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Austria 2013 algebra
Problem
Let and be real numbers with . Prove that and find the cases of equality.
Solution
We clear denominators to get The three terms on the left-hand side of the last inequality are clearly all positive or zero for . For equality to hold, all three terms have to be zero, that is, or and . This gives the three pairs , and .
Final answer
Equality holds exactly at (a, b) = (1, 0), (0, 1), and (1, 1).
Techniques
Linear and quadratic inequalities