A set of points is marked on the plane, with the property that any three marked points can be covered with a disk of radius 1. Prove that the set of all marked points can be covered with a disk of radius 1.
Solutions — 2
Solution 1
(For a finite set of points only.) Let be a disk of smallest radius that covers all marked points. Consider the marked points on the boundary of this disk. Note that if all marked points on lie on an arc smaller than the half circle (ASTTHC for short), then the disk can be moved a little towards these points on the boundary and its radius can be decreased. Since we assumed that our disk has minimal radius, the marked points on its boundary do not lie on an ASTTHC.
If the two endpoints of a diagonal of are marked, then is the smallest disk containing these two points, hence must have radius at most 1.
If there are 3 marked points on that do not lie on an ASTTHC, then is the smallest disk covering these 3 points and hence must have radius at most 1. (In this case the triangle formed by the three points is acute and is its circumcircle.)
If there are more than 3 marked points on the boundary that do not lie on an ASTTHC, then we can remove one of them so that the remaining points again do not lie on an ASTTHC. By induction this leads us to the case of 3 points. Indeed, given 4 or more points on , choose 3 points that lie on a half circle. Then the middle point can be removed.
Solution 2
1. Define Notations and Assumptions:
- Let denote the circumcircle of .
- Let denote the circle with diameter .
- Let denote the radius of a disc/circle .
- Let denote the radius of the smallest disc containing points .
We may assume without loss of generality (WLOG) that the points are in a convex position. If a point lies inside some triangle, we can ignore that point.
2. Lemma:
Proof: Omitted.
3. Choose Points and Define Disc:
- Pick three points such that is the maximum possible.
- Let denote the disc covering .
- We will show that covers all other points.
4. **Assume a Point Outside :**
- Assume, for contradiction, that some point lies outside .
5. **Case 1: is Non-Obtuse:**
- Then .
- Points are in convex position. WLOG, assume lies in the region formed by rays and .
- Let be the antipode of with respect to .
- If both and are , then . This implies:
which contradicts the maximality of .
- So, at least one of the angles or is . WLOG, assume:
- Now, is non-obtuse and:
- By the Sine Rule, it follows:
which is a contradiction.
6. **Case 2: is Obtuse:**
- WLOG, assume . Then:
- From the Lemma, it is not hard to see that:
with equality iff . Since lies outside , we directly obtain our desired contradiction.
This completes the proof of the problem.