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Taiwan IMO Selection Camp, 2023

Geometry Difficulty 7.3 National Olympiad, round 2 Prove it Taiwan

Let ω\omega be the circumcircle of triangle ABCABC, whose AA-excenter is IAI_A. Let DD be the foot of the perpendicular from IAI_A to BCBC. Let MM be the midpoint of segment IADI_A D. Point TT be on arc BCBC not containing AA of ω\omega satisfying ∠BAT=∠DAC\angle BAT = \angle DAC, and IATI_A T intersects ω\omega again at S≠TS \neq T. Let SMSM and BCBC intersect at XX, and let the perpendicular bisector of ADAD intersect AC,ABAC, AB at Y,ZY, Z, respectively. Prove that the lines AX,BY,CZAX, BY, CZ are concurrent.

Solution

Solution 1. Let II denote the incenter of △ABC\triangle ABC, let NN be the midpoint of the minor arc BCBC, let NDND meet ω\omega again at UU, and let AI∩BC=LAI \cap BC = L. Consider the inversion centered at AA with radius AB⋅AC\sqrt{AB \cdot AC}, composed with reflection about AIAI. This inversion sends DD to TT, and LL to NN, so
∠ATL=∠AND=∠ANU=∠ATU, \angle ATL = \angle AND = \angle ANU = \angle ATU,
that is, T,L,UT, L, U are collinear. Let N′N' be the midpoint of arc BACBAC; it is well known that T,I,N′T, I, N' are collinear, so we have
−1=(A,L;I,IA)=T(A,U;N′,S)=N(IA,D;∞IAD,NS∩IAD), -1 = (A, L; I, I_A) \stackrel{T}{=} (A, U; N', S) \stackrel{N}{=} (I_A, D; \infty_{I_A D}, NS \cap I_A D),
that is, NSNS bisects IADI_A D, so N,S,MN, S, M are collinear.

Let the perpendicular bisector of ADAD (i.e. YZYZ) meet BCBC at WW. Then WD2=WA2WD^2 = WA^2, so WW lies on the radical axis ℓ\ell of the AA-excircle and the point AA. Let the AA-excircle touch AC,ABAC, AB at E,FE, F respectively; then the midpoint of AEAE and the midpoint of AFAF also lie on ℓ\ell. Let EF∩BC=PEF \cap BC = P and AN′∩BC=QAN' \cap BC = Q. Since EF∥AN′EF \parallel AN', we know that ℓ\ell is equidistant from EFEF and AN′AN', so W=ℓ∩BCW = \ell \cap BC is the midpoint of PQPQ.

Consider harmonic conjugation with respect to BCBC, that is, inversion about the circle with diameter BCBC. Let X′X' be the harmonic conjugate of WW with respect to BCBC, and let MBCM_{BC} be the midpoint of BCBC. Then
−1=(P,Q;W,∞BC)=(D,L;X′,MBC)=N(D,IA;NX′∩DIA,∞DIA), -1 = (P, Q; W, \infty_{BC}) = (D, L; X', M_{BC}) \stackrel{N}{=} (D, I_A; NX' \cap DI_A, \infty_{DI_A}),
that is, NX′∩DIA=MNX' \cap DI_A = M, so N,X′,MN, X', M are collinear. Also, as shown above, N,S,M,XN, S, M, X are collinear, so X=X′X = X'. That is, −1=(B,C;X,W)-1 = (B, C; X, W). Since W=XY∩BCW = XY \cap BC (using the notation for the point XY∩BCXY \cap BC), it follows that AX,BY,CZAX, BY, CZ are concurrent. □\square

Solution 2. Let II be the incenter of △ABC\triangle ABC, let NN be the midpoint of minor arc BCBC, and let IADI_A D meet TITI at PP.

We first prove again that N,S,MN, S, M are collinear: let N′N' be the midpoint of arc BACBAC. Notice that
∠IAD=∠TAN=∠TN′N=∠IPD, \angle IAD = \angle TAN = \angle TN'N = \angle IPD,
so A,I,P,DA, I, P, D are concyclic. Therefore
IAT⋅IAS=IAN⋅IAA=12IAI⋅IAA=12IAD⋅IAP=IAM⋅IAP, I_A T \cdot I_A S = I_A N \cdot I_A A = \frac{1}{2} I_A I \cdot I_A A = \frac{1}{2} I_A D \cdot I_A P = I_A M \cdot I_A P,
so S,T,M,PS, T, M, P are concyclic. Hence
∠TSM=∠TPM=∠IPD=∠IDA=∠TAN, \angle TSM = \angle TPM = \angle IPD = \angle IDA = \angle TAN,
which shows N,S,MN, S, M are collinear.

