ÖMO 2017 Problem 4

(a) Determine the maximum $M$ of $x+y +z$ where $x, y$ and $z$ are positive real numbers with $16xyz = (x + y)^2(x + z)^2$ . (b) Prove the existence of infinitely many triples $(x, y, z)$ of positive rational numbers that satisfy $16xyz = (x + y)^2(x + z)^2$ and $x + y + z = M$ .

Proposed by Karl Czakler