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Geometry Difficulty 7.8 National Olympiad, round 2 Prove it Turkey

Let n>3n > 3 be a positive integer and P1,P2,,PnP_1, P_2, \dots, P_n be different points on the plane such that all pairwise distances between them are integers and the distances PiP1,PiP2,,PiPnP_iP_1, P_iP_2, \dots, P_iP_n rearranged in non-decreasing order coincide for all i=1,2,,ni = 1, 2, \dots, n. Find all possible values of nn.

Solution

First of all we will prove that the points P1,P2,,PnP_1, P_2, \dots, P_n are concyclic. Let PiP_i have coordinates (xi,yi)(x_i, y_i) for i=1,2,,ni = 1, 2, \dots, n and consider the point O=(u,v)O = (u, v) where u=(x1+x2++xn)/nu = (x_1 + x_2 + \dots + x_n)/n and v=(y1+y2++yn)/nv = (y_1 + y_2 + \dots + y_n)/n. Then
OPi2=(uxi)2+(vyi)2=(x1+x2++xnnxi)2+(y1+y2++ynnyi)2=u2+v2+xi2+yi22n(xi(x1+x2++xn)+yi(y1+y2++yn)) \begin{aligned} OP_i^2 &= (u - x_i)^2 + (v - y_i)^2 = \left( \frac{x_1 + x_2 + \dots + x_n}{n} - x_i \right)^2 + \left( \frac{y_1 + y_2 + \dots + y_n}{n} - y_i \right)^2 \\ &= u^2 + v^2 + x_i^2 + y_i^2 - \frac{2}{n} \left( x_i(x_1 + x_2 + \dots + x_n) + y_i(y_1 + y_2 + \dots + y_n) \right) \end{aligned}
Since the sum P1Pi2+P2Pi2++PnPi2P_1P_i^2 + P_2P_i^2 + \dots + P_nP_i^2 does not depend on ii and the sum
(xix1)2+(yiy1)2+(xix2)2+(yiy2)2++(xixn)2+(yiyn)2 (x_i - x_1)^2 + (y_i - y_1)^2 + (x_i - x_2)^2 + (y_i - y_2)^2 + \dots + (x_i - x_n)^2 + (y_i - y_n)^2
also does not depend on ii. Hence
n(xi2+yi2)2xi(x1+x2++xn)2yi((y1+y2++yn)=n(OPi2u2v2) n(x_i^2 + y_i^2) - 2x_i(x_1 + x_2 + \dots + x_n) - 2y_i((y_1 + y_2 + \dots + y_n) = n \cdot (OP_i^2 - u^2 - v^2)
does not depend on ii. Thus OPi2OP_i^2 does not depend on ii. Consequently OP1=OP2==OPnOP_1 = OP_2 = \dots = OP_n and hence the points P1,P2,,PnP_1, P_2, \dots, P_n lie on a circle with center OO. W.l.o.g. we will assume that the points P1,P2,,PnP_1, P_2, \dots, P_n are placed on a circle in a clockwise order. Let the smallest positive integer in the sequence P1Pi,P2Pi,,PnPiP_1P_i, P_2P_i, \dots, P_nP_i be aa and let the second smallest one be bb.

