Existence problem

Algebra Level pending

Let a > 1 a>1 , if there exists one and only one constant c R c \in \mathbb R such that:

x [ a , 2 a ] , y [ a , a 2 ] , log a x + log a y = c \forall x \in [a,2a], \exists y \in [a,a^2] ,\ \log_{a}x+\log_{a}y=c

Then find the sum of all possible values of a a .


The answer is 2.

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1 solution

Tom Engelsman
Apr 24, 2020

Let us define the region S = [ ( x , y ) x [ a , 2 a ] , y [ a , a 2 ] , a > 1 ] S = [(x,y) | x \in [a,2a], y \in [a, a^2], a > 1] in the x y xy- plane. For c R c \in \mathbb{R} , let l o g a x + l o g a y = c x y = a c y = a c x log_{a}x + log_{a}y = c \Rightarrow xy = a^{c} \Rightarrow y = \frac{a^c}{x} (i), which is a decreasing function over a x 2 a . a \le x \le 2a. Taking the point ( x , y ) = ( a , a 2 ) (x,y) = (a, a^2) , we find that:

a 2 = a c a c = 3 a^2 = \frac{a^c}{a} \Rightarrow c = 3 (ii).

At the point ( x , y ) = ( 2 a , a ) (x,y) = (2a,a) we obtain a = a 3 2 a a 3 2 a 2 = a 2 ( a 2 ) = 0 a = 0 , 2. a = \frac{a^3}{2a} \Rightarrow a^3 - 2a^2 = a^2(a-2) = 0 \Rightarrow a = 0, 2. Since we are given that a > 1 a > 1 , the only such value is a = 2 . \boxed{a=2}.

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