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Olympiad Training for Individual Study

Complex Geometry
Evan Chen《陳誼廷》
1 January 2025
BGW-COMPLEX

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OTIS, © Evan Chen, internal use only. Artwork contributed by Evan Chen.

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 Evan Chen《陳誼廷》 (OTIS, updated 2025-01-01) Complex Geometry

§1 Reading
This is a bit heavy on the reading this time.

§1.1 Handouts to read

• Either of the following two:
– Preferred: Chapter 6 of EGMO, on complex numbers.
– Alternatively: Bashing Geometry with Complex Numbers, §1, §2, §3, §5.
(Available from my website.)

• My blog post https://wp.me/p3jiSp-gq, on arc midpoints. This fixes a major

error in my book and introduces new content.

》
Also, read appendix A of my EGMO book if you don’t know how to calculate a 3 × 3

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determinant already.

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§1.2 Degrees of freedom

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Roughly, the number of degrees of freedom is the number of real numbers which are
needed to specify the entire figure. This is hard to make precise1 , but easy to get the

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hang of.

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Convention: In OTIS materials, we will consider figures only distinct up to translation

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and rotation, but not up to scaling. Thus for example,

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• A triangle has three degrees of freedom2 : it is uniquely determined by its side

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lengths (SSS congruence). Or, it is uniquely determined by a side and two angles.

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• A cyclic quadrilateral has four degrees of freedom; for example, it is uniquely

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determined by its side lengths.

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• But a generic quadrilateral has five degrees of freedom. For example, it is uniquely

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determined by its four side lengths and the length of one of its diagonals.

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• A generic n-gon has 2n − 3 degrees of freedom. One way to remember this is that

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a triangle has three, and any additional point gives 2 more degrees of freedom.
It’s intuitively true (but hard to prove even if defined) that the number of degrees of
freedom is well-defined: if you try to count the degrees of freedom in two different ways,
you will get the same answer. This makes it a valuable invariant for setting up complex
numbers.
An important consideration when setting up variables in a problem is the number of
degrees of freedom. Ideally, you want the number of variables to match the number of
degrees of freedom. The rules are:
• Every variable you set on the unit circle encodes one degree of freedom; so a typical
abc triangle setup has three degrees of freedom in variables.

• Every variable you set which is not on the unit circle will encode two degrees of
freedom: if x is a point, then your calculation will involve x and x, so it effectively
will have two variables in it. This makes sense: it takes two real numbers to specify
a random point in R2 .
1
“Dimension of moduli space” is the way you make it precise.
2
Fans of Cartesian and trig often prefer two degrees of freedom, because they use a different convention.

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 Evan Chen《陳誼廷》 (OTIS, updated 2025-01-01) Complex Geometry

It is possible to have your variables with more degrees of freedom than the problem
allows. However, this means that your variables will not be “independent” of each other,
and will be linked by some relation.
More precisely, if your variables encode N degrees of freedom, but the problem has
only M degrees of freedom, there will be N − M relations between them. It’s nice to
have N = M (equivalently N − M = 0) but sometimes nothing can be done about it.

§2 Lecture notes
§2.1 Formulas you must know
• Foot from any point Z to a chord AB of the unit circle is

》
1
(a + b + z − abz).
2

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In the special case where Z is on the circle too, this is the midpoint of the orthocenter
z + a + b and its reflection −ab/z over the line AB. This can help you remember

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the formula.

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z

《 al
a+b+z

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a b

h
−ab/z

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• For AB a chord of the unit circle, the equation for P ∈ AB is

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a , I n
p + abp = a + b

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Amusing note: you can derive this from the foot formula by setting the foot from

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P equal to itself!

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• Intersection of two chords AB and CD of the unit circle is

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ab(c + d) − cd(a + b)
.
ab − cd
You can derive this quickly from the chord formulas. (This can be applied even if
A = B or C = D.)
In particular, if a and b are on the unit circle the two tangents meet at a+b .
2ab
(I call
this an ice-cream cone for obvious reasons.)
This formula is so useful that sometimes you will even apply it “indirectly” in the
following way. Suppose you want to intersect XY with some other chord, but X
and Y are not on the unit circle. Let U and V denote the intersection of line XY
with the unit circle. Sometimes depending on context, you can know the value
of u + v and uv without too much extra work (for example, if you know U V is a
diameter, then you automatically have u + v = 0). This means you can apply the
formula with U V and the other chord instead, so you don’t have to use the fully
general intersection formula.

