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Geometry Difficulty 8.8 Shortlist Prove it United States

Two circles Γ1\Gamma_1 and Γ2\Gamma_2 have common external tangents l1l_1 and l2l_2 meeting at TT. Suppose l1l_1 touches Γ1\Gamma_1 at AA and l2l_2 touches Γ2\Gamma_2 at BB. A circle Ω\Omega through AA and BB intersects Γ1\Gamma_1 again at CC and Γ2\Gamma_2 again at DD, such that quadrilateral ABCDABCD is convex.
Suppose lines ACAC and BDBD meet at point XX, while lines ADAD and BCBC meet at point YY. Show that TT, XX, YY are collinear.

Solution

First solution, elementary (original) We have △YAC∼△YBD\triangle YAC \sim \triangle YBD, from which it follows
d(Y,AC)d(Y,BD)=ACBD. \frac{d(Y, AC)}{d(Y, BD)} = \frac{AC}{BD}.
Moreover, if we denote by r1r_1 and r2r_2 the radii of Γ1\Gamma_1 and Γ2\Gamma_2, then
d(T,AC)d(T,BD)=TAsin⁡∠(AC,l1)TBsin⁡∠(BD,l2)=2r1sin⁡∠(AC,l1)2r2sin⁡∠(BD,l2)=ACBD \frac{d(T, AC)}{d(T, BD)} = \frac{TA \sin \angle (AC, l_1)}{TB \sin \angle (BD, l_2)} = \frac{2 r_1 \sin \angle (AC, l_1)}{2 r_2 \sin \angle (BD, l_2)} = \frac{AC}{BD}
the last step by the law of sines.
Figure 1
This solves the problem up to configuration issues: we claim that YY and TT both lie inside ∠AXB≡∠CXD\angle AXB \equiv \angle CXD. WLOG TA<TBTA < TB.
* The former is since YY lies outside segments BCBC and ADAD, since we assumed ABCDABCD was convex.
* For the latter, we note that XX lies inside both Γ1\Gamma_1 and Γ2\Gamma_2 in fact on the radical axis of the two circles (since XX was an interior point of both chords ACAC and BDBD). In particular, XX is contained inside ∠ATB\angle ATB, and moreover ∠ATB<90∘\angle ATB < 90^\circ, and this is enough to imply the result.

Second solution, invasive This is based on the solution posted by kapilpavase on AoPS. Consider the inversion at TT swapping Γ1\Gamma_1 and Γ2\Gamma_2; we let it send AA to EE, BB to FF, CC to VV, DD to WW, as shown. Draw circles ADWEADWE and BCVFBCVF.
Figure 2
Claim — Points TT and YY lie on the radical axis of (ADE)(ADE) and (BCF)(BCF).
Proof. Because TF⋅TB=TA⋅TETF \cdot TB = TA \cdot TE and YA⋅YD=YC⋅YBYA \cdot YD = YC \cdot YB.
Claim — Point XX has equal power to (ADE)(ADE) and (BCF)(BCF).
Proof. Since TV⋅TC=TA⋅TETV \cdot TC = TA \cdot TE, quadrilateral VCEAVCEA is cyclic too, so by radical axis with Γ1\Gamma_1 and Γ2\Gamma_2 we find XX lies on VEVE. Similarly, XX lies on FWFW. Thus, XX is the center of negative inversion between (ADE)(ADE) and (BCF)(BCF).
But since AE=BFAE = BF and moreover
∠BCF+∠ADE=(∠BCA+∠ACF)+(∠ADB+∠BDE)=(∠BCA+∠ADB)+(∠ACF+∠BDE)=0+0=0 \begin{aligned} \angle BCF + \angle ADE &= (\angle BCA + \angle ACF) + (\angle ADB + \angle BDE) \\ &= (\angle BCA + \angle ADB) + (\angle ACF + \angle BDE) = 0 + 0 = 0 \end{aligned}
we conclude that (ADE)(ADE) and (BCF)(BCF) are congruent. As XX was the center of negative inversion between them, we're done.

