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Geometry Difficulty 6.0 National olympiad Prove it

(i=1,2,3)(i=1,2,3) are the indices of the small circles (tangent) passing through II and tangent to AiAi+1A_{i} A_{i+1} and AiAi+2A_{i} A_{i+2} (indices taken modulo 3), Bi(i=1,2,3)B_{i}(i=1,2,3) are the other intersection points of circles Ci+1C_{i+1} and Ci+2C_{i+2}. Prove: The circumcenters of A1B1I\triangle A_{1} B_{1} I, A2B2I\triangle A_{2} B_{2} I, and A3B3I\triangle A_{3} B_{3} I are collinear.

Solution

Proof 1: Since A1A2A3\triangle A_{1} A_{2} A_{3} is a non-equilateral triangle, it is easy to see that the circumcenters of A1B1I\triangle A_{1} B_{1} I, A2B2I\triangle A_{2} B_{2} I, and A3B3I\triangle A_{3} B_{3} I can all be defined.
We first look at the following lemma.
Lemma: Let the incenter of ABC\triangle ABC be II, and TT be the circumcenter of BIC\triangle BIC. Then TT must lie on the internal angle bisector of A\angle A.
Proof of the lemma: As shown in the figure, construct the external angle bisectors of B\angle B and C\angle C, which intersect at the excenter EE, and EE lies on the internal angle bisector of A\angle A. Since BEBIBE \perp BI and CECICE \perp CI, quadrilateral BECIBECI is cyclic, and its circumcenter lies on EIEI. This circumcenter is also the circumcenter of BIC\triangle BIC. The lemma is proved.
We now proceed to prove the original problem.
For i=1,2,3i=1,2,3, let OiO_{i} be the center of Ci\odot C_{i}, and TiT_{i} be the circumcenter of Ai+1IAi+2\triangle A_{i+1} I A_{i+2}. Clearly, OiO_{i} lies on the internal angle bisector of Ai\angle A_{i}. By the lemma, TiT_{i} also lies on the internal angle bisector of Ai\angle A_{i}. Therefore, O1O2O3\triangle O_{1} O_{2} O_{3} and T1T2T3\triangle T_{1} T_{2} T_{3} are perspective from point II. By Desargues' theorem, they must be perspective from a line, i.e., if we denote Qi(i=1,2,3)Q_{i} (i=1,2,3) as the intersection of lines Oi+1Oi+2O_{i+1} O_{i+2} and Ti+1Ti+2T_{i+1} T_{i+2}, then Q1,Q2,Q3Q_{1}, Q_{2}, Q_{3} are collinear. Since Ti+1Ti+2T_{i+1} T_{i+2} is the perpendicular bisector of AiIA_{i} I, and Oi+1Oi+2O_{i+1} O_{i+2} is the perpendicular bisector of BiIB_{i} I, the points Q1,Q2,Q3Q_{1}, Q_{2}, Q_{3} are precisely the circumcenters of A1B1I\triangle A_{1} B_{1} I, A2B2I\triangle A_{2} B_{2} I, and A3B3I\triangle A_{3} B_{3} I.
Note: Students unfamiliar with Desargues' theorem can reason as follows.
For IO1O2\triangle I O_{1} O_{2}, IO2O3\triangle I O_{2} O_{3}, and IO3O1\triangle I O_{3} O_{1}, and the point sets (T1,T2,Q3)(T_{1}, T_{2}, Q_{3}), (T2,T3,Q1)(T_{2}, T_{3}, Q_{1}), and (T3,T1,Q2)(T_{3}, T_{1}, Q_{2}), applying Menelaus' theorem, we can find some familiar results:
O1T1IT1IT2O2T2O2Q3O1Q3=1,IT3O3T3O2T2IT2O3Q1O2Q1=1,IT1O1T1O3T3IT3O1Q2O3Q2=1. \begin{array}{l} \frac{O_{1} T_{1}}{I T_{1}} \cdot \frac{I T_{2}}{O_{2} T_{2}} \cdot \frac{O_{2} Q_{3}}{O_{1} Q_{3}}=1, \\ \frac{I T_{3}}{O_{3} T_{3}} \cdot \frac{O_{2} T_{2}}{I T_{2}} \cdot \frac{O_{3} Q_{1}}{O_{2} Q_{1}}=1, \\ \frac{I T_{1}}{O_{1} T_{1}} \cdot \frac{O_{3} T_{3}}{I T_{3}} \cdot \frac{O_{1} Q_{2}}{O_{3} Q_{2}}=1 . \end{array}

