Olympiad Maths Prep

Track / Stage 6 / 64 of 400 #1064 of 2000

Problem 1064

National olympiad, first round
Algebra Difficulty 6.1 Find the answer

Problem 2. Let m,n,pm, n, p be fixed positive real numbers which satisfy mnp=8m n p=8. Depending on these constants, find the minimum of

x2+y2+z2+mxy+nxz+pyz x^{2}+y^{2}+z^{2}+m x y+n x z+p y z

where x,y,zx, y, z are arbitrary positive real numbers satisfying xyz=8x y z=8. When is the equality attained? Solve the problem for:
a) m=n=p=2m=n=p=2,

b) arbitrary (but fixed) positive real m,n,pm, n, p.

(Stijn Cambie)

Official solution

First Solution. a) Use AM-GM and xyz=8x y z=8 to get

x2+y2+z2+xy+xy+yz+yz+xz+xz9x6y6z69=36 x^{2}+y^{2}+z^{2}+x y+x y+y z+y z+x z+x z \geqslant 9 \sqrt[9]{x^{6} y^{6} z^{6}}=36

We have equality for x=y=z=2x=y=z=2.

b) Using xyz=8x y z=8, we can transform the given expression:

x2+y2+z2+mxy+nxz+pyz=x2+8px+y2+8ny+z2+8mz x^{2}+y^{2}+z^{2}+m x y+n x z+p y z=x^{2}+\frac{8 p}{x}+y^{2}+\frac{8 n}{y}+z^{2}+\frac{8 m}{z}

Since all numbers are positive reals, we can apply AM-GM inequality to get:

x2+8px=x2+4px+4px62p23 x^{2}+\frac{8 p}{x}=x^{2}+\frac{4 p}{x}+\frac{4 p}{x} \geqslant 6 \sqrt[3]{2 p^{2}}

When we apply the same procedure for x,y,zx, y, z and sum the inequalities, we get:

x2+y2+z2+mxy+nxz+pyz=x2+8px+y2+8ny+z2+8mz623(m23+n23+p23) x^{2}+y^{2}+z^{2}+m x y+n x z+p y z=x^{2}+\frac{8 p}{x}+y^{2}+\frac{8 n}{y}+z^{2}+\frac{8 m}{z} \geqslant 6 \sqrt[3]{2}\left(\sqrt[3]{m^{2}}+\sqrt[3]{n^{2}}+\sqrt[3]{p^{2}}\right)

In order to get equality, we must have equality in all above inequalities and that happens for

x=4p3y=4n3z=4m3 \begin{aligned} & x=\sqrt[3]{4 p} \\ & y=\sqrt[3]{4 n} \\ & z=\sqrt[3]{4 m} \end{aligned}

Desired minimum is therefore

623(m23+n23+p23) 6 \sqrt[3]{2}\left(\sqrt[3]{m^{2}}+\sqrt[3]{n^{2}}+\sqrt[3]{p^{2}}\right)

Second Solution. We only present solution for bb ) part here, marking scheme for aa ) part is the same as in first solution. We use weighted AM-GM:

\begin{aligned} & x^{2}+y^{2}+z^{2}+m x y+n x z+p y z= \\ & \sqrt[3]{p^{2}} \frac{x^{2}}{\sqrt[3]{p^{2}}}+\sqrt[3]{n^{2}} \frac{y^{2}}{\sqrt[3]{n^{2}}}+\sqrt[3]{m^{2}} \frac{z^{2}}{\sqrt[3]{m^{2}}}+2 \sqrt[3]{m^{2}} \frac{m x y}{2 \sqrt[3]{m^{2}}}+2 \sqrt[3]{n^{2}} \frac{n x z}{2 \sqrt[3]{n^{2}}}+2 \sqrt[3]{p^{2}} \frac{p y z}{2 \sqrt[3]{p^{2}}} \geq \\ & 3\left(\sqrt[3]{m^{2}}+\sqrt[3]{n^{2}}+\sqrt[3]{p^{2}}\right) \cdot \sqrt[3\left(\sqrt[3]{m^{2}}+\sqrt[3]{n^{2}}+\sqrt[3]{p^{2}}\right)]{\left(\frac{x^{2}}{\sqrt[3]{p^{2}}}\right)^{\sqrt[3]{p^{2}}}\left(\frac{y^{2}}{\sqrt[3]{n^{2}}}\right)^{\sqrt[3]{n^{2}}}\left(\frac{z^{2}}{\sqrt[3]{m^{2}}}\right)^{\sqrt[3]{m^{2}}}} \\ & 3\left(\sqrt[3]{m^{2}}+\sqrt[3]{n^{2}}+\sqrt[3]{p^{2}}\right) \sqrt{\left(\frac{\sqrt[3]{m} x y}{2}\right)^{2 \sqrt[3]{m^{2}}}\left(\frac{\sqrt[3]{n} x z}{2}\right)^{2 \sqrt[3]{n^{2}}}\left(\frac{\sqrt[3]{p} y z}{2}\right)^{2 \sqrt[3]{p^{2}}}} \\ & =3\left(\sqrt[3]{m^{2}}+\sqrt[3]{n^{2}}+\sqrt[3]{p^{2}}\right) \cdot \sqrt[3\left(\sqrt[3]{m^{2}}+\sqrt[3]{n^{2}}+\sqrt[3]{p^{2}}\right)]{\left(\frac{x y z}{2}\right)^{2\left(\sqrt[3]{m^{2}}+\sqrt[3]{n^{2}}+\sqrt[3]{p^{2}}\right)}} \\ & =3\left(\sqrt[3]{m^{2}}+\sqrt[3]{n^{2}}+\sqrt[3]{p^{2}}\right) \cdot \sqrt[3]{\left(\frac{x y z}{2}\right)^{2}}=3\left(\sqrt[3]{m^{2}}+\sqrt[3]{n^{2}}+\sqrt[3]{p^{2}}\right) \cdot \sqrt[3]{4^{2}}=6 \sqrt[3]{2}\left(\sqrt[3]{m^{2}}+\sqrt[3]{n^{2}}+\sqrt[3]{p^{2}}\right) \end{aligned}

We have shown that the minimum value the expression can take is 623(m23+n23+p23)6 \sqrt[3]{2}\left(\sqrt[3]{m^{2}}+\sqrt[3]{n^{2}}+\sqrt[3]{p^{2}}\right). Equality can only be achieved when x=4p3,y=4n3,z=4m3x=\sqrt[3]{4 p}, y=\sqrt[3]{4 n}, z=\sqrt[3]{4 m}.

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