x1+x2+x3=x1x2+x2x3+x3x1=ax_{1}+x_{2}+x_{3}=x_{1} x_{2}+x_{2} x_{3}+x_{3} x_{1}=a. Then x13+x23+x333x1x2x3=(x1+x2+x3)(x12+x22+x32(x1x2+x2x3+x3x1))=(x1+x2+x3)((x1+x2+x3)23(x1x2+x2x3+x3x1))=a(a23a)=a33a2\begin{aligned} & x_{1}^{3}+x_{2}^{3}+x_{3}^{3}-3 x_{1} x_{2} x_{3}=\left(x_{1}+x_{2}+x_{3}\right)\left(x_{1}^{2}+x_{2}^{2}+x_{3}^{2}-\left(x_{1} x_{2}+x_{2} x_{3}+x_{3} x_{1}\right)\right) \\ & \quad=\left(x_{1}+x_{2}+x_{3}\right)\left(\left(x_{1}+x_{2}+x_{3}\right)^{2}-3\left(x_{1} x_{2}+x_{2} x_{3}+x_{3} x_{1}\right)\right)=a \cdot\left(a^{2}-3 a\right)=a^{3}-3 a^{2} \end{aligned} The expression is negative only where 0<a<30<a<3, so we need only consider these values of aa. Finally, AM-GM gives (62a)(a)(a)3(62a)+a+a3=2\sqrt[3]{(6-2 a)(a)(a)} \leq \frac{(6-2 a)+a+a}{3}=2, with equality where a=2a=2, and this rewrites as (a3)a24(a-3) a^{2} \geq-4

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Source: Omni-MATH, licensed Apache-2.0. Statement and solution reproduced as published; topic and difficulty added by this site.