IMO 2000 · Problem 2

\(A, B, C\) are positive reals with product 1. Prove that \[ \left(A-1+\frac1B\right)\left(B-1+\frac1C\right)\left(C-1+\frac1A\right)\le 1. \]

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

Solution

Since \(ABC=1\), we can write \[ A=\frac{x}{y},\qquad B=\frac{y}{z},\qquad C=\frac{z}{x} \] for positive \(x,y,z\); for example, take \(x=A,\ y=1,\ z=1/B\). The required inequality becomes \[ (x+z-y)(x+y-z)(y+z-x)\le xyz. \]

If one variable is at least the sum of the other two, say \(x\ge y+z\), then \[ y+z-x\le0,\qquad x+z-y>0,\qquad x+y-z>0. \] Thus the left-hand side is nonpositive, and the inequality holds. The other two cases follow by symmetry.

Otherwise, all three quantities \[ u=y+z-x,\qquad v=z+x-y,\qquad w=x+y-z \] are positive. We have \[ x=\frac{v+w}{2},\qquad y=\frac{w+u}{2},\qquad z=\frac{u+v}{2}. \] By the arithmetic–geometric mean inequality, \[ xyz =\frac{(v+w)(w+u)(u+v)}8 \ge \frac{(2\sqrt{vw})(2\sqrt{wu})(2\sqrt{uv})}{8} =uvw. \] This is precisely the desired inequality.

Equality holds exactly when \(u=v=w\), equivalently \(x=y=z\), hence exactly when \(A=B=C=1\).

The solution was checked against Evan Chen's published IMO solution notes.