Olympiad Maths Prep

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Problem 1588

National olympiad second round; IMO P1/P4
Algebra Difficulty 7.5 Prove it

If a,b,ca, b, c are positive numbers satisfying a+b+c=1a+b+c=1, then a+1b+b+1c+c+1a30\sqrt{a+\frac{1}{b}}+\sqrt{b+\frac{1}{c}}+\sqrt{c+\frac{1}{a}} \geqslant \sqrt{30}.

This one wants a proof. Work it on paper, read the official solution, then mark yourself honestly — the ladder only means something if the record is true.

Official solution

According to the extreme principle, the condition for the inequality to hold with equality is a=b=c=13a=b=c=\frac{1}{3}. Therefore, multiplying each term on the left side of the inequality by the constant 13+3\sqrt{\frac{1}{3}+3} and combining with the Cauchy-Schwarz inequality, we get:
13+3a+1ba3+3b13+3b+1cb3+3c13+3c+1ac3+3a\begin{array}{l} \sqrt{\frac{1}{3}+3} \cdot \sqrt{a+\frac{1}{b}} \geqslant \sqrt{\frac{a}{3}}+\sqrt{\frac{3}{b}} \\ \sqrt{\frac{1}{3}+3} \cdot \sqrt{b+\frac{1}{c}} \geqslant \sqrt{\frac{b}{3}}+\sqrt{\frac{3}{c}} \\ \sqrt{\frac{1}{3}+3} \cdot \sqrt{c+\frac{1}{a}} \geqslant \sqrt{\frac{c}{3}}+\sqrt{\frac{3}{a}} \end{array}

Adding the three inequalities, we get:
13+3(a+1b+b+1c+c+1a)a3+b3+c3+3a+3b+3c, and a3+b3+c3+3a+3b+3c3abc276+327abc6, then a+1b+b+1c+c+1a310(abc6+31abc6),\begin{array}{l} \sqrt{\frac{1}{3}+3}\left(\sqrt{a+\frac{1}{b}}+\sqrt{b+\frac{1}{c}}+\sqrt{c+\frac{1}{a}}\right) \\ \geqslant \sqrt{\frac{a}{3}}+\sqrt{\frac{b}{3}}+\sqrt{\frac{c}{3}}+\sqrt{\frac{3}{a}}+\sqrt{\frac{3}{b}}+\sqrt{\frac{3}{c}}, \\ \text { and } \sqrt{\frac{a}{3}}+\sqrt{\frac{b}{3}}+\sqrt{\frac{c}{3}}+\sqrt{\frac{3}{a}}+\sqrt{\frac{3}{b}}+\sqrt{\frac{3}{c}} \\ \geqslant 3 \cdot \sqrt[6]{\frac{a b c}{27}}+3 \cdot \sqrt[6]{\frac{27}{a b c}}, \text { then } \\ \sqrt{a+\frac{1}{b}}+\sqrt{b+\frac{1}{c}}+\sqrt{c+\frac{1}{a}} \\ \geqslant \frac{3}{\sqrt{10}}\left(\sqrt[6]{a b c}+3 \cdot \sqrt[6]{\frac{1}{a b c}}\right), \end{array}

Let t=abc6t=\sqrt[6]{a b c}. Since the positive numbers a,b,ca, b, c satisfy a+b+c=1a+b+c=1, we have 0<abc3130<\sqrt[3]{a b c} \leqslant \frac{1}{3}, so 0<t130<t \leqslant \frac{1}{\sqrt{3}}.

It is easy to see that the function f(t)=t+3tf(t)=t+\frac{3}{t} is monotonically decreasing in the interval 0<t130<t \leqslant \frac{1}{\sqrt{3}}, so t+3t13+33=1033t+\frac{3}{t} \geqslant \frac{1}{\sqrt{3}}+3 \sqrt{3}=\frac{10}{3} \sqrt{3}, with equality holding when t=13t=\frac{1}{\sqrt{3}}.

Therefore,
a+1b+b+1c+c+1a3101033=30\begin{array}{l} \sqrt{a+\frac{1}{b}}+\sqrt{b+\frac{1}{c}}+\sqrt{c+\frac{1}{a}} \\ \geqslant \frac{3}{\sqrt{10}} \cdot \frac{10}{3} \sqrt{3}=\sqrt{30} \end{array}

Source: NuminaMath-1.5, licensed Apache-2.0. Statement and solution reproduced as published; topic, difficulty and ordering added by this site.