Each of 2009 (distinct) points in the plane is coloured blue or red, so that on every blue-centered unit circle lie exactly two red points. Determine the largest possible number of blue points.
Solution
Suppose there are red points among some points. Since any pair of them can lie on at most two blue-centered unit circles, it means that the number of blue points can be at most . Since , this leads to condition , i.e. , so .
A simple model is given by red points of coordinates , with , for all . Take blue points among those given by all pairs , , and of coordinates and , with
It is trivial to check that all blue points , are distinct, while on unit circles of these centers lie points and , and only them.
The choices made warrant that , since it comes to , and that . For the given , the answer is thus that the largest possible number of blue points is .
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