Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge / 2003 / ia / Paper 1 / 8D / iii

For the stated angle, $q=\cos (2\pi /3)=-1/2$, so $\Vert u+v\Vert =\sqrt{2+2q}=1$. The minimizing unit vector is therefore $w=-(u+v)$, andIndeed all three pairwise dot products equal $-1/2$, so the vectors lie in one plane, separated by $120$ degrees. This is also the global minimum pairwise dot-product sum of three unit vectors: for any three unit vectors,so $S\ge -3/2$, with equality exactly when $u+v+w=0$.