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Algebra Difficulty 5.1 AIME, harder Prove it Croatia

Prove the following statement: if zz is a complex number such that Re(ziz+i)=0\text{Re}\left(\frac{z-i}{z+i}\right) = 0, then z=1|z| = 1. (Ilko Brnetić)

Solution

Let z=x+iyz = x + iy, where x,yRx, y \in \mathbb{R}.

We have:
ziz+i=(x+iy)i(x+iy)+i=x+i(y1)x+i(y+1) \frac{z - i}{z + i} = \frac{(x + iy) - i}{(x + iy) + i} = \frac{x + i(y - 1)}{x + i(y + 1)}

Multiply numerator and denominator by the conjugate of the denominator:
x+i(y1)x+i(y+1)xi(y+1)xi(y+1)=(x+i(y1))(xi(y+1))(x+i(y+1))(xi(y+1)) \frac{x + i(y - 1)}{x + i(y + 1)} \cdot \frac{x - i(y + 1)}{x - i(y + 1)} = \frac{(x + i(y - 1))(x - i(y + 1))}{(x + i(y + 1))(x - i(y + 1))}

Compute the denominator:
(x+i(y+1))(xi(y+1))=x2ix(y+1)+ix(y+1)i2(y+1)2=x2+(y+1)2 (x + i(y + 1))(x - i(y + 1)) = x^2 - i x (y + 1) + i x (y + 1) - i^2 (y + 1)^2 = x^2 + (y + 1)^2

Compute the numerator:
(x+i(y1))(xi(y+1))=x(x)+x(i(y+1))+i(y1)x+i(y1)(i(y+1))=x2ix(y+1)+ix(y1)i2(y1)(y+1)=x2ix(y+1)+ix(y1)+(y21)(since i2=1)=x2+(y21)ix(y+1)+ix(y1)=x2+y21ix(y+1y+1)=x2+y21ix(2)\begin{align*} (x + i(y - 1))(x - i(y + 1)) &= x(x) + x(-i(y + 1)) + i(y - 1)x + i(y - 1)(-i(y + 1)) \\ &= x^2 - i x (y + 1) + i x (y - 1) - i^2 (y - 1)(y + 1) \\ &= x^2 - i x (y + 1) + i x (y - 1) + (y^2 - 1) \quad (\text{since } i^2 = -1) \\ &= x^2 + (y^2 - 1) - i x (y + 1) + i x (y - 1) \\ &= x^2 + y^2 - 1 - i x (y + 1 - y + 1) \\ &= x^2 + y^2 - 1 - i x (2) \end{align*}

So,
ziz+i=x2+y212ixx2+(y+1)2 \frac{z - i}{z + i} = \frac{x^2 + y^2 - 1 - 2ix}{x^2 + (y + 1)^2}

The real part is:
Re(ziz+i)=x2+y21x2+(y+1)2 \text{Re}\left(\frac{z - i}{z + i}\right) = \frac{x^2 + y^2 - 1}{x^2 + (y + 1)^2}

We are given that this is 00, so:
x2+y21x2+(y+1)2=0    x2+y21=0    x2+y2=1 \frac{x^2 + y^2 - 1}{x^2 + (y + 1)^2} = 0 \implies x^2 + y^2 - 1 = 0 \implies x^2 + y^2 = 1

But z=x2+y2=1|z| = \sqrt{x^2 + y^2} = 1.

Therefore, z=1|z| = 1.

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Source: MathNet, licensed CC-BY-4.0. Statement reproduced verbatim; metadata (topic, difficulty) added by this project.