IMO 2020 · Problem 2

The real numbers \(a,b,c,d\) are such that \(a\ge b\ge c\ge d>0\) and \(a+b+c+d=1\). Prove that \[ (a+2b+3c+4d)\,a^a b^b c^c d^d<1. \]

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

Solution

Put \[ S=a+2b+3c+4d,\qquad Q=a^2+b^2+c^2+d^2. \] By the weighted arithmetic–geometric mean inequality, with weights \(a,b,c,d\), \[ a^a b^b c^c d^d\le a\cdot a+b\cdot b+c\cdot c+d\cdot d=Q. \] Moreover, since \(b\ge d\), \[ S=3(a+b+c+d)-2a-(b-d)\le 3-2a. \] Consequently, \[ S\,a^a b^b c^c d^d\le (3-2a)Q. \] We consider two cases.

If \(a<\tfrac12\), each of \(a,b,c,d\) is at most \(a\), so \[ Q\le a(a+b+c+d)=a. \] It follows that \[ S\,a^a b^b c^c d^d \le (3-2a)a =1-(1-a)(1-2a)<1. \]

If \(a\ge\tfrac12\), the positivity of \(b,c,d\) gives \[ Q<a^2+(b+c+d)^2=a^2+(1-a)^2. \] Since \(a<1\), we have \(3-2a>0\), and hence \[ \begin{aligned} S\,a^a b^b c^c d^d &<(3-2a)\bigl(a^2+(1-a)^2\bigr)\\ &=1-2(2a-1)(1-a)^2\\ &\le 1. \end{aligned} \] Thus the required strict inequality holds in every case. \(\square\)

The solution was checked against the official IMO shortlist solutions.