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62nd Ukrainian National Mathematical Olympiad

Ukraine algebra

Problem

For arbitrary positive numbers , solve the system of equations:
Solution
Answer: and , where .

Suppose that (one of the inequalities may not be strict). Then subtract the third equation from the first: – a contradiction. If we assume that (one of the inequalities may not be strict), then subtract the third equation from the second: – a contradiction. Without loss of generality, we can assume that all cases have been considered, since the system of equations is cyclic. Thus, we are left with the condition .

To find , we need to solve the equation: . Obviously, , then we need to solve the equation . Since and
Final answer
(0, 0, 0) and (t, t, t), where t = ±sqrt((a + sqrt(a^2 + 4bc)) / (2c))

Techniques

Simple EquationsPolynomials