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Saudi Arabian Mathematical Competitions

Geometry Difficulty 6.5 National Olympiad Prove it Saudi Arabia

Let ABCABC be a non isosceles triangle with circumcircle (O)(O) and incircle (I)(I). Denote (O1)(O_{1}) as the circle that is externally tangent to (O)(O) at A′A', and also tangent to the lines ABAB, ACAC at AbA_b, AcA_c respectively. Define the circles (O2)(O_{2}), (O3)(O_{3}) and the points B′B', C′C', BcB_c, BaB_a, CaC_a, CbC_b similarly.

1. Denote JJ as the radical center of (O1)(O_{1}), (O2)(O_{2}), (O3)(O_{3}) and suppose that JA′JA' intersects (O1)(O_{1}) at the second point XX, JB′JB' intersects (O2)(O_{2}) at the second point YY, JC′JC' intersects (O3)(O_{3}) at the second point ZZ. Prove that the circle (XYZ)(XYZ) is tangent to (O1)(O_{1}), (O2)(O_{2}), (O3)(O_{3}).

2. Prove that AA′AA', BB′BB', CC′CC' are concurrent at the point MM and the three points II, MM, OO are collinear.

Solution

1) Consider the inversion with center JJ and ratio equal to the power of JJ to the three circles (O1)(O_{1}), (O2)(O_{2}), (O3)(O_{3}) as a function ff.
It is easy to see that
f((O1))=(O1),f((O2))=(O2),f((O3))=(O3). f\left((O_{1})\right) = (O_{1}), \quad f\left((O_{2})\right) = (O_{2}), \quad f\left((O_{3})\right) = (O_{3}) .
On the other hand, f(X)=A1f(X) = A_1, f(Y)=B1f(Y) = B_1, f(Z)=C1f(Z) = C_1, thus
f((XYZ))=(A1B1C1)=(O). f((XYZ)) = (A_1B_1C_1) = (O) .
Because (O)(O) is tangent to all three circles (O1)(O_{1}), (O2)(O_{2}), (O3)(O_{3}), then (XYZ)(XYZ) is also tangent to (O1)(O_{1}), (O2)(O_{2}), (O3)(O_{3}), based on the property of inversion.

Figure 1

2) We will prove that AA′AA', BB′BB', CC′CC' are concurrent at the homothety center of (O)(O) and (I)(I). Indeed,
Suppose that AA′AA' intersects IOIO at MM. It is easy to see that AA, II, O1O_1 are collinear and OO, O1O_1, A′A' are also collinear. Denote rAr_A as the radius of (O1)(O_1).

Figure 2

From the ratio of radii, we can see that:
AI‾AO1‾=rrA and A′O‾A′O1‾=−RrA. \frac{\overline{AI}}{\overline{AO_1}} = \frac{r}{r_A} \text{ and } \frac{\overline{A'O}}{\overline{A'O_1}} = -\frac{R}{r_A} .
By applying Menelaus' theorem, we have
AI‾AO1‾⋅A′O1‾A′O‾⋅MO‾MI‾=1⇔MO‾MI‾=AO1‾AI‾⋅A′O‾A′O1‾=rAr(−RrA)=−Rr. \frac{\overline{AI}}{\overline{AO_1}} \cdot \frac{\overline{A'O_1}}{\overline{A'O}} \cdot \frac{\overline{MO}}{\overline{MI}} = 1 \Leftrightarrow \frac{\overline{MO}}{\overline{MI}} = \frac{\overline{AO_1}}{\overline{AI}} \cdot \frac{\overline{A'O}}{\overline{A'O_1}} = \frac{r_A}{r} \left(-\frac{R}{r_A}\right) = -\frac{R}{r} .
Hence the line AA′AA' passes through the point MM that internally divides the segment OIOI with ratio Rr\frac{R}{r}. Similarly for BB′BB', CC′CC'. Therefore, AA′AA', BB′BB', CC′CC' are concurrent at a point MM belonging to the segment IOIO. □\square

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