The first implies the second (foot equals itself!), the second implies the third (by solving
the resulting system for z and z).

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 Evan Chen《陳誼廷》 (OTIS, updated 2025-01-01) Complex Geometry

§2.2 On the importance of setting up

The most important part of any complex solution is the part that comes BEFORE
the calculation starts. I cannot emphasize this enough.
Complex numbers has a reputation as a brute-force method where you grind through
long calculations, and succeed if you have enough fortitude. To me, this is exactly
backwards. Rather, your success is already mostly determined before you begin the main
calculation — the fate is set by how you chose to set up the calculation. In that sense,
even though we finish the problem by algebraic work, the bulk of the solving is still done
with your synthetic skills.
For each problem, you should decide first on the following:
• The choice of unit circle (if any)

》
• The choice of free variables

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• By which method you will compute the rest of the points.
I call this the setup of the problem.

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The most important thing I have to say is that the amount of time taken is a function
of the setup, not a function of the problem. I attribute my personal success with complex

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numbers to my ability to simply find better setups than most contestants. (Here is a

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story: in MOP 2019 I found a setup for 2018 G7 that took me half a page. I then had
the misfortune of having to grade the contestant papers; the average complex numbers

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solution was eight pages long. This means that the students spent 16 times as much

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effort because they picked their setups poorly.)
This means a couple things about using complex numbers.

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(i) You need to learn to be able to estimate how long a calculation will take as a

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function of your setup. This is actually not a hard skill to learn; it comes with

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experience.

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(ii) Don’t start actually doing the calculation until after you have a setup and know it

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will finish in reasonable time.

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(iii) Always be on the look-out for a better setup than the one you already have. Even

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merely rephrasing the problem might lead you to save a factor of 2 in the calculation;
and a few synthetic observations might save you factor of 5 as well.
Therefore it is vital that you do not turn off your brain. As I said complex numbers has a
reputation as mindless, and I think this stereotype is completely wrong. The dominating
term in the success of this method is actually the ability to pick a setup well, and this is
a skill that requires much more geometric intuition than it gets credit for.

§2.3 Advice for actually doing calculations (execution)

With all that said, some specific advice about actually doing the calculations:
0. Try to avoid solving quadratics when possible (there is almost always a better
approach).

1. Always keep expressions factored unless expanding is necessary to proceed.

2. When checking an expression E is equal to its conjugate or negative conjugate,

always compute and factor the entire expression E first before trying to take the
conjugate.

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 Evan Chen《陳誼廷》 (OTIS, updated 2025-01-01) Complex Geometry

3. When comparing two polynomial expressions, factor rather than expand, because
the irreducible decompositions should always match, factor by factor.
As an analogy in Z: suppose we wanted to check

144 · 245 = 420 · 84. (1)

One could multiply out both sides (it equals 35280), but you probably already have
a sense that it might be easier to work with primes: e.g. there’s a bunch of 7’s on
the right-hand side, so they should appear somewhere on the left-hand side too,
and indeed 245 = 5 · 72 .
Multivariable polynomials are also a “unique factorization domain” (UFD) in the
same way that Z is. For example, suppose you wanted to verify the identity

》
(x2 + 1)(cx2 − c + 1) − 2x2 (x2 + 1)(c + cx2 − x2 ) − 2x2
= − . (2)

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(cx2 + c − 1)(x2 + 1) (c + cx2 − x2 )(x2 + 1)

The left-hand side has a factor of cx2 + c − 1 in the denominator; this polynomial is

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irreducible, and doesn’t appear in the right-hand denominator. So the only way that
(2) could be true is if the numerator of the left-hand side has cx2 + c − 1 as a factor.

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And indeed, it turns out the numerator on the left-hand side is (x2 − 1)(cx2 + c − 1).

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4. Always do the calculations on official solution paper, neatly the first time, and turn

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everything in. Do not do the calculation once badly on scratch paper, then submit

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an executive summary to the graders — the graders should have access to your

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entire calculation. (I know examples of students who did the latter and lost nearly

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all points.)

