Maths Olympiad Prep

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South-Afrika, 2011

Geometry Difficulty 6.7 National Olympiad Prove it South Africa

Let ω\omega be a circle, and let AA and BB be points on a line not intersecting ω\omega. Given a point X0X_0 on ω\omega, define a sequences X0,X1,X2,…X_0, X_1, X_2, \ldots and Y0,Y1,Y2,…Y_0, Y_1, Y_2, \ldots as follows: YnY_n is the second intersection of the line AXnAX_n with ω\omega and Xn+1X_{n+1} is the second intersection of the line BYnBY_n with ω\omega. Prove that if for some integer kk, it happens that Xk=X0X_k = X_0 for some choice of X0X_0 then Xk=X0X_k = X_0 for any choice of X0X_0.

Solution

Consider circles ω1\omega_1 and ω2\omega_2 centred at AA and BB respectively such that both ω1\omega_1 and ω2\omega_2 are orthogonal to ω\omega. Let II be one of the intersection points of ω1\omega_1 and ω2\omega_2. Note that II must exist because ABAB is outside ω\omega. Then invert the diagram through a circle centred at II with any radius. ω1′\omega'_1 and ω2′\omega'_2 (the images of ω1\omega_1 and ω2\omega_2) are straight lines passing through the centre of ω′\omega' (since they are orthogonal and angles between circles are preserved by inversion). ω1′\omega'_1 passes through the centre of circle AXi′Qi′AX'_iQ'_i and ω2′\omega'_2 passes through the centre of circle BXi′Qi′BX'_iQ'_i for the same reason. Hence Qi′Q'_i is Xi′X'_i reflected in line ω1′\omega'_1 and Xi+1′X'_{i+1} is the reflection of Qi′Q'_i in the line ω2′\omega'_2. Thus ∠Xi′OXi+1′=2θ\angle X'_iOX'_{i+1} = 2\theta where θ\theta is the angle between the lines ω1′\omega'_1 and ω2′\omega'_2. Thus X0′=Xk′X'_0 = X'_k is equivalent to kθ=2nπk\theta = 2n\pi, for some integer nn. This means that consecutive terms in the sequence of points Xi′X'_i are determined by a rotation through a constant angle. Hence this result will be true irrespective of the choice of X0′X'_0. There is a one-to-one correspondence between XiX_i and Xi′X'_i and hence the same is true if X0=XkX_0 = X_k for some positive integer kk.

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