Let be an integer, and consider the set of points in the plane: Let be a subset of with at least elements. Prove that there are at least convex quadrilaterals whose vertices are in and all of whose diagonals pass through a fixed point.
Problem 1527
Official solution
1. **Define the set and subset :**
- The set consists of points in the plane:
- The subset is a subset of with at least elements.
2. Objective:
- We need to prove that there are at least convex quadrilaterals whose vertices are in and all of whose diagonals pass through a fixed point.
3. Finding line segments with a common midpoint:
- Consider the number of possible line segments with endpoints in . The number of such segments is given by:
- Using the binomial coefficient approximation for large :
4. Possible midpoints:
- Each line segment has a midpoint, and the number of possible midpoints is less than because there are points in and each point can be a midpoint of a segment.
5. Applying the pigeonhole principle:
- Since there are possible segments and fewer than possible midpoints, by the pigeonhole principle, there must be at least one midpoint that is the midpoint of at least:
line segments. For large , this is approximately line segments.
6. Forming parallelograms:
- We have found at least line segments with a common midpoint. Any pair of these segments can form the diagonals of a parallelogram. The number of ways to choose 2 segments from segments is:
- Since for , we have at least parallelograms.
7. Conclusion:
- Therefore, there are at least convex quadrilaterals (parallelograms) whose vertices are in and all of whose diagonals pass through a fixed point.