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5. Here are a few ways to help debug your work:

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• Homogeneity: in many situations, the formulas you use will preserve the

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degrees of points as one, provided you treat z as having degree −1. For

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example, consider the complex foot formula:

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a + b + z − abz

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.
2
All terms have degree +1 (the last term is (+1) + (+1) + (−1) = 1). In general,
you will often find that any expression for a “point” will have degree exactly
1. Similarly, ratios will often need to have degree exactly zero.
This gives a good way to check your work: all expressions should be homoge-
neous (ab + c is a mistake). This advice doesn’t apply if, e.g. you decide that
to set a point to have coordinate +1.
• Sum of coefficients: plug in 1 for all the variables and make sure the value
remains the same from line to line.
• Symmetry: if the problem is symmetric in B and C then your setup and
calculations should be too.

6. Consider turning your paper sideways (this was suggested to me by Michael Ma).
This is useful for increasing the amount of terms you can have on a line.

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 Evan Chen《陳誼廷》 (OTIS, updated 2025-01-01) Complex Geometry

§2.4 Formula sheet for quick reference

This is a formula sheet, and thus should be treated with scorn. It’s mostly meant as a
quick reference in case you need to look something up (but you should already know what
you are looking for). At the risk of preaching to the choir, don’t just memorize; you
should be able to derive each result here from first principles. EGMO lemma numbers
are provided for your reference if you need to look it up.

(ā − b̄)z + (a − b)z̄ + āb − ab̄

6.3 Foot from Z to line AB: .
2(ā − b̄)
1
6.11 If A and B are on the unit circle, this simplifies to (a + b + z − abz̄) .
2

》
6.30 If A and B are on the unit circle, and P is a third point, then P lies on AB if and
a−p

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only if p + abp = a + b . Solve for b to get ; useful if one knows A and P
ap − 1
and wants the second intersection of line AP with the unit circle.

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(āb − ab̄)(c − d) − (a − b)(c̄d − cd)¯

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6.17 Intersection of two arbitrary lines AB and CD: ¯ .
(ā − b̄)(c − d) − (a − b)(c̄ − d)

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ab(c + d) − cd(a + b)
6.17 If A, B, C, D are on the unit circle, this simplifies is .

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ab − cd

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2ab
6.19 In particular, the pole of chord AB of the unit circle (i.e., AA ∩ BB) is .

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a+b

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 
a ā 1

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6.7 Area formula for any triangle ABC: det  b b̄ 1 .

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c c̄ 1

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Collinearity is the special case where the area is zero, i.e. the determinant vanishes.

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a−c a−d
6.15 Condition for ABCD cyclic: ∈R.

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b−c b−d

ad − bc
6.18 The center of the spiral similarity mapping segment AB to segment CD is .
a+d−b−c
   
1 c1 c1 c1 , 1 c1 c1
6.24 Circumcenter of triangle c1 , c2 , c3 : det 1 c2 c2 c2  det 1 c2 c2  .
1 c3 c3 c3 1 c3 c3
 
a x 1
6.16 Triangles ABC and XY Z are directly similar if and only if det  b y 1 = 0 .
c z 1
For opposite similarity, replace x, y, z with x̄, ȳ, z̄.
6.23 If ABC is a triangle inscribed in the unit circle, there exist u, v, w ∈ C such that
−vw, −wu, −uv are the arc midpoints opposite a = u2 , b = v 2 , c = w2 .
The incenter is −(uv + vw + wu) (i.e., the orthocenter of the arc midpoints).

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 Evan Chen《陳誼廷》 (OTIS, updated 2025-01-01) Complex Geometry

§2.5 Example problems

Example 2.1 (Newton)

In quadrilateral ABCD with incircle ω, prove that the midpoint of AC and the
midpoint of BD are collinear with the center of ω.

NEWTON Walkthrough. We give the setup to you in this walkthrough. We set ω as a unit
circle and denote by W XY Z the tangency points. Let w, x, y, z be corresponding “free”
variables on ω.

(a) Assume A = W W ∩ ZZ. Find the coordinates of a.

(b) Write down the coordinates of b, c, d.

》
1
(c) Prove that (z+w)(x+y) . (Remember to keep things factored in calculations!)
(a+c) (w+x)(y+z)
2
1
(b+d)
=

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2

(d) Show that the quantity in (c) is a real number. As long as you keep everything

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factored, this should take almost no calculation at all; do not expand anything.

