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Geometry Difficulty 6.6 National Olympiad Prove it Taiwan

There are two fixed points B(1,0)B(-1, 0), C(1,0)C(1, 0) on the coordinate plane. A bounded nonempty subset SS of the plane is called a "good set" if it satisfies the following two conditions:
(i) There exists a point TT in SS such that for any point QQ in SS, the segment TQTQ lies entirely within SS;
(ii) For any triangle P1P2P3P_1P_2P_3, there exists a unique point AA in SS and a permutation σ\sigma of the set {1,2,3}\{1, 2, 3\} such that triangle ABCABC is similar to triangle Pσ(1)Pσ(2)Pσ(3)P_{\sigma(1)}P_{\sigma(2)}P_{\sigma(3)}.
Prove that within the set {(x,y):x0,y0}\{(x, y): x \ge 0, y \ge 0\}, there exist two distinct good sets S,SS, S' such that: if ASA \in S and ASA' \in S' are the unique choices satisfying condition (ii), then the product BABABA \cdot BA' is a constant value independent of the triangle P1P2P3P_1P_2P_3.

Solution

If, in the similarity relation between ABC\triangle ABC and Pσ(1)Pσ(2)Pσ(3)\triangle P_{\sigma(1)}P_{\sigma(2)}P_{\sigma(3)}, BCBC corresponds to the longest side of Pσ(1)Pσ(2)Pσ(3)\triangle P_{\sigma(1)}P_{\sigma(2)}P_{\sigma(3)}, then BCABACBC \ge AB \ge AC. The condition BCABBC \ge AB is equivalent to (x+1)2+y24(x + 1)^2 + y^2 \le 4, while ABACAB \ge AC holds for any point in the first quadrant. Hence we first define:
S:={(x,y):(x+1)2+y24,x0,y0}. S := \{(x, y) : (x + 1)^2 + y^2 \le 4, x \ge 0, y \ge 0\}.
Note that SS is the intersection of a disk and the first quadrant, so it is a bounded convex set, and we may choose any point in it as TT to satisfy condition (i). For any point AA in SS, BCABACBC \ge AB \ge AC always holds. Hence the point AA satisfying condition (ii) can be uniquely determined, and its existence follows from the construction above.

Next, if, in the similarity relation between ABC\triangle ABC and Pσ(1)Pσ(2)Pσ(3)\triangle P_{\sigma(1)}P_{\sigma(2)}P_{\sigma(3)}, BCBC corresponds to the second longest side of Pσ(1)Pσ(2)Pσ(3)\triangle P_{\sigma(1)}P_{\sigma(2)}P_{\sigma(3)}, then ABBCACA'B \ge BC \ge A'C. These two inequalities are respectively equivalent to (x+1)2+y24(x + 1)^2 + y^2 \ge 4 and (x1)2+y24(x - 1)^2 + y^2 \le 4.
S:={(x,y):(x+1)2+y24,(x1)2+y24,x0,y0}. S' := \{(x, y) : (x+1)^2 + y^2 \ge 4, (x-1)^2 + y^2 \le 4, x \ge 0, y \ge 0\}.
That SS' is bounded and satisfies condition (ii) can be proved using an argument similar to that for SS. For condition (i), note that SS' consists of points that lie inside the disk (x1)2+y24(x - 1)^2 + y^2 \le 4 and outside the disk (x+1)2+y24(x + 1)^2 + y^2 \ge 4, so we may take T=(1,2)T' = (1, 2) to satisfy condition (i); this point is the highest point (the point with the largest yy-coordinate) on the circle (x1)2+y2=4(x - 1)^2 + y^2 = 4.

Finally, we check that BABABA \cdot BA' is a constant value. Suppose triangle P1P2P3P_1P_2P_3 satisfies P1P2P2P3P3P1P_1P_2 \ge P_2P_3 \ge P_3P_1. By similarity, we know:
BA=BCP2P3P1P2andBA=BCP1P2P2P3. BA = BC \cdot \frac{P_2P_3}{P_1P_2} \quad \text{and} \quad BA' = BC \cdot \frac{P_1P_2}{P_2P_3}.
Therefore BABA=BC2=4BA \cdot BA' = BC^2 = 4, and this value is naturally independent of the triangle P1P2P3P_1P_2P_3. This completes the proof.

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Source: MathNet, licensed CC-BY-4.0. Statement translated into English from zh; metadata (topic, difficulty) added by this project.