IMO 1983 · Problem 6

Let \(a\), \(b\) and \(c\) be the lengths of the sides of a triangle. Prove that

\[ a^2b(a-b)+b^2c(b-c)+c^2a(c-a)\geq 0. \]

Determine when equality occurs.

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

Answer

Equality occurs if and only if \(a=b=c\), that is, the triangle is equilateral.

Solution

The expression is unchanged by cyclically permuting \(a,b,c\). We may therefore assume that \(a\) is a largest side, so \(a\geq b\) and \(a\geq c\).

The following identity holds by expansion: \[ \begin{aligned} &a^2b(a-b)+b^2c(b-c)+c^2a(c-a)\\ &\qquad=a(b+c-a)(b-c)^2 +b(a+b-c)(a-b)(a-c). \end{aligned} \] Both terms on the right are nonnegative: the triangle inequalities give \[ b+c-a>0,\qquad a+b-c>0, \] and our choice of \(a\) gives \((a-b)(a-c)\geq0\). This proves the inequality.

If equality holds, the first term must vanish. Since \(a(b+c-a)>0\), this forces \(b=c\). The second term then becomes \[ ab(a-b)^2, \] which vanishes only when \(a=b\). Conversely, \(a=b=c\) plainly gives equality.

If degenerate triangles with positive side lengths are admitted, the largest side satisfies \(a=b+c\). The same identity gives \[ a^2b(a-b)+b^2c(b-c)+c^2a(c-a)=2b^3c>0, \] so there are no additional equality cases.

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