Maths Olympiad Prep

Track / Stage 7 / 212 of 300 #1612 of 1964

Problem 1612

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

Example 10.4 (Han Jingjun) Let positive numbers a,b,ca, b, c satisfy abc=1abc = 1. Prove that
1a3(b+c)+1b3(c+a)+1c3(a+b)32+34[a(bc)2b+c+b(ca)2c+a+c(ab)2a+b] \begin{array}{l} \frac{1}{a^{3}(b+c)}+\frac{1}{b^{3}(c+a)}+\frac{1}{c^{3}(a+b)} \geqslant \\ \frac{3}{2}+\frac{3}{4}\left[\frac{a(b-c)^{2}}{b+c}+\frac{b(c-a)^{2}}{c+a}+\frac{c(a-b)^{2}}{a+b}\right] \end{array}

This one wants a proof. Work it on paper, then read the official solution and mark yourself. Be honest about it: the record is only any use to you if it is.

Official solution

Let x=1a,y=1b,z=1cx=\frac{1}{a}, y=\frac{1}{b}, z=\frac{1}{c}, then the original inequality becomes
x2y+z32+34(yz)2y+z\sum \frac{x^{2}}{y+z} \geqslant \frac{3}{2}+\frac{3}{4} \sum \frac{(y-z)^{2}}{y+z}

Let p=x+y+z,q=xy+yz+zx,r=xyz=1p=x+y+z, q=xy+yz+zx, r=xyz=1, then the above inequality is equivalent to
4p418p2q+12q2+34pr6pq+6r04 p^{4}-18 p^{2} q+12 q^{2}+34 p r-6 p q+6 r \geqslant 0

Let f(q)=4p418p2q+12q2+34pr6pq+6rf(q)=4 p^{4}-18 p^{2} q+12 q^{2}+34 p r-6 p q+6 r, then f(q)=6(3p2+p4q)0f^{\prime}(q)=-6\left(3 p^{2}+p-4 q\right) \leqslant 0, so by Corollary 10.15(1) (here n=3,m=0,p=2n=3, m=0, p=2), the minimum value of f(q)f(q) is achieved when x=yzx=y \leqslant z, then x1x \leqslant 1, substituting into the inequality we need to prove
2x2x+z+z22x32+32(zx)2z+x\frac{2 x^{2}}{x+z}+\frac{z^{2}}{2 x} \geqslant \frac{3}{2}+\frac{3}{2} \cdot \frac{(z-x)^{2}}{z+x}

At this point, we also have x2z=1x^{2} z=1, substituting into the above inequality and expanding, we need to prove
x93x8+6x63x52x3+10(x1)2(x7x63x5+x4+2x3+3x2+2x+1)0\begin{array}{l} x^{9}-3 x^{8}+6 x^{6}-3 x^{5}-2 x^{3}+1 \geqslant 0 \Leftrightarrow \\ (x-1)^{2}\left(x^{7}-x^{6}-3 x^{5}+x^{4}+2 x^{3}+3 x^{2}+2 x+1\right) \geqslant 0 \end{array}

Since 0x10 \leqslant x \leqslant 1, the above inequality clearly holds.
Therefore, the original inequality holds, with equality if and only if a=b=c=1a=b=c=1.

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