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Iranian Mathematical Olympiad

Geometry Difficulty 7.3 National Olympiad, round 2 Prove it Iran

Let OO be the circumcenter of triangle ABCABC. Points A′A', B′B', C′C' lie on the segments BCBC, CACA, ABAB respectively such that the circumcircles of triangles AB′C′AB'C', BC′A′BC'A', and CA′B′CA'B' pass through OO. Denote by lal_a the radical axis of the circle with center B′B' and radius B′CB'C and the circle with center C′C' and radius C′BC'B. Define lbl_b and lcl_c similarly. Prove that the lines lal_a, lbl_b, lcl_c form a triangle such that its orthocenter coincides with the orthocenter of triangle ABCABC.

Solution

Proof. We have ∠OB′C′=∠OAC′=90∘−∠C\angle OB'C' = \angle OAC' = 90^\circ - \angle C and ∠OB′A′=∠OCA′=90∘−∠A\angle OB'A' = \angle OCA' = 90^\circ - \angle A. So ∠C′B′A′=∠B\angle C'B'A' = \angle B. Compute the other angles similarly. This way it is proved that the triangles are similar and OO is the orthocenter of triangle A′B′C′A'B'C'. Now, the altitudes of triangle A′B′C′A'B'C' make the same angle with the corresponding sides of triangle ABCABC (angles ∠OB′A\angle OB'A and so on). So, the corresponding sides of the triangles also make the same angle.

Lemma 2. Let B′B', C′C' be points on ACAC, ABAB respectively such that AB′OC′AB'OC' is cyclic. The circle w1w_1 with center B′B' passing through CC intersects the circle w2w_2 with center C′C' passing through BB at points namely PP, QQ such that PP is on the circumcircle of ABCABC and QQ is on BCBC. Moreover, PQPQ and the altitude of AA intersect on the circumcircle of ABCABC.

Figure 1

Proof. Let PP be the second intersection of the circumcircles of triangles ABCABC and AB′C′AB'C'. We claim PP is on both ω1\omega_1, ω2\omega_2. We have
PBA = PCA = 1 2 PA = 1 2 POA, PC’A = PB’A = POA.\text{PBA = PCA = 1 2 PA = 1 2 POA, PC'A = PB'A = POA.}
So, triangles C′PBC'PB and B′PCB'PC are isosceles and PP is on both ω1\omega_1, ω2\omega_2. Also, these triangles are similar. Let α=12∠POA\alpha = \frac{1}{2}\angle POA.
Triangles PBCPBC and PC′B′PC'B' are similar (Consider the angles of PP and the ratio of the sides incident with PP in these triangles). The ratio of similarity is 2cos⁡α2\cos\alpha and the corresponding sides make angles equal to α\alpha. So, if DD, D′D' are the orthogonal projections of PP on BCBC and C′B′C'B' respectively, then PDPD′=2cos⁡α\frac{PD}{PD'} = 2\cos\alpha and ∠D′PD=α\angle D'PD = \alpha. So triangles D′PDD'PD and C′PBC'PB are similar. So, D′P=D′DD'P = D'D. Thus, if PD′PD' intersects BCBC at QQ, then D′D' is the midpoint of the hypotenuse in the right angled triangle PDQPDQ. So, B′C′B'C' is the perpendicular bisector of PQPQ and QQ is the second intersection of ω1\omega_1, ω2\omega_2.
Suppose PDPD and AHAH intersect the circumcircle of triangle ABCABC for the second time at EE and A1A_1 respectively. We have
QPE = D’PD = = 1 2 PA = 1 2 A 1E = A 1PE.\text{QPE = D'PD = = 1 2 PA = 1 2 A 1E = A 1PE.}
So, PQPQ passes through A1A_1 and the lemma is proved. □\square

According to lemma 2, the angle between PQPQ and AHAH is equal to the angle between B′C′B'C' and BCBC. So, by lemma 1 the radical axes in the problem are obtained by rotating the altitudes of triangle ABCABC with a fixed angle (but with different centers). The orientations of the rotations are the same, because all the equations in the proof remain valid by considering orientations. So, the triangle formed by the radical axes is similar to triangle ABCABC. Therefore, it suffices to prove that the ratios of distances of HH from the radical axes is the same as the ratios of distances of HH from sides of triangle ABCABC.

Let FF, A2A_2 be the orthogonal projections of HH on PQPQ and BCBC as in the lemma. We have HFHA2=2HFHA1=2sin⁡α\frac{HF}{HA_2} = 2\frac{HF}{HA_1} = 2\sin\alpha which is the same as the other ratios of distances of HH from the sides of the mentioned triangles. So the assertion is proved. □\square

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