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Taiwan IMO Selection Camp, 2021

Geometry Difficulty 6.4 National Olympiad Prove it Taiwan

Let n≥6n \ge 6 be a positive integer. In the plane, there are nn pairwise disjoint disks D1,D2,…,DnD_1, D_2, \dots, D_n, with radii R1≥R2≥⋯≥RnR_1 \ge R_2 \ge \dots \ge R_n in order. For every i=1,2,…,ni = 1, 2, \dots, n, a point PiP_i is marked in DiD_i. Let OO be an arbitrary point in the plane. Prove that:
∑i=1nOPi≥∑j=6nRj \sum_{i=1}^{n} OP_i \ge \sum_{j=6}^{n} R_j
(Note: here the disks are assumed to contain their boundaries.)

Solution

We will make use of the following lemma.

Lemma. Let D1,…,D6D_1, \dots, D_6 be disjoint disks in the plane with radii R1,…,R6R_1, \dots, R_6. Let PiP_i be a point in DiD_i, and let OO be an arbitrary point. Then there exist indices ii and jj such that OPi≥RjOP_i \ge R_j.

Proof. Let OiO_i be the center of DiD_i. Consider six rays OO1,…,OO6OO_1, \dots, OO_6 (if O=OiO = O_i, then the ray OOiOO_i may be assumed to have an arbitrary direction). These rays partition the plane into six angles (one of which may be non-convex) whose measures sum up to 360∘360^\circ; hence one of the angles, say ∠OiOOj\angle O_iOO_j, has measure at most 60∘60^\circ. Then OiOjO_iO_j cannot be the unique largest side in (possibly degenerate) triangle OOiOjOO_iO_j, so, without loss of generality, OOi≥OiOj≥Ri+RjOO_i \ge O_iO_j \ge R_i + R_j. Therefore, OPi≥OOi−Ri≥(Ri+Rj)−Ri=RjOP_i \ge OO_i - R_i \ge (R_i + R_j) - R_i = R_j, as desired. □\square

Now we prove the required inequality by induction on n≥5n \ge 5. The base case n=5n = 5 is trivial. For the induction step, apply the Lemma to the six largest disks, in order to find indices ii and jj such that 1≤i,j≤61 \le i, j \le 6 and OPi≥Rj≥R6OP_i \ge R_j \ge R_6. Removing DiD_i from the configuration and applying the inductive hypothesis, we get
∑k≠iOPk≥∑ℓ≥7Rℓ. \sum_{k \ne i} OP_k \ge \sum_{\ell \ge 7} R_\ell.
Adding up this inequality with OPi≥R6OP_i \ge R_6 we establish the induction step.

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Source: MathNet, licensed CC-BY-4.0. Statement translated into English from zh; metadata (topic, difficulty) added by this project.