2011 USAMO Problems/Problem 1

Problem

Let $a$ , $b$ , $c$ be positive real numbers such that $a^2 + b^2 + c^2 + (a + b + c)^2 \le 4$ . Prove that $\frac{ab + 1}{(a + b)^2} + \frac{bc + 1}{(b + c)^2} + \frac{ca + 1}{(c + a)^2} \ge 3.$

Solution

Since $\begin{align*} (a+b)^2 + (b+c)^2 + (c+a)^2 &= 2(a^2 + b^2 + c^2 + ab + bc + ca) \\ &= a^2 + b^2 + c^2 + (a + b + c)^2, \end{align*}$ it is natural to consider a change of variables: $\begin{align*} \alpha &= b + c \\ \beta &= c + a \\ \gamma &= a + b \end{align*}$ with the inverse mapping given by: $\begin{align*} a &= \frac{\beta + \gamma - \alpha}2 \\ b &= \frac{\alpha + \gamma - \beta}2 \\ c &= \frac{\alpha + \beta - \gamma}2 \end{align*}$ With this change of variables, the constraint becomes $\alpha^2 + \beta^2 + \gamma^2 \le 4,$ while the left side of the inequality we need to prove is now $\begin{align*} & \frac{\gamma^2 - (\alpha - \beta)^2 + 4}{4\gamma^2} + \frac{\alpha^2 - (\beta - \gamma)^2 + 4}{4\alpha^2} + \frac{\beta^2 - (\gamma - \alpha)^2 + 4}{4\beta^2} \ge \\ & \frac{\gamma^2 - (\alpha - \beta)^2 + \alpha^2 + \beta^2 + \gamma^2}{4\gamma^2} + \frac{\alpha^2 - (\beta - \gamma)^2 + \alpha^2 + \beta^2 + \gamma^2}{4\alpha^2} + \frac{\beta^2 - (\gamma - \alpha)^2 + \alpha^2 + \beta^2 + \gamma^2}{4\beta^2} = \\ & \frac{2\gamma^2 + 2\alpha\beta}{4\gamma^2} + \frac{2\alpha^2 + 2\beta\gamma}{4\alpha^2} + \frac{2\beta^2 + 2\gamma\alpha}{4\beta^2} = \\ & \frac32 + \frac{\alpha\beta}{2\gamma^2} + \frac{\beta\gamma}{2\alpha^2} + \frac{\gamma\alpha}{2\beta^2}. \end{align*}$

Therefore it remains to prove that $\frac{\alpha\beta}{2\gamma^2} + \frac{\beta\gamma}{2\alpha^2} + \frac{\gamma\alpha}{2\beta^2} \ge \frac32.$

We note that the product of the three (positive) terms is 1/8, therefore by AM-GM their mean is at least 1/2, and thus their sum is at least 3/2 and we are done.

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2011 USAMO Problems/Problem 1

Problem

Solution