Figure 1
Now, consider three consecutive points on the circle Pi1,Pi,Pi+1P_{i-1}, P_i, P_{i+1} and a point PkP_k which is different from these three points. By Lemma 1, min{Pi1Pi,PiPi+1}PiPk\min\{P_{i-1}P_i, P_iP_{i+1}\} \le P_iP_k where Pn+1=P1P_{n+1} = P_1. Hence min{Pi1Pi,PiPi+1}=a\min\{P_{i-1}P_i, P_iP_{i+1}\} = a for all i=1,2,,ni = 1, 2, \dots, n. There are two cases: If a=ba = b, then consider a point PiP_i. We know that either Pi1Pi=aP_{i-1}P_i = a or PiPi+1=aP_iP_{i+1} = a. W.l.o.g., assume that Pi1Pi=aP_{i-1}P_i = a. Since b=ab = a, there must be another point PkP_k such that PiPk=b=aP_iP_k = b = a. We claim that k=i+1k = i + 1. If not, consider the cyclic quadrilateral Pi1PiPi+1PkP_{i-1}P_iP_{i+1}P_k. Since 90>90Pi1PiPk/2=PiPi1Pk=180PiPi+1Pk90^\circ > 90^\circ - \angle P_{i-1}P_iP_k/2 = \angle P_iP_{i-1}P_k = 180^\circ - \angle P_iP_{i+1}P_k, we get that PiPi+1Pk>90\angle P_iP_{i+1}P_k > 90^\circ and hence a=PiPk>PiPi+1a = P_iP_k > P_iP_{i+1} which contradicts to the choice of aa. Hence k=i+1k = i + 1 and since this result is true for all ii, we conclude that the PiPi+1=aP_iP_{i+1} = a for all i=1,2,,ni = 1, 2, \dots, n so these nn points form a regular nn-gon.
Figure 2
If a<ba < b, then exactly one of Pi1PiP_{i-1}P_i and PiPi+1P_iP_{i+1} is equal to aa and hence nn must be even and exactly n/2n/2 of the sides of the nn-gon P1P2PnP_1P_2\dots P_n must be equal to aa and none of these sides are consecutive. We claim that all other n/2n/2 sides must be equal to bb. Consider the four consecutive points Pi1PiPi+1Pi+2P_{i-1}P_iP_{i+1}P_{i+2} such that PiPi+1=aP_iP_{i+1} = a. By Lemma 1 min{Pi1Pi+1,Pi+1Pi+2}=b\min\{P_{i-1}P_{i+1}, P_{i+1}P_{i+2}\} = b and similarly min{Pi1Pi,PiPi+2}=b\min\{P_{i-1}P_i, P_iP_{i+2}\} = b. If PiPi1=Pi1Pi+1=bP_iP_{i-1} = P_{i-1}P_{i+1} = b or PiPi+2=Pi+2Pi+1=bP_iP_{i+2} = P_{i+2}P_{i+1} = b then we would obtain that b<ab < a which is a contradiction. Hence either PiPi1=Pi+1Pi+2=bP_iP_{i-1} = P_{i+1}P_{i+2} = b or PiPi+2=Pi1Pi+1=bP_iP_{i+2} = P_{i-1}P_{i+1} = b which shows that the quadrilateral Pi1PiPi+1Pi+2P_{i-1}P_iP_{i+1}P_{i+2} is a isosceles trapezoid and hence Pi1Pi=Pi+1Pi+2P_{i-1}P_i = P_{i+1}P_{i+2}. Thus, all other n/2n/2 sides are equal to bb.

Figure 3
greatest common divisor of all these distances is 1. Consider the cyclic quadrilaterals A1A2Ak+1Ak+2A_1A_2A_{k+1}A_{k+2} and let dk=A1Ak+1d_k = A_1A_{k+1}. By Ptolemy Theorem, we have dk2=d12+dk1dk+1d_k^2 = d_1^2 + d_{k-1}d_{k+1}. If d1>1d_1 > 1 then let pp be a prime divisor of d1d_1. Since d22=d12+d1d3d_2^2 = d_1^2 + d_1d_3 we get that pp also divides d2d_2 and using the equations dk2=d12+dk1dk+1d_k^2 = d_1^2 + d_{k-1}d_{k+1} we can inductively prove that pp divides all did_i's which is a contradiction. Hence d1=1d_1 = 1 but in this case A1A2=A2A3=1A_1A_2 = A_2A_3 = 1 and hence by triangle inequality, d2=A1A3<1+1=2d_2 = A_1A_3 < 1 + 1 = 2 and hence d2=1d_2 = 1. On the other hand, d22=d12+d1d3d_2^2 = d_1^2 + d_1d_3 which is impossible since we would get that d3=0d_3 = 0. Done.

Figure 4
Now, if a=ba = b, since we have a regular nn-gon by Lemma 2 all possibilities are: n=1,2,3n = 1, 2, 3. If a<ba < b, since nn is even the side lengths are of the form a,b,a,b,,a,ba, b, a, b, \dots, a, b, the points with even (odd) indices form a regular n/2n/2-gon and hence all possibilities are n=2,4,6n = 2, 4, 6 again by Lemma 2. For n=4n = 4, choose a rectangle with side lengths 3 and 4. For n=6n = 6 choose a cyclic hexagon with consecutive side lengths 3, 5, 3, 5, 3, 5. In this case all diagonals are integers and for all ii, the distances PiPi+1,P2Pi+1,,P6PiP_iP_{i+1}, P_2P_{i+1}, \dots, P_6P_i forms the sequence 0, 3, 5, 7, 7, 8:

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