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Example 2.2 (Simson)

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Let ABC be a triangle with orthocenter H, and P a point on its circumcircle. Show

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that the three feet of the perpendiculars from P to the sides are collinear with the

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midpoint of P H.

SIMSON

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Walkthrough. Let X, Y , Z be the three feet of the perpendiculars.

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(a) Decide on the setup: a choice of unit circle and variables, and a plan for how to

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compute each point and establish the conclusion.

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(b) Compute x. (This should involve almost no calculation; remember your formulas.)

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(c) Write down y and z by symmetry.

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(d) Show that x and y are collinear with the midpoint of P H and conclude.

Example 2.3 (JMO 2011/5)

Points A, B, C, D, E lie on a circle ω and point P lies outside the circle. The given
points are such that (i) lines P B and P D are tangent to ω, (ii) P , A, C are collinear,
and (iii) DE k AC. Prove that BE bisects AC.

11JMO5 Walkthrough.

(a) Show that this problem has three degrees of freedom.

(b) Show that d/c = a/e from the parallel condition.

(c) Of course, we use ω as the unit circle. Come up with a setup, using exactly three
of the variables on ω as free variables. (There are multiple possible choices.)

(d) Carry out the setup.

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 Evan Chen《陳誼廷》 (OTIS, updated 2025-01-01) Complex Geometry

Example 2.4 (Romania 2003)

Prove that the midpoints of the altitudes of a nondegenerate triangle are collinear if
and only if the triangle is right.

03ROU93 Walkthrough. This problem is not difficult, but some meta-considerations in this
problem give a few nice lessons. We’ll use (ABC) as the unit circle.

(a) Find the coordinates of X, the midpoint of the A-altitude.

(b) Write down the coordinates of Y , Z by symmetry.

(c) Using the complex shoelace formula, write down the 3 × 3 determinant which is
equivalent to X, Y , Z being collinear.

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Now, in principle we want to show the determinant of (c) is zero iff 4ABC is right. Here
is how one can do so.

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(d) What is the degree of that determinant as a polynomial in terms of a, b, c?

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(e) If ∠A = 90◦ , what should be true about b and c?

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(f) Why does it make sense to guess that b + c should divide the determinant?

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(g) By considering a degenerate case where B = C along ω, convince yourself that

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b − c had better also divide the determinant.

h
(h) Come up with a guess for how the determinant in (c) factors, up to constant factors.

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(i) Verify that this factorization is correct (you should work out the constant factors

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here).

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(j) Conclude.

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 Evan Chen《陳誼廷》 (OTIS, updated 2025-01-01) Complex Geometry

§3 Problems
Instructions: Solve [25♣]. If you have time, solve [35♣]. Problems with red weights are mandatory.

Dumby? What is that, Dumbo and Barbie?

Zuming Feng at MOP

Special instructions: For this unit, there is a calculation page limit associated
to some problems here, to ensure you stay “on the rails” in terms of the efficiency of
your setup. This page limit is generous: it is always at least 3 times the length of
my fully typeset calculation (not including diagrams or synthetic work). Therefore,
you should try to remain comfortably within the page limit.

》
Only the calculation itself counts towards the page limit. Note this limit applies to

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the actual calculation you do towards the solution, not what you actually type/scan
and upload to OTIS-WEB. (When submitting for this unit, you are not expected

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to type up all the long calculation, though of course you’re allowed to. But like all
other units, an outline is sufficient.)

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Z7E9BBA7

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[2♣] Problem 1. In triangle ABC with circumcenter O, point X is the reflection of O

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across BC. Define Y , Z similarly. Prove that AX, BY , CZ are concurrent.

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Page limit for your calculations: 0.5 pages.

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24HMMTGUTS19
[2♣] Problem 2 (HMMT 2024, added by Daniel Ge). Let A1 A2 . . . A19 be a regular

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19-gon. Lines A1 A5 and A3 A4 meet at X. Compute ∠A7 XA5 .

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18TTSJA4

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[2♣] Problem 3 (ToT Spring 2018 J-A4). Let ABC be a triangle with circumcenter O

a ,
and let H be the foot of the A-altitude. Let P be the foot the perpendicular from A to

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line CO. Prove that line HP bisects side AB.

