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IMO Team Selection Test 3, June, 2020

Geometry Difficulty 8.4 Shortlist Prove it Netherlands

Let a triangle ABCABC such that ∣AC∣<∣AB∣|AC| < |AB| be given, together with its circumcircle. Let DD be a varying point on the short arc ACAC. Let EE be the reflection of AA in the internal angular bisector of ∠BDC\angle BDC. Prove that the line DEDE passes through a fixed point, independent of where DD lies.

Solution

Let MM be the intersection of the internal angular bisector of ∠BDC\angle BDC with the circumcircle of △ABC\triangle ABC. As DD lies on the short arc ACAC, we see that MM lies on the arc BCBC not containing AA. We have ∠BDM=∠MDC\angle BDM = \angle MDC as DMDM is the internal angular bisector of ∠BDC\angle BDC, so arcs BMBM and CMCM have equal lengths. Hence MM is independent of DD.

Figure 1

Let SS be the intersection of DEDE and the circumcircle of △ABC\triangle ABC. We show that SS is independent of DD. As SS and MM lie on the circumcircle of △ABC\triangle ABC, we have ∠AMD=∠ASD=∠ASE\angle AMD = \angle ASD = \angle ASE. As EE is the reflection of AA in DMDM, we now see that ∠AME=2∠AMD=2∠ASE\angle AME = 2\angle AMD = 2\angle ASE.

Consider the circle with centre MM passing through AA. As EE is the reflection of AA in DMDM, we have ∣MA∣=∣ME∣|MA| = |ME|, so this circle also passes through EE. By the inscribed angle theorem, from ∠AME=2∠ASE\angle AME = 2\angle ASE it follows that SS is also on this circle. Therefore SS is the second intersection point of the circumcircle of △ABC\triangle ABC and the circle with centre MM passing through AA. This is a description of SS independent of DD. As DEDE passes through SS, the point SS is the point required. □\square

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