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Geometry Difficulty 7.2 National olympiad, round 2 Prove it China

Fix two positive integers mm and nn. Fix a way to color the vertices of a regular (2m+2n)(2m+2n)-gon so that 2m2m of them are black and the other 2n2n are white. Define the coloring distance d(B,C)d(B, C) between two black points BB and CC to be the lesser of the numbers of white points on either side of the line BCBC; similarly, define the coloring distance d(W,X)d(W, X) between two white points WW and XX to be the lesser of the numbers of black points on either side of the line WXWX.
A black pairing scheme B\mathcal{B} means to label the 2m2m black points as B1,,Bm,C1,,CmB_1, \dots, B_m, C_1, \dots, C_m, such that no two segments from B1C1,,BmCmB_1C_1, \dots, B_mC_m intersect each other. For each such B\mathcal{B}, put
P(B)=i=1md(Bi,Ci). P(\mathcal{B}) = \sum_{i=1}^{m} d(B_i, C_i).
A white pairing scheme W\mathcal{W} means to label the 2n2n white points as W1,,Wn,X1,,XnW_1, \dots, W_n, X_1, \dots, X_n, such that no two segments from W1X1,,WnXnW_1X_1, \dots, W_nX_n intersect each other. For each such W\mathcal{W}, put
P(W)=i=1nd(Wi,Xi). P(\mathcal{W}) = \sum_{i=1}^{n} d(W_i, X_i).
Prove that, regardless of how the 2m+2n2m+2n vertices are colored, we always have
maxBP(B)=maxWP(W), \max_{\mathcal{B}} P(\mathcal{B}) = \max_{\mathcal{W}} P(\mathcal{W}),
where the maxima are taken over all possible black pairing schemes and all possible white pairing schemes, respectively.

Solution

Proof: Consider 2m+2n2m+2n vertices placed on the unit circle. The Euclidean distances between vertices are irrelevant to the discussion. We define the line segments in the white pairing scheme as white segments and those in the black pairing scheme as black segments.

Lemma 1: For any black pairing scheme B\mathcal{B} and any white point pairing scheme W\mathcal{W}, the number of intersection points I(B,W)I(\mathcal{B}, \mathcal{W}) between the m+nm+n line segments connected in the schemes is bounded above by P(B)P(\mathcal{B}) and by P(W)P(\mathcal{W}), respectively.

Figure 1

(For the black and white pairing schemes B\mathcal{B} and W\mathcal{W} shown in the figure, we replace white segments with red ones and denote intersection points with blue, so that I(B,W)=5I(\mathcal{B}, \mathcal{W}) = 5, P(B)=2+3+2=7P(\mathcal{B}) = 2+3+2=7, and P(W)=1+3+1=5P(\mathcal{W}) = 1+3+1=5.)

*Proof of Lemma 1:* For any line segment BiCiB_iC_i in B\mathcal{B}, the number of white line segments intersecting it is at most d(Bi,Ci)d(B_i, C_i), because each white line segment corresponds to a white point on each side of BiCiB_iC_i. Summing over all black segments in B\mathcal{B} yields the inequality I(B,W)P(B)I(\mathcal{B}, \mathcal{W}) \le P(\mathcal{B}). Similarly, we have I(B,W)P(W)I(\mathcal{B}, \mathcal{W}) \le P(\mathcal{W}). Therefore, Lemma 1 is proved.

Lemma 2: For any black pairing scheme B\mathcal{B}, there exists a white pairing scheme W\mathcal{W} such that I(B,W)=P(B)I(\mathcal{B}, \mathcal{W}) = P(\mathcal{B}). Thus, P(B)=I(B,W)P(W)P(\mathcal{B}) = I(\mathcal{B}, \mathcal{W}) \le P(\mathcal{W}).

We now show that Lemma 2 proves the original problem. Apply Lemma 2 to all B\mathcal{B} to obtain maxBP(B)maxWP(W)\max_{\mathcal{B}} P(\mathcal{B}) \le \max_{\mathcal{W}} P(\mathcal{W}). A symmetric argument shows that maxWP(W)maxBP(B)\max_{\mathcal{W}} P(\mathcal{W}) \le \max_{\mathcal{B}} P(\mathcal{B}). Therefore, the problem is proved.

*Proof of Lemma 2 (Method 1):* We prove by induction on the number 2n2n of white points that there exists a white pairing scheme W\mathcal{W}. When n=0n=0, the claim is trivial. Suppose the claim is true for 2n22n-2 white points. Consider the case of 2n2n white points. Among all black pairings BiCiB_iC_i, let B1C1B_1C_1 be the one with the largest d(Bi,Ci)d(B_i, C_i). If d(B1,C1)=0d(B_1, C_1) = 0, we can arbitrarily choose a white pairing scheme. Assume that d(B1,C1)>0d(B_1, C_1) > 0. Let WnW_n be the first white point encountered when rotating clockwise from B1B_1 and let XnX_n be the first white point encountered when rotating counterclockwise from B1B_1. As shown in the following figure,

Figure 2

Now consider the case where we remove two white points WnW_n and XnX_n. Let d(B,C)d'(B, C) be the chromatic distance in this case, and let P(B)=i=1md(Bi,Ci)P'(\mathcal{B}) = \sum_{i=1}^m d'(B_i, C_i). By the induction hypothesis, there exists a white pairing scheme W\mathcal{W}' for B\mathcal{B} without WnW_n and XnX_n such that I(B,W)=P(B)I(\mathcal{B}, \mathcal{W}') = P'(\mathcal{B}). We will prove that we can obtain the desired white pairing scheme W\mathcal{W} by adding the line segment WnXnW_nX_n to W\mathcal{W}'.