Third solution, projective (Nikolai Beluhov) We start with some definitions. Let ℓ1\ell_1 touch Γ2\Gamma_2 at EE, ℓ2\ell_2 touch Γ1\Gamma_1 at FF, K=ℓ1∩BD‾K = \ell_1 \cap \overline{BD}, L=ℓ2∩AC‾L = \ell_2 \cap \overline{AC}, line FXFX meet Γ1\Gamma_1 again at MM, line EXEX meet Γ2\Gamma_2 again at NN, and lines ABAB, ADAD, and BCBC meet line TXTX at ZZ, Y1Y_1, and Y2Y_2. Thus the desired statement is equivalent to Y1=Y2Y_1 = Y_2.
Claim — (EB;ND)Γ2=(FA;MC)Γ1(EB; ND)_{\Gamma_2} = (FA; MC)_{\Gamma_1}.
Proof. Note that AX⋅XC=BX⋅XD=EX⋅XNAX \cdot XC = BX \cdot XD = EX \cdot XN, so AECNAECN is cyclic. Likewise BFDMBFDM is cyclic.
Consider the inversion with center TT which swaps Γ1\Gamma_1 and Γ2\Gamma_2; it also swaps the pairs {A,E}\{A, E\} and {B,F}\{B, F\}. Since AECNAECN is cyclic, CC is on Γ1\Gamma_1, and NN is on Γ2\Gamma_2, it also swaps {C,N}\{C, N\}; similarly it swaps {D,M}\{D, M\}.
Thus (EB;ND)Γ2=(AF;CM)Γ1=(FA;MC)Γ1(EB; ND)_{\Gamma_2} = (AF; CM)_{\Gamma_1} = (FA; MC)_{\Gamma_1} as desired. □\square
With this claim, the remainder of the proof is chasing cross-ratios:
(TZ;XY1)=A(KB;XD)=E(EB;ND)Γ2=(FA;MC)Γ1=F(LA;XC)=B(TZ;XY2) (TZ; XY_1) \stackrel{A}{=} (KB; XD) \stackrel{E}{=} (EB; ND)_{\Gamma_2} = (FA; MC)_{\Gamma_1} \stackrel{F}{=} (LA; XC) \stackrel{B}{=} (TZ; XY_2)
implies Y1=Y2Y_1 = Y_2 as desired.

Fourth solution by untethered moving points Fix ℓ1,ℓ2,T\ell_1, \ell_2, T, Γ1\Gamma_1 and Γ2\Gamma_2, and let Γ1\Gamma_1 and Γ2\Gamma_2 meet at UU and VV. By the radical axis theorem, XX lies on UVUV.
Thus we instead XX as a variable point on line UVUV and let C=AX∩Γ1C = AX \cap \Gamma_1, D=BX∩Γ2D = BX \cap \Gamma_2. By definition, XX has degree 1 and TT has degree 0.
We apply Zack's lemma to untethered point YY. Note that CC and DD move projectively on conics, and therefore have degree 2. Then, lines ADAD and BCBC each have degree at most deg⁡(A)+deg⁡(D)=0+2=2\deg(A) + \deg(D) = 0 + 2 = 2, and so their intersection YY has degree at most 2+2=42 + 2 = 4. But when X∈ABX \in AB, the lines ADAD and BCBC are the same, so Zack's lemma implies that
deg⁡Y≤4−1=3. \deg Y \leq 4 - 1 = 3.
Thus the assertion that T,X,YT, X, Y are collinear (which for example can be seen as a certain vanishing determinant) is a statement of degree at most 0+1+3=40 + 1 + 3 = 4. Thus it suffices to find 5 values of XX (other than X∈ABX \in AB, which we used already). This is remarkably easy:
1.
When X=UX = U or X=VX = V, then X=C=D=YX = C = D = Y and the statement is obvious
2.
When X∈ℓ1X \in \ell_1, say, then A=CA = C and so YY lies on AC=ℓ1AC = \ell_1 as well. The case X∈ℓ2X \in \ell_2 is symmetric.
3.
Finally, take XX at infinity along UVUV. Then CC and DD are the other tangency points of the circles with ℓ1,ℓ2\ell_1, \ell_2, and so AC=ℓ1,BD=ℓ2AC = \ell_1, BD = \ell_2, so Y=TY = T.
This finishes the problem.

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