Let YZYZ meet BCBC at X′X'. Since the original problem is equivalent to (B,C;X,X′)=−1(B, C; X, X') = -1, it suffices to prove that MAB‾2=MAX‾⋅MAX′‾\overline{M_A B}^2 = \overline{M_A X} \cdot \overline{M_A X'}, where MAM_A is the midpoint of segment BCBC.

Let EE be the point where the incircle of △ABC\triangle ABC touches side BCBC, and let KK be the intersection of NMANM_A and ADAD. It is well known that MAD‾=MAE‾\overline{M_A D} = \overline{M_A E} and that ADAD passes through the reflection of EE about II; hence KMA‾=IE‾\overline{KM_A} = \overline{IE} and KE‾=KD‾\overline{KE} = \overline{KD}.

Notice that MN∥DIMN \parallel DI, so △NMAX∼△IED\triangle NM_A X \sim \triangle IED, and therefore
MAX‾=DE‾⋅NMA‾IE‾. \overline{M_A X} = \overline{DE} \cdot \frac{\overline{NM_A}}{\overline{IE}}.
On the other hand, since
∠KAX′=−∠KDX′=−∠KDE=∠KED=∠KEX′, \angle KAX' = -\angle KDX' = -\angle KDE = \angle KED = \angle KEX',
we have A,K,E,X′A, K, E, X' concyclic. And
MAX′‾=MAK‾tan⁡∠KX′E=IE‾tan⁡∠KX′E=IE‾tan⁡∠KAE=IE‾tan⁡∠DAE, \overline{M_A X'} = \frac{\overline{M_A K}}{\tan \angle KX'E} = \frac{\overline{IE}}{\tan \angle KX'E} = \frac{\overline{IE}}{\tan \angle KAE} = \frac{\overline{IE}}{\tan \angle DAE},
so the original claim only requires proving that
MAB‾⋅MAC‾=DE‾⋅NMA‾tan⁡∠DAE. \overline{M_A B} \cdot \overline{M_A C} = \frac{\overline{DE} \cdot \overline{NM_A}}{\tan \angle DAE}.
If we let O′O' be the circumcenter of △ADE\triangle ADE, we have DE‾tan⁡∠DAE=2O′MA‾\frac{\overline{DE}}{\tan \angle DAE} = 2\overline{O'M_A}. And by the power of a point, we have MAB‾⋅MAC‾=NMA‾⋅MAN′‾\overline{M_A B} \cdot \overline{M_A C} = \overline{NM_A} \cdot \overline{M_A N'}. So finally it is equivalent to prove that MAN′‾=2O′MA‾\overline{M_A N'} = 2\overline{O' M_A}, which follows from the following lemma.

Lemma. The circumcenter O′O' of △ADE\triangle ADE is the midpoint of N′MA‾\overline{N' M_A}.

Proof of the lemma. Let the perpendicular from AA to BCBC, and AIAI, meet the circumcircle Γ\Gamma of triangle ADEADE again at U,VU, V respectively. It is well known that A(U,V;D,E)Γ=−1A(U, V; D, E)_\Gamma = -1, so the second intersection point A∗A^* of VMAVM_A with Γ\Gamma satisfies A∗U∥DEA^*U \parallel DE, that is, A∗A^* is the antipode of AA on Γ\Gamma. Hence ∠AVA∗=90∘=∠VAN′\angle AVA^* = 90^\circ = \angle VAN', that is, AN∥VA∗AN \parallel VA^*. Also, since MAUM_A U and MAVM_A V are symmetric with respect to DEDE, we obtain that AUMAN′AUM_A N' is an isosceles trapezoid, so the midpoint of MAN′‾\overline{M_A N'} lies on the perpendicular bisector of AUAU, which is exactly the circumcenter O′O' of △ADE\triangle ADE. □\square

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