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Geometry Difficulty 7.3 National Olympiad, round 2 Prove it United States

Prove that there exists an infinite set of points
,P3,P2,P1,P0,P1,P2,P3, \dots, P_{-3}, P_{-2}, P_{-1}, P_0, P_1, P_2, P_3, \dots
in the plane with the following property: For any three distinct integers a,ba, b and cc, points Pa,PbP_a, P_b and PcP_c are collinear if and only if a+b+c=2014a + b + c = 2014.

Solutions — 2

Solution 1

Solution 1 (by Razvan Gelca). We claim that defining PnP_n to be the point with coordinates (n,n32014n2)(n, n^3 - 2014n^2) will satisfy the conditions of the problem. Recall that points (x1,y1)(x_1, y_1), (x2,y2)(x_2, y_2) and (x3,y3)(x_3, y_3) are collinear if and only if
x1y11x2y21x3y31=0. \begin{vmatrix} x_1 & y_1 & 1 \\ x_2 & y_2 & 1 \\ x_3 & y_3 & 1 \end{vmatrix} = 0.
Therefore we examine the determinant
aa32014a21bb32014b21cc32014c21=aa31bb31cc312014aa21bb21cc21. \begin{vmatrix} a & a^3 - 2014a^2 & 1 \\ b & b^3 - 2014b^2 & 1 \\ c & c^3 - 2014c^2 & 1 \end{vmatrix} = \begin{vmatrix} a & a^3 & 1 \\ b & b^3 & 1 \\ c & c^3 & 1 \end{vmatrix} - 2014 \begin{vmatrix} a & a^2 & 1 \\ b & b^2 & 1 \\ c & c^2 & 1 \end{vmatrix}.
The first determinant on the right is a homogenous polynomial of degree four divisible by (ab)(bc)(ca)(a-b)(b-c)(c-a). The remaining factor has degree one, is symmetric, and yields an ab3ab^3 term when the product is expanded, hence must be (a+b+c)(a+b+c). The second determinant is a homogenous polynomial of degree three divisible by (ab)(bc)(ca)(a-b)(b-c)(c-a), and comparing coefficients of the ab2ab^2 term we see that this is the desired polynomial. Thus
aa32014a21bb32014b21cc32014c21=(ab)(bc)(ca)(a+b+c2014). \begin{vmatrix} a & a^3 - 2014a^2 & 1 \\ b & b^3 - 2014b^2 & 1 \\ c & c^3 - 2014c^2 & 1 \end{vmatrix} = (a-b)(b-c)(c-a)(a+b+c-2014).
It follows that for distinct a,ba, b and cc this expression will equal zero if and only if a+b+c=2014a + b + c = 2014, as desired.

Solution 2

Solution 2 (by Sam Vandervelde). First, note that the translation xx671x \mapsto x - 671 in the indices allows us to replace 2014 in the statement by 1. Now it comes natural to look for a polynomial pattern (P(x),Q(x))(P(x), Q(x)) in the coordinates of a point. The collinearity condition translates, in coordinates, into
P(a)Q(b)+P(b)Q(c)+P(c)Q(a)P(a)Q(c)P(b)Q(a)P(c)Q(b)=0. P(a)Q(b) + P(b)Q(c) + P(c)Q(a) - P(a)Q(c) - P(b)Q(a) - P(c)Q(b) = 0.
This should happen only when a+b+c1=0a+b+c-1=0 or when two of a,b,ca, b, c are equal. Hence the left-hand side should be of the form (a+b+c1)(ba)(cb)(ac)R(a,b,c)(a+b+c-1)(b-a)(c-b)(a-c)R(a,b,c). We can try the simplest case R=1R=1 so that the dominant coefficients of both P(x)P(x) and Q(x)Q(x) are 1. P(x)P(x) and Q(x)Q(x) cannot both have even degree because then the 4th degree terms on the left cancel out, while on the right there are clearly 4th degree terms. Hence one of the polynomials P(x)P(x) and Q(x)Q(x) has degree 3, the other has degree 1. By a translation we can turn the degree 1 polynomial into xx, thus we may assume that P(x)=xP(x) = x. Thus we should have
(cb)Q(a)+(ac)Q(b)+(ba)Q(c)=(a+b+c1)(ba)(cb)(ac). \begin{aligned} & (c-b)Q(a) + (a-c)Q(b) + (b-a)Q(c) \\ &= (a+b+c-1)(b-a)(c-b)(a-c). \end{aligned}
So we let Q(x)=x3+αx2+βx+γQ(x) = x^3 + \alpha x^2 + \beta x + \gamma. Note that we are free to choose β\beta and γ\gamma any way we want, since they cancel out. So we let Q(x)=x3+αx2Q(x) = x^3 + \alpha x^2.
For a=0,b=1,c=1a=0, b=-1, c=1 the above identity yields 2Q(0)Q(1)Q(1)=2-2Q(0) - Q(-1) - Q(1) = 2, and hence α=1\alpha = -1.
Returning to the case of the problem with 2014 instead of 1, we have the points Pn=(n671,(n671)3(n671)2)P_n = (n - 671, (n - 671)^3 - (n - 671)^2). But we can simplify this since we can replace P(x)P(x) by xx and ignore the linear part of Q(x)Q(x). We thus obtain the simpler infinite family of points
Pn=(n,n33671n2n2)=(n,n32014n2) P_n = (n, n^3 - 3 \cdot 671n^2 - n^2) = (n, n^3 - 2014n^2)
satisfying the conditions of the problem.

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