Multiplying the above three equations, we get
O2Q3O1Q3O3Q1O2Q1O1Q2O3Q2=1\frac{O_{2} Q_{3}}{O_{1} Q_{3}} \cdot \frac{O_{3} Q_{1}}{O_{2} Q_{1}} \cdot \frac{O_{1} Q_{2}}{O_{3} Q_{2}}=1.
This shows that points Q1,Q2,Q3Q_{1}, Q_{2}, Q_{3} are collinear.
Proof 2: This proof is based on inversion.
We take the incenter II as the center of inversion, and the power of inversion is arbitrary. Using the symbol “,” to denote the image of a point after inversion, we get the following "dual" diagram.
In fact, the image of Ci\odot C_{i} is the line Bi+1Bi+2B_{i+1}^{\prime} B_{i+2}^{\prime}, and these lines form B1B2B3\triangle B_{1}^{\prime} B_{2}^{\prime} B_{3}^{\prime}. The line AiAi+1A_{i} A_{i+1} is transformed into the circle Γi+2\Gamma_{i+2}, and the side AiAi+1A_{i} A_{i+1} is transformed into the arc not containing point II.
Since the distances from point II to the sides of A1A2A3\triangle A_{1} A_{2} A_{3} are equal, the radii of these circles are equal.

We note that if Σ1,Σ2,Σ3\Sigma_{1}, \Sigma_{2}, \Sigma_{3} are three circles passing through a point II and not pairwise tangent, then their centers are collinear if and only if there exists another point JIJ \neq I such that these three circles all pass through JJ.
We will apply this conclusion when Σi\Sigma_{i} is the circumcircle of AiBiI\triangle A_{i} B_{i} I.
Since the inversion transforms Σi\Sigma_{i} into the line AiBiA_{i}^{\prime} B_{i}^{\prime}, the lines A1B1,A2B2,A3B3A_{1}^{\prime} B_{1}^{\prime}, A_{2}^{\prime} B_{2}^{\prime}, A_{3}^{\prime} B_{3}^{\prime} must be concurrent. This implies that A1A2A3\triangle A_{1}^{\prime} A_{2}^{\prime} A_{3}^{\prime} and B1B2B3\triangle B_{1}^{\prime} B_{2}^{\prime} B_{3}^{\prime} are similar, i.e., their corresponding sides are parallel. Since the radii of circles Γ1,Γ2,Γ3\Gamma_{1}, \Gamma_{2}, \Gamma_{3} are equal, the triangle formed by their centers, P1P2P3\triangle P_{1} P_{2} P_{3}, has sides parallel to those of B1B2B3\triangle B_{1}^{\prime} B_{2}^{\prime} B_{3}^{\prime}. A similarity transformation centered at II with a ratio of 12\frac{1}{2} transforms A1A2A3\triangle A_{1}^{\prime} A_{2}^{\prime} A_{3}^{\prime} into a triangle with vertices at the midpoints of the sides of P1P2P3\triangle P_{1} P_{2} P_{3}. Therefore, the corresponding sides of A1A2A3\triangle A_{1}^{\prime} A_{2}^{\prime} A_{3}^{\prime} and P1P2P3\triangle P_{1} P_{2} P_{3} are parallel. This leads to the conclusion.

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Source: NuminaMath-1.5, licensed Apache-2.0. Statement and solution reproduced as published; topic and difficulty added by this site.