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Geometry Difficulty 5.5 AIME, harder Prove it Romania

Consider the distinct complex numbers a,b,c,da, b, c, d. Prove that the following are equivalent:
i) For any zCz \in \mathbb{C} we have za+zbzc+zd|z-a| + |z-b| \ge |z-c| + |z-d|.
ii) There is t(0,1)t \in (0, 1) such that c=ta+(1t)bc = ta + (1-t)b and d=(1t)a+tbd = (1-t)a + tb.

Solution

ii)     \implies i): We have zc=zta(1t)btza+(1t)zb|z-c| = |z-ta - (1-t)b| \le t|z-a| + (1-t)|z-b|. Analogously, zd(1t)za+tzb|z-d| \le (1-t)|z-a| + t|z-b|. Summing up, the conclusion follows.

i)     \implies ii): For z=az = a we get abac+ad|a-b| \ge |a-c| + |a-d|, and for z=bz = b, abbc+bd|a-b| \ge |b-c| + |b-d|. Summing up, 2abac+ad+bc+bd2|a-b| \ge |a-c| + |a-d| + |b-c| + |b-d|.
But ac+bcab|a-c| + |b-c| \ge |a-b|, ad+bdab|a-d| + |b-d| \ge |a-b|. It follows that all inequalities are in fact equalities. In particular ac+bc=ab|a-c| + |b-c| = |a-b| giving the existence of t1(0,1)t_1 \in (0, 1) such that c=t1a+(1t1)bc = t_1a + (1-t_1)b. In the same way, there is t2(0,1)t_2 \in (0, 1) such that d=t2a+(1t2)bd = t_2a + (1-t_2)b.
We shall show that t1+t2=1t_1 + t_2 = 1. We have ac+bc=ab=bc+bd|a-c| + |b-c| = |a-b| = |b-c| + |b-d|, implying ac=bd|a-c| = |b-d|. These give (1t1)ab=t2ba(1-t_1)|a-b| = t_2|b-a|, which concludes the proof.

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