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Geometry Difficulty 7.4 National Olympiad, round 2 Prove it United States

A circle is divided into 432432 congruent arcs by 432432 points. The points are colored in four colors such that some 108108 points are colored Red, some 108108 points are colored Green, some 108108 points are colored Blue, and the remaining 108108 points are colored Yellow. Prove that one can choose three points of each color in such a way that the four triangles formed by the chosen points of the same color are congruent.

Solution

Let RR, GG, BB, and YY denote the sets of Red, Green, Blue, and Yellow points, respectively, and let rr, gg, bb, and yy denote a generic Red, Green, Blue, and Yellow point, respectively. For 0k4310 \le k \le 431, denote by Tk\mathcal{T}_k the counterclockwise rotation by 360k432\frac{360k}{432} degrees around the center of the circle.

First, we claim that there is some index i1i_1 such that Ti1(R)G28|\mathcal{T}_{i_1}(R) \cap G| \ge 28. Indeed, for each kk, the set Tk(R)G\mathcal{T}_k(R) \cap G consists of all Green points that are the images of Red points under the rotation Tk\mathcal{T}_k. Hence the sum
s1=T0(R)G+T1(R)G++T431(R)G s_1 = |\mathcal{T}_0(R) \cap G| + |\mathcal{T}_1(R) \cap G| + \dots + |\mathcal{T}_{431}(R) \cap G|
is equal to the number of pairs of points (r,g)(r, g) such that g=Tk(r)g = \mathcal{T}_k(r) for some kk. On the other hand, for each rr and each gg, there is a unique rotation Tk\mathcal{T}_k with Tk(r)=g\mathcal{T}_k(r) = g, from which it follows that s1=1082=11664s_1 = 108^2 = 11664. On the other hand, note that T0(R)G=RG=0|\mathcal{T}_0(R) \cap G| = |R \cap G| = 0 because the sets RR and GG are disjoint. By the Pigeonhole principle, there is some index i1i_1 such that
Ti1(R)Gs1431=11664431=27.06=28, |\mathcal{T}_{i_1}(R) \cap G| \ge \left\lfloor \frac{s_1}{431} \right\rfloor = \left\lfloor \frac{11664}{431} \right\rfloor = \lceil 27.06 \dots \rceil = 28,
establishing the claim. Let RGRG denote the set Ti1(R)G\mathcal{T}_{i_1}(R) \cap G, and let rgrg denote a generic point in RGRG.

Second, we claim that there is some index i2i_2 such that Ti2(RG)B8|\mathcal{T}_{i_2}(RG) \cap B| \ge 8. Again, for each kk, the set Tk(RG)B\mathcal{T}_k(RG) \cap B consists of all Blue points that are the images of the points in RGRG under the rotation Tk\mathcal{T}_k. Hence the sum
s2=T0(RG)B+T1(RG)B++T431(RG)B s_2 = |\mathcal{T}_0(RG) \cap B| + |\mathcal{T}_1(RG) \cap B| + \dots + |\mathcal{T}_{431}(RG) \cap B|
is equal to the number of pairs of points (rg,b)(rg, b) such that b=Tk(rg)b = \mathcal{T}_k(rg) for some kk. On the other hand, for each rgrg and each bb, there is a unique rotation Tk\mathcal{T}_k with Tk(rg)=b\mathcal{T}_k(rg) = b, from which it follows that s228108=3024s_2 \ge 28 \cdot 108 = 3024. Clearly, RGRG is a subset of GG, which is disjoint from BB, so T0(RG)B=\mathcal{T}_0(RG) \cap B = \emptyset. Furthermore, T432i1(Ti1(R))=R\mathcal{T}_{432-i_1}(\mathcal{T}_{i_1}(R)) = R. Therefore, because T432i1(RG)\mathcal{T}_{432-i_1}(RG) is a subset of RR, it is also disjoint from BB, so T432i1(RG)B=\mathcal{T}_{432-i_1}(RG) \cap B = \emptyset. By the Pigeonhole principle, there is some index i2i_2 such that
Ti2(RG)Bs24303024430=7.0325=8, |\mathcal{T}_{i_2}(RG) \cap B| \ge \lfloor \frac{s_2}{430} \rfloor \ge \lfloor \frac{3024}{430} \rfloor = \lceil 7.0325 \dots \rceil = 8,
establishing the claim. Let RGBRGB denote the set Ti2(RG)B\mathcal{T}_{i_2}(RG) \cap B, and let rgbrgb denote a generic point in RGBRGB.

Finally, we claim that there is some index i3i_3 such that Ti3(RGB)Y3|\mathcal{T}_{i_3}(RGB) \cap Y| \ge 3. We repeat the machinery from our previous arguments one more time to show that
s3=T0(RGB)Y+T1(RGB)Y++T431(RGB)Y8108=864 s_3 = |\mathcal{T}_0(RGB) \cap Y| + |\mathcal{T}_1(RGB) \cap Y| + \dots + |\mathcal{T}_{431}(RGB) \cap Y| \ge 8 \cdot 108 = 864
and
T0(RGB)Y=T432i2(RGB)Y=T432i2i1(RGB)Y=0. |\mathcal{T}_0(RGB) \cap Y| = |\mathcal{T}_{432-i_2}(RGB) \cap Y| = |\mathcal{T}_{432-i_2-i_1}(RGB) \cap Y| = 0.
The Pigeonhole principle then shows that there is some index i3i_3 such that
Ti3(RGB)Ys3429864429=2.01=3, |\mathcal{T}_{i_3}(RGB) \cap Y| \ge \lfloor \frac{s_3}{429} \rfloor \ge \lfloor \frac{864}{429} \rfloor = \lceil 2.01 \dots \rceil = 3,
establishing the claim.

We are now ready to construct the desired configuration. Let y1y_1, y2y_2, y3y_3 be three distinct points in Ti3(RGB)Y\mathcal{T}_{i_3}(RGB) \cap Y. By the definition of sets RR, RGRG, and RGBRGB, the triples of points
(y1,y2,y3),T432i3(y1,y2,y3),T432i3i2(y1,y2,y3),andT432i3i2i1(y1,y2,y3)(y_1, y_2, y_3), \quad \mathcal{T}_{432-i_3}(y_1, y_2, y_3), \quad \mathcal{T}_{432-i_3-i_2}(y_1, y_2, y_3), \quad \text{and} \quad \mathcal{T}_{432-i_3-i_2-i_1}(y_1, y_2, y_3)
form congruent triangles whose vertices are Yellow, Blue, Green, and Red, respectively, yielding the desired configuration of monochromatic triangles.

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Source: MathNet, licensed CC-BY-4.0. Statement reproduced verbatim; metadata (topic, difficulty) added by this project.