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IMO Shortlist, 2016

Geometry Difficulty 8.9 Shortlist Prove it IMO

Let II be the incentre of a non-equilateral triangle ABCABC, IAI_{A} be the AA-excentre, IA′I_{A}' be the reflection of IAI_{A} in BCBC, and lAl_{A} be the reflection of line AIA′A I_{A}' in AIA I. Define points IB,IB′I_{B}, I_{B}' and line lBl_{B} analogously. Let PP be the intersection point of lAl_{A} and lBl_{B}.

a. Prove that PP lies on line OIOI where OO is the circumcentre of triangle ABCABC.

b. Let one of the tangents from PP to the incircle of triangle ABCABC meet the circumcircle at points XX and YY. Show that ∠XIY=120∘\angle X I Y = 120^{\circ}.

Solutions — 2

Solution 1

a. Let A′A' be the reflection of AA in BCBC and let MM be the second intersection of line AIA I and the circumcircle Γ\Gamma of triangle ABCABC. As triangles ABA′ABA' and AOCAOC are isosceles with ∠ABA′=2∠ABC=∠AOC\angle ABA' = 2\angle ABC = \angle AOC, they are similar to each other. Also, triangles ABIAABI_{A} and AICAIC are similar. Therefore we have
AA′AIA=AA′AB⋅ABAIA=ACAO⋅AIAC=AIAO. \frac{AA'}{AI_{A}} = \frac{AA'}{AB} \cdot \frac{AB}{AI_{A}} = \frac{AC}{AO} \cdot \frac{AI}{AC} = \frac{AI}{AO}.
Together with ∠A′AIA=∠IAO\angle A'AI_{A} = \angle IAO, we find that triangles AA′IAAA'I_{A} and AIOAIO are similar.
Figure 1
Denote by P′P' the intersection of line APAP and line OIOI. Using directed angles, we have
∡MAP′=∡IA′AIA=∡IA′AA′−∡IAAA′=∡AA′IA−∡(AM,OM)=∡AIO−∡AMO=∡MOP′ \begin{aligned} \measuredangle MAP' &= \measuredangle I_{A}'AI_{A} = \measuredangle I_{A}'AA' - \measuredangle I_{A}AA' = \measuredangle AA'I_{A} - \measuredangle (AM, OM) \\ &= \measuredangle AIO - \measuredangle AMO = \measuredangle MOP' \end{aligned}
This shows M,O,A,P′M, O, A, P' are concyclic.
Denote by RR and rr the circumradius and inradius of triangle ABCABC. Then
IP′=IA⋅IMIO=IO2−R2IO IP' = \frac{IA \cdot IM}{IO} = \frac{IO^{2} - R^{2}}{IO}
is independent of AA. Hence, BPBP also meets line OIOI at the same point P′P' so that P′=PP' = P, and PP lies on OIOI.

b. By Poncelet's Porism, the other tangents to the incircle of triangle ABCABC from XX and YY meet at a point ZZ on Γ\Gamma. Let TT be the touching point of the incircle to XYXY, and let DD be the midpoint of XYXY. We have
OD=IT⋅OPIP=r(1+OIIP)=r(1+OI2OI⋅IP)=r(1+R2−2RrR2−IO2)=r(1+R2−2Rr2Rr)=R2=OX2 \begin{aligned} OD &= IT \cdot \frac{OP}{IP} = r\left(1 + \frac{OI}{IP}\right) = r\left(1 + \frac{OI^{2}}{OI \cdot IP}\right) = r\left(1 + \frac{R^{2} - 2Rr}{R^{2} - IO^{2}}\right) \\ &= r\left(1 + \frac{R^{2} - 2Rr}{2Rr}\right) = \frac{R}{2} = \frac{OX}{2} \end{aligned}
This shows ∠XZY=60∘\angle XZY = 60^{\circ} and hence ∠XIY=120∘\angle XIY = 120^{\circ}.

Solution 2

a. Note that triangles AIBCA I_{B} C and IABCI_{A} B C are similar since their corresponding interior angles are equal. Therefore, the four triangles AIB′CA I_{B}' C, AIBCA I_{B} C, IABCI_{A} B C and IA′BCI_{A}' B C are all similar. From △AIB′C∼△IA′BC\triangle A I_{B}' C \sim \triangle I_{A}' B C, we get △AIA′C∼△IB′BC\triangle A I_{A}' C \sim \triangle I_{B}' B C. From ∡ABP=∡IB′BC=∡AIA′C\measuredangle ABP = \measuredangle I_{B}' B C = \measuredangle A I_{A}' C and ∡BAP=∡IA′AC\measuredangle BAP = \measuredangle I_{A}' AC, the triangles ABPABP and AIA′CA I_{A}' C are directly similar.
Figure 2
Consider the inversion with centre AA and radius AB⋅AC\sqrt{AB \cdot AC} followed by the reflection in AIAI. Then BB and CC are mapped to each other, and II and IAI_{A} are mapped to each other.
From the similar triangles obtained, we have AP⋅AIA′=AB⋅ACAP \cdot AI_{A}' = AB \cdot AC so that PP is mapped to IA′I_{A}' under the transformation. In addition, line AOAO is mapped to the altitude from AA, and hence OO is mapped to the reflection of AA in BCBC, which we call point A′A'. Note that AA′IAIA′AA'I_{A}I_{A}' is an isosceles trapezoid, which shows it is inscribed in a circle. The preimage of this circle is a straight line, meaning that O,I,PO, I, P are collinear.

b. Denote by RR and rr the circumradius and inradius of triangle ABCABC. Note that by the above transformation, we have △APO∼△AA′IA′\triangle APO \sim \triangle AA'I_{A}' and △AA′IA∼△AIO\triangle AA'I_{A} \sim \triangle AIO. Therefore, we find that
PO=A′IA′⋅AOAIA′=AIA⋅AOA′IA=AIAA′IA⋅AO=AOIO⋅AO PO = A'I_{A}' \cdot \frac{AO}{AI_{A}'} = AI_{A} \cdot \frac{AO}{A'I_{A}} = \frac{AI_{A}}{A'I_{A}} \cdot AO = \frac{AO}{IO} \cdot AO
This shows PO⋅IO=R2PO \cdot IO = R^{2}, and it follows that PP and II are mapped to each other under the inversion with respect to the circumcircle Γ\Gamma of triangle ABCABC. Then PX⋅PYPX \cdot PY, which is the power of PP with respect to Γ\Gamma, equals PI⋅POPI \cdot PO. This yields X,I,O,YX, I, O, Y are concyclic.
Let TT be the touching point of the incircle to XYXY, and let DD be the midpoint of XYXY. Then
OD=IT⋅POPI=r⋅POPO−IO=r⋅R2R2−IO2=r⋅R22Rr=R2. OD = IT \cdot \frac{PO}{PI} = r \cdot \frac{PO}{PO - IO} = r \cdot \frac{R^{2}}{R^{2} - IO^{2}} = r \cdot \frac{R^{2}}{2Rr} = \frac{R}{2}.
This shows ∠DOX=60∘\angle DOX = 60^{\circ} and hence ∠XIY=∠XOY=120∘\angle XIY = \angle XOY = 120^{\circ}.

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