We consider each segment BCBC in B\mathcal{B}. If it intersects with WnXnW_nX_n, then removing WnW_n and XnX_n is equivalent to removing one white point on each side of BCBC, so d(B,C)=d(B,C)1d'(B, C) = d(B, C) - 1. If BCBC does not intersect with WnXnW_nX_n, we want to show that d(B,C)=d(B,C)d(B, C) = d'(B, C). Note that if there are more than n+1n+1 white points on one side of BCBC with respect to WnXnW_nX_n, while the other side has no more than n1n-1 white points, then we must have d(B,C)=d(B,C)d(B, C) = d'(B, C). On the other hand, if there are no more than nn white points on one side of BCBC, and BCBC does not intersect with either B1C1B_1C_1 or WnXnW_nX_n, then the entire segment B1C1B_1C_1 must be on the side of BCBC with no more than nn white points. This contradicts our assumption that d(B,C)>d(B1,C1)d(B, C) > d(B_1, C_1), since BCBC is closer to B1C1B_1C_1 than any other black segment. Therefore, we have d(B,C)=d(B,C)d(B, C) = d'(B, C).

Thus, we see that P(B)P(B)P(\mathcal{B}) - P'(\mathcal{B}) is exactly equal to the number of black segments in B\mathcal{B} that intersect WnXnW_nX_n, which is equal to I(B,W)I(B,W)I(\mathcal{B}, \mathcal{W}) - I(\mathcal{B}, \mathcal{W}'). Therefore, we have I(B,W)=P(B)I(\mathcal{B}, \mathcal{W}) = P(\mathcal{B}). This completes the induction proof.

*Proof of Lemma 2 (Method 2):* This proof is essentially the same as Method 1, but the statement is worded differently. For each black segment BCBC in B\mathcal{B}, we call the set of white points on the side with fewer white points an *internal white point set* (if d(B,C)=nd(B, C) = n, choose one side arbitrarily to define the internal white point set). Note that any two internal white point sets (for two different black segments) either do not intersect or one is contained in the other.

We choose all the largest internal white point sets, and consider the points outside these sets as their own internal white point sets. We only need to prove there exists a white pairing scheme such that no two white segments correspond to white points in the same internal white point set. To do this, we first choose the largest internal white point set, connect the last point in clockwise order to the next point in counterclockwise order, and remove these two white points. We then consider the remaining white points and internal white point sets. Clearly, the resulting white point scheme is valid, and it satisfies the condition because by induction, we know that at any point in the algorithm, the number of white points in the largest internal white point set is less than or equal to the total number of white points in the rest of the internal white point sets.

Proof of Lemma 2 (Method 3):
First, we construct a weak white pairing scheme W\mathcal{W}', where white points are matched without requiring the corresponding white segments to have mutually disjoint pairs, such that I(B,W)=P(B)I(\mathcal{B}, \mathcal{W}') = P(\mathcal{B}). In fact, if W1,W2,,W2nW_1, W_2, \dots, W_{2n} are 2n2n white points arranged in sequence on the circle, we just need to match WiW_i with Wn+iW_{n+i} (1in1 \le i \le n) to achieve this, because such a pairing will connect the white points with fewer white points on one side of any black segment to the other side.

We select from all weak white pairing schemes W\mathcal{W}' that satisfy I(B,W)=P(B)I(\mathcal{B}, \mathcal{W}') = P(\mathcal{B}) the one with the minimum Euclidean distance sum of white segments, denoted by W0\mathcal{W}_0. We then prove that any two of the nn white segments in W0\mathcal{W}_0 do not intersect.

Suppose, to the contrary, that two segments WXWX and YZYZ intersect, and without loss of generality, we assume they are arranged clockwise on the circle as W,Y,X,ZW, Y, X, Z. As black segments in B\mathcal{B} do not intersect, there cannot be a black segment connecting YX\overline{YX} and WZ\overline{WZ}, as well as a black segment connecting XZ\overline{XZ} and WY\overline{WY} simultaneously. Without loss of generality, we assume there is no black segment connecting YX\overline{YX} and WZ\overline{WZ}. We then modify segments YZYZ and WXWX to be WYWY and ZXZX, respectively, obtaining a new weak white pairing scheme W0\mathcal{W}'_0, which clearly reduces the Euclidean distance sum of all white segments.

Figure 3

We now compare I(B,W0)I(\mathcal{B}, \mathcal{W}_0) and I(B,W0)I(\mathcal{B}, \mathcal{W}'_0) using the following observations:
* For any black segment that connects WY\overline{WY} and XY\overline{XY}, or ZX\overline{ZX} and XY\overline{XY}, or WY\overline{WY} and WZ\overline{WZ}, or ZX\overline{ZX} and WZ\overline{WZ}, the number of intersections with WXWX and YZYZ is precisely one, and the number of intersections with WYWY and ZXZX is also one.
* For any black segment that connects WY\overline{WY} and ZX\overline{ZX}, the number of intersections with each of WY,WX,YZWY, WX, YZ, and ZXZX is also one.

Thus, we have I(B,W0)=I(B,W0)I(\mathcal{B}, \mathcal{W}_0) = I(\mathcal{B}, \mathcal{W}'_0). However, this contradicts the fact that the sum of Euclidean distances of all white segments in W0\mathcal{W}_0 is minimal. Therefore, W0\mathcal{W}_0 is a valid white pairing scheme, and the proof of Lemma 2 is complete.

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