IMO 1972 · Problem 4

Find all solutions \((x_1,x_2,x_3,x_4,x_5)\) of the system of inequalities \[ \begin{aligned} (x_1^2-x_3x_5)(x_2^2-x_3x_5)&\leq 0\\ (x_2^2-x_4x_1)(x_3^2-x_4x_1)&\leq 0\\ (x_3^2-x_5x_2)(x_4^2-x_5x_2)&\leq 0\\ (x_4^2-x_1x_3)(x_5^2-x_1x_3)&\leq 0\\ (x_5^2-x_2x_4)(x_1^2-x_2x_4)&\leq 0 \end{aligned} \] where \(x_1,x_2,x_3,x_4,x_5\) are positive real numbers.

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

Answer

\[ \boxed{(x_1,x_2,x_3,x_4,x_5)=(t,t,t,t,t),\qquad t>0.} \]

Solution

Put \(a_i=\log x_i\), and interpret all subscripts cyclically modulo \(5\).

Since the logarithm is strictly increasing, the expressions \[ x_j^2-x_kx_\ell \quad\text{and}\quad 2a_j-a_k-a_\ell \] have the same sign, including being zero simultaneously. Thus the given inequalities imply \[ (2a_i-a_{i+2}-a_{i+4}) (2a_{i+1}-a_{i+2}-a_{i+4})\leq 0, \qquad i=1,\ldots,5. \]

We now sum these five inequalities. Expanding and collecting terms cyclically gives \[ \begin{aligned} &\sum_{i=1}^{5} (2a_i-a_{i+2}-a_{i+4}) (2a_{i+1}-a_{i+2}-a_{i+4})\\ &\quad= 4\sum_{i=1}^{5}a_i a_{i+1} -4\sum_{i=1}^{5}a_i a_{i+1} -4\sum_{i=1}^{5}a_i a_{i+2} +2\sum_{i=1}^{5}a_i^2 +2\sum_{i=1}^{5}a_i a_{i+2}\\ &\quad= 2\sum_{i=1}^{5}a_i^2-2\sum_{i=1}^{5}a_i a_{i+2}\\ &\quad=\sum_{i=1}^{5}(a_i-a_{i+2})^2. \end{aligned} \] The left-hand side is nonpositive, while the final expression is a sum of nonnegative squares. Consequently every square is zero, so \[ a_1=a_3=a_5=a_2=a_4. \] It follows that \(x_1=x_2=x_3=x_4=x_5\).

Conversely, if all five variables equal any \(t>0\), every factor in the original system is zero. Hence all such tuples are solutions, completing the proof.

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