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Exercise 2161Algebra › InequalitiesOlympiadAdded 3 Nov 2026

Muirhead's inequality

#Muirhead#symmetric inequalities#majorization

Statement

Let a,b,c>0a,b,c>0. Using Muirhead's inequality, prove that
a2b+b2c+c2a+a2c+b2a+c2b≤2(a3+b3+c3).a^2b+b^2c+c^2a+a^2c+b^2a+c^2b\le2(a^3+b^3+c^3).

Hint

The LHS is a symmetric sum T(2,1,0)T_{(2,1,0)} and the RHS is 2T(3,0,0)2T_{(3,0,0)}. Use the majorization criterion (3,0,0)≻(2,1,0)(3,0,0)\succ(2,1,0).

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Solution

Notation. For a symmetric sum, T(λ1,λ2,λ3)T_{(\lambda_1,\lambda_2,\lambda_3)} is the sum over all distinct permutations of aλ1bλ2cλ3a^{\lambda_1}b^{\lambda_2}c^{\lambda_3} divided by the number of permutations.

Majorization. (3,0,0)≻(2,1,0)(3,0,0)\succ(2,1,0) because 3≥23\ge2, 3+0≥2+1=33+0\ge2+1=3 (equality), 3+0+0=2+1+03+0+0=2+1+0 (equality). The inequality 3>23>2 in the first component is the strict part.

Muirhead. (3,0,0)≻(2,1,0)(3,0,0)\succ(2,1,0) implies T(3,0,0)≥T(2,1,0)T_{(3,0,0)}\ge T_{(2,1,0)}, i.e.
a3+b3+c33≥a2b+a2c+ab2+b2c+ac2+bc26.\frac{a^3+b^3+c^3}{3}\ge\frac{a^2b+a^2c+ab^2+b^2c+ac^2+bc^2}{6}.
Multiplying by 66:
2(a3+b3+c3)≥a2b+a2c+ab2+b2c+ac2+bc2.2(a^3+b^3+c^3)\ge a^2b+a^2c+ab^2+b^2c+ac^2+bc^2.

Conclusion. The claimed inequality holds, with equality iff a=b=ca=b=c.