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Geometry Difficulty 8.3 Shortlist Prove it China

Given a convex nn-gon (n5n \ge 5) Ω:P1P2...Pn\Omega: P_1P_2...P_n, of which no three diagonals are concurrent inside Ω\Omega. Prove that one can choose a point inside every quadrilateral PiPjPkPlP_iP_jP_kP_l (1i<j<k<ln1 \le i < j < k < l \le n) and not on any diagonal of Ω\Omega, such that the Cn4C_n^4 points obtained are distinct and the segment connecting any two of them intersects with at least one diagonal of Ω\Omega.
(Contributed by Leng Fusheng)

Solutions — 3

Solution 1

To begin, notice that the diagonals of Ω\Omega divide the polygon into Cn4+Cn12C_n^4 + C_{n-1}^2 small regions. Every quadrilateral PiPjPkPlP_iP_jP_kP_l (1i<j<k<ln1 \le i < j < k < l \le n) has a 1-1 correspondence with the intersection of the diagonals PiPkP_iP_k and PjPlP_jP_l, and additionally, every intersection is adjacent to four small regions. Therefore, it is enough to assign every intersection to one of the four adjacent small regions, such that the Cn4C_n^4 assigned small regions are all distinct.

Place Ω\Omega in the Cartesian coordinate plane such that no diagonal is parallel to the xx axis. If two diagonals PiPk,PjPlP_iP_k, P_jP_l meet at QQ, then we assign QQ to the unique small region incident to QQ and whose interior points all have yy coordinates larger than that of QQ (intuitively, above QQ). Obviously, different intersections correspond to different small regions, as for each small region RR, there is a unique vertex with the minimum yy coordinate, and this vertex is assigned to RR. This completes the proof. \square

Solution 2

As in the first proof, we are required to assign each intersection (of two diagonals) to an adjacent small region, such that the assigned small regions are all distinct. In the plane of Ω\Omega, pick any point QQ not concurrent with any diagonal. Suppose that two diagonals 1\ell_1 and 2\ell_2 intersect at RR. Then QQ lies inside one of the four zones of the plane divided by 1\ell_1 and 2\ell_2: in the anticlockwise direction, let TT be the next zone, and assign RR to the unique small region adjacent to RR and contained in TT. It remains to prove that each small region is assigned at most one intersection.

Figure 1
Fig. 1.1

For a small region illustrated in Fig. 1.1, denote its vertices anticlockwise as R1,R2,,Rm(R0=Rm)R_1, R_2, \dots, R_m(R_0 = R_m). The rays R1R2,R2R3,,Rm1Rm,RmR1R_1R_2, R_2R_3, \dots, R_{m-1}R_m, R_mR_1 divide the plane excluding the small region into A1,A2,,AmA_1, A_2, \dots, A_m, where AiA_i is the zone whose boundary consists of rays RiRi+1R_iR_{i+1} and Ri1RiR_{i-1}R_i. According to the correspondence between small regions and intersections, this small region is assigned RiR_i if and only if QQ lies inside zone AiA_i, which could happen for at most one subscript ii. Since this is true for any small region, we infer that each small region is assigned at most one intersection, and the proof is completed. \square

Solution 3

Let all the diagonals of Ω\Omega be 1,,m\ell_1, \dots, \ell_m. We put these mm diagonals in Ω\Omega in the order of the subscripts and define SkS_k as the set of intersections created by adding the diagonal k\ell_k (SkS_k could be empty), TkT_k as the set of all small regions divided by I1,,IkI_1, \dots, I_k. We use induction to prove, for each kk, there exists a one-to-one mapping
fk:S1SkTk, f_k : S_1 \cup \dots \cup S_k \to T_k,
such that every QS1SkQ \in S_1 \cup \dots \cup S_k is a vertex of the polygon fk(Q)f_k(Q). After that, a discussion as in the beginning of the first proof will lead to the conclusion.

For k=1k=1, the assertion is obvious. Assume for k1k-1, the one-to-one mapping fk1f_{k-1} satisfies the condition. Now we add the diagonal IkI_k to Ω\Omega.

If SkS_k is empty, the assertion is clearly true for kk. Assume SkS_k is nonempty. Then the intersections in SkS_k all lie on k\ell_k, say they are Q1,,QrQ_1, \dots, Q_r, and they traverse the small regions A1,,Ar+1A_1, \dots, A_{r+1}, respectively, dividing each AiA_i into two new small regions BiB_i and CiC_i.

Notice that fk11(Ai)f_{k-1}^{-1}(A_i) can be either empty or determined, say a vertex RiR_i of BiB_i or CiC_i. Now we define fkf_k as follows: for each i{1,,r}i \in \{1, \dots, r\},

(1) If fk11(Ai)f_{k-1}^{-1}(A_i) is empty, then let f(Qi)=Bif(Q_i) = B_i;

(2) If RiR_i is a vertex of BiB_i, then let fk(Ri)=Bif_k(R_i) = B_i, fk(Qi)=Cif_k(Q_i) = C_i;

(3) If RiR_i is a vertex of CiC_i, then let fk(Ri)=Cif_k(R_i) = C_i, fk(Qi)=Bif_k(Q_i) = B_i.

For all other intersections QQ, let fk(Q)=fk1(Q)f_k(Q) = f_{k-1}(Q). It is straightforward to check that fkf_k has the desired properties. Particularly, when k=mk=m, the mapping f=fmf=f_m gives a one-to-one correspondence between all interior intersections and small regions of Ω\Omega, satisfying that each intersection QQ is a vertex of the small region f(Q)f(Q). \square

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