GeometryDifficulty 6.4National OlympiadProve itUnited States
Problem:
Let Γ be a circle of radius 1 centered at O. A circle Ω is said to be friendly if there exist distinct circles ω1,ω2,…,ω2020, such that for all 1≤i≤2020, ωi is tangent to Γ, Ω, and ωi+1. (Here, ω2021=ω1.) For each point P in the plane, let f(P) denote the sum of the areas of all friendly circles centered at P. If A and B are points such that OA=21 and OB=31, determine f(A)−f(B).
Solution
Solution:
Let P satisfy OP=x. (For now, we focus on f(P) and ignore the A and B from the problem statement.) The key idea is that if we invert at some point along OP such that the images of Γ and Ω are concentric, then ωi still exist. Suppose that this inversion fixes Γ and takes Ω to Ω′ of radius r (and X to X′ in general). If the inversion is centered at a point Q along ray OP such that OQ=d, then the radius of inversion is d2−1. Let the diameter of Ω meet OQ at A and B with A closer to Q than B. Then, (AB;PP∞)=−1 inverts to (A′B′;P′Q)=−1, where P∞ is the point at infinity along line OP, so P′ is the inverse of Q in Ω′. We can compute OP′=dr2 so P′Q=d−dr2 and PQ=d−dr2d2−1. Thus, we get the equation d−dr2d2−1+x=d, which rearranges to d2−r21−r2d=x, or d2−x−1(1−r2)d−r2=0.
The quadratic formula gives us that d=2x(1−r2)±r4−(2−4x2)r2+1, so dx=−2r21−r2±r4−(2−4x2)r2+1, which means that the radius of Ω is
2rr2+1±r4−(2−4x2)r2+1=2r+r1±r2+r21−2+4x2
Note that if r gives a valid chain of 2020 circles, so will r1 by homothety/inversion. Thus, we can think of each pair of r,r1 as giving rise to two possible values of the radius of Ω, which are 2r+r1±r2+r21−1. This means that the pairs have the same sum of radii as the circles centered at O, and the product of the radii is 1−x2. (A simpler way to see this is to note that inversion at P with radius 1−x2 swaps the two circles.)
From this, it follows that the difference between the sum of the areas for each pair is 2π(221−321)=185π. There are 2φ(2020)=400 such pairs, which can be explicitly computed as 1+sin2020πk1−sin2020πk,1−sin2020πk1+sin2020πk for positive integers k<1010 relatively prime to 2020.
Thus, the answer is 91000π.
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