IMO 1965 · Problem 2

Consider the system of equations \[ \begin{aligned} a_{11}x_1+a_{12}x_2+a_{13}x_3&=0\\ a_{21}x_1+a_{22}x_2+a_{23}x_3&=0\\ a_{31}x_1+a_{32}x_2+a_{33}x_3&=0 \end{aligned} \] with unknowns \(x_1,x_2,x_3\). The coefficients satisfy the conditions:

(a) \(a_{11},a_{22},a_{33}\) are positive numbers;
(b) the remaining coefficients are negative numbers;
(c) in each equation, the sum of the coefficients is positive.

Prove that the given system has only the solution \(x_1=x_2=x_3=0\).

Official text of the problem. Official problem paper (PDF)

Solution

Since the off-diagonal coefficients are negative and each row has positive sum, for every \(i\in\{1,2,3\}\) we have \[ a_{ii}>-\sum_{j\ne i}a_{ij}=\sum_{j\ne i}|a_{ij}|. \]

Suppose that \((x_1,x_2,x_3)\) is a nonzero solution. Choose \(k\in\{1,2,3\}\) such that \[ |x_k|=\max\{|x_1|,|x_2|,|x_3|\}=M>0. \] The \(k\)-th equation gives \[ a_{kk}x_k=-\sum_{j\ne k}a_{kj}x_j. \] Taking absolute values and using the triangle inequality, we obtain \[ a_{kk}M =\left|\sum_{j\ne k}a_{kj}x_j\right| \le \sum_{j\ne k}|a_{kj}|\,|x_j| \le M\sum_{j\ne k}|a_{kj}| <Ma_{kk}, \] a contradiction.

Thus every solution satisfies \(x_1=x_2=x_3=0\). This triple clearly satisfies all three equations, so it is the unique solution.

The solution was checked against John Scholes' IMO solution archive (Kalva).