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Geometry Difficulty 6.5 National olympiad Prove it China

Let nn be a given positive integer. In the coordinate plane, consider the set of the points
{P1,P2,,P4n+1}={(x,y)x and y are integers with xy=0,xn,yn}. \{P_1, P_2, \dots, P_{4n+1}\} = \{(x, y) \mid x \text{ and } y \text{ are integers with } xy = 0, |x| \le n, |y| \le n\}.

Determine the minimum of (P1P2)2+(P2P3)2++(P4nP4n+1)2+(P4n+1P1)2(P_1P_2)^2 + (P_2P_3)^2 + \dots + (P_{4n}P_{4n+1})^2 + (P_{4n+1}P_1)^2. (Posed by Wang Xinmao)

Solution

The answer is 16n816n - 8.
Assume that Pi=(xi,yi)P_i = (x_i, y_i) for 1i4n+11 \le i \le 4n + 1. Set
P4n+2=(x4n+2,y4n+2)=P1=(x1,y1). P_{4n+2} = (x_{4n+2}, y_{4n+2}) = P_1 = (x_1, y_1).
We will show that the sum
S=i=14n+1(PiPi+1)216n8. S = \sum_{i=1}^{4n+1} (P_i P_{i+1})^2 \geq 16n - 8.
First, we show that this minimum can be obtained by setting
(P1,P2,,P4n+1)=((2,0),(4,0),,(n,0),(n1,0),,(1,0),(0,2),(0,4),,(0,n),(0,n1),,(0,1),(2,0),(4,0),,(n,0),(n+1,0),,(1,0),(0,2),(0,4),,(0,n),(0,n+1),,(0,1),(0,0)) (P_1, P_2, \dots, P_{4n+1}) = ((2, 0), (4, 0), \dots, (n, 0), (n-1, 0), \dots, (1, 0), (0, 2), (0, 4), \dots, (0, n), (0, n-1), \dots, (0, 1), (-2, 0), (-4, 0), \dots, (-n, 0), (-n+1, 0), \dots, (-1, 0), (0, -2), (0, -4), \dots, (0, -n), (0, -n+1), \dots, (0, -1), (0, 0))
for nn even, and
(P1,P2,,P4n+1)=((1,0),(3,0),,(n,0),(n1,0),,(2,0),(0,1),(0,3),,(0,n),(0,n1),,(0,2),(1,0),(3,0),,(n,0),(n+1,0),,(2,0),(0,1),(0,3),,(0,n),(0,n+1),,(0,2),(0,0)) (P_1, P_2, \dots, P_{4n+1}) = ((1, 0), (3, 0), \dots, (n, 0), (n-1, 0), \dots, (2, 0), (0, 1), (0, 3), \dots, (0, n), (0, n-1), \dots, (0, 2), (-1, 0), (-3, 0), \dots, (-n, 0), (-n+1, 0), \dots, (-2, 0), (0, -1), (0, -3), \dots, (0, -n), (0, -n+1), \dots, (0, -2), (0, 0))
for nn odd. This can be easily checked. For example, when n=2mn = 2m is even, our construction shows that
S=4(i=1m1(PiPi+1)2+(PmPm+1)2+i=m+12m1(PiPi+1)2)+3(P2mP2m+1)2+(P4nP4n+1)2+(P4n+1P1)2=4(4(m1)+1+4(m1))+3×5+1+4=32m8=16n8. \begin{aligned} S &= 4 \left( \sum_{i=1}^{m-1} (P_i P_{i+1})^2 + (P_m P_{m+1})^2 + \sum_{i=m+1}^{2m-1} (P_i P_{i+1})^2 \right) \\ &\quad + 3(P_{2m} P_{2m+1})^2 + (P_{4n} P_{4n+1})^2 + (P_{4n+1} P_1)^2 \\ &= 4(4(m-1)+1+4(m-1)) + 3 \times 5 + 1 + 4 \\ &= 32m - 8 = 16n - 8. \end{aligned}
The exact same argument works when nn is odd.
Note that
S=i=14n+1[(xixi+1)2+(yiyi+1)2]. S = \sum_{i=1}^{4n+1} [(x_i - x_{i+1})^2 + (y_i - y_{i+1})^2].

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