Maths Olympiad Prep

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Geometry Difficulty 6.4 National olympiad Prove it Romania

Let ABCABC be a triangle. Let MM be a variable point interior to the segment ABAB, and let γB\gamma_B be the circle through MM and tangent at BB to BCBC. Let PP and QQ be the touch points of γB\gamma_B and its tangents from AA, and let XX be the midpoint of the segment PQPQ. Similarly, let NN be a variable point interior to the segment ACAC, and let γC\gamma_C be the circle through NN and tangent at CC to BCBC. Let RR and SS be the touch points of γC\gamma_C and its tangents from AA, and let YY be the midpoint of the segment RSRS. Prove that the line through the centres of the circles AMNAMN and AXYAXY passes through a fixed point.

Solution

We show that the line through the centres of the circles AMNAMN and AXYAXY passes through the centre of the circle ABCABC. Alternatively, but equivalently, we prove that the three circles share a point different from AA.

Invert the whole configuration from AA and let ZZ' denote the image of ZZ under inversion: The circles ABCABC, AMNAMN and AXYAXY are transformed into the lines BCB'C', MNM'N' and XYX'Y', respectively; the line BCBC is transformed into the circle γ\gamma through AA, BB' and CC'; the circle γB\gamma_B is transformed into a circle γB\gamma'_B through BB' and MM', centred at XX' and externally tangent to γ\gamma at BB'; and the circle γC\gamma_C is transformed into a circle γC\gamma'_C through CC' and NN', centred at YY' and externally tangent to γ\gamma at CC'. In this setting, we are to prove that the lines BCB'C', MNM'N' and XYX'Y' are (projectively) concurrent.

To this end, let the pair of external common tangents of γB\gamma'_B and γC\gamma'_C meet at OO, and let θ\theta be the homothety centred at OO mapping γB\gamma'_B onto γC\gamma'_C; clearly, OO lies on the line XYX'Y' through the centres of the two circles. Let further θB\theta_B and θC\theta_C be the homotheties centred at BB' and CC', respectively, mapping γ\gamma onto γB\gamma'_B and γC\gamma'_C, respectively.

The centres of the three homotheties are collinear, so BCB'C' passes through OO.

Finally, θ=θCθB1\theta = \theta_C\theta_B^{-1}, so θM=θCθB1M=θCA=N\theta M' = \theta_C\theta_B^{-1}M' = \theta_C A = N', showing that the line MNM'N' passes through OO as well. This ends the proof.

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Source: MathNet, licensed CC-BY-4.0. Statement and solution reproduced as published; topic and difficulty added by this site.