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14USATST5
[2♣] Problem 4 (USA TST 2014/5). Let ABCD be a cyclic quadrilateral, and let E,

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F , G, and H be the midpoints of AB, BC, CD, and DA respectively. Let W , X, Y and

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Z be the orthocenters of triangles AHE, BEF , CF G and DGH, respectively. Prove
that the quadrilaterals ABCD and W XY Z have the same area.
16PUMACFA3
[3♣] Problem 5 (PUMaC Finals 2016 A3). On a cyclic quadrilateral ABCD, let M
and N denote the midpoints of AB and CD. Let E be the projection of C onto AB and
let F be the reflection of N over the midpoint of DE. Assume F lies in the interior of
quadrilateral ABCD. Prove that ∠BM F = ∠CBD.
Page limit for your calculations: 1 page.
13PUMACFA2
[3♣] Problem 6 (PUMaC 2013). Let γ and I be the incircle and incenter of triangle
ABC. Let D, E, F be the tangency points of γ to BC, CA, AB and let D0 be the
reflection of D about I. Assume EF intersects the tangents to γ at D and D0 at points
P and Q. Show that ∠DAD0 + ∠P IQ = 180◦ .
11CHNTST24
[3♣] Required Problem 7 (China TST 2011). Let Γ be the circumcircle of a triangle
ABC. Assume AA0 , BB 0 , CC 0 are diameters of Γ. Let P be a point inside ABC other
than the circumcenter and let D, E, F be the feet from P to BC, CA, AB. Let X be
the reflection of A0 across D; define Y and Z similarly. Prove that 4XY Z ∼ 4ABC.
Page limit for your calculations: 1 page.

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 Evan Chen《陳誼廷》 (OTIS, updated 2025-01-01) Complex Geometry

06CHNTST41
[3♣] Problem 8 (China TST 2006). Let H be the orthocenter of triangle ABC. Let D,
E, F lie on the circumcircle of ABC such that AD k BE k CF . Let S, T , U respectively
denote the reflections of D, E, F across BC, CA, AB. Prove that points S, T , U , H
are concyclic.
Page limit for your calculations: 1 page.
14TWNTST1J3
[3♣] Problem 9 (Taiwan TST 2014). In 4ABC with incenter I, the incircle is tangent to
CA, AB at E, F . The reflections of E, F across I are G, H. Let Q be the intersection of
GH and BC, and let M be the midpoint of BC. Prove that IQ and IM are perpendicular.
Page limit for your calculations: 2 pages.
17PAKTST1
[3♣] Problem 10 (Pakistan TST 2017/1). Let ABCD be a cyclic quadrilateral. The
diagonals AC and BD meet at P , and DA and CB meet at Q. Suppose P Q ⊥ AC and

》
let E be the midpoint of AB. Prove that P E ⊥ BC.
ANAYGEO

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[3♣] Problem 11 (Anay Aggarwal). Let 4ABC be an acute triangle. Let A0 be the
reflection of A over BC, and define B 0 and C 0 similarly. Prove that (ABC) and (A0 B 0 C 0 )

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are concentric if and only if 4ABC is equilateral.
24HMMTT7

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[3♣] Problem 12 (HMMT 2024, added by Ritwin Narra). Let P be a point inside regular
hexagon ABCDEF . Show that of the three values tan ∠AP D, tan ∠BP E, tan ∠CP F ,

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two of them sum to the third one.

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98SLG7
[3♣] Problem 13 (Shortlist 1998 G7). Let ABC be a triangle such that ∠ACB =

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2∠ABC. Let D be the point on the side BC such that CD = 2BD. The segment AD is

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extended to E so that AD = DE. Prove that

C nt e ∠ECB + 180◦ = 2∠EBC.

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96CHN

a ,
[3♣] Problem 14 (China 1996). Triangle ABC has orthocenter H. The tangents from

v
A to the circle with diameter BC are AP and AQ. Prove that H, P , Q are collinear.

E S
17MP4G19

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[3♣] Problem 15 (Math Prize for Girls 2017). Give an example of an equilateral

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13-gon, convex and nondegenerate, whose internal angle measures are all multiples of
20◦ . (Specify the polygon by giving the angle measures.)

B O
19RMM2
[5♣] Required Problem 16 (RMM 2019/2). Let ABCD be an isosceles trapezoid
with AB k DC. Let E be the midpoint of AC. Denote by Γ and Ω the circumcircles of
triangles ABE and CDE, respectively. The tangent to Γ at A and the tangent to Ω at
D intersect at point P . Prove that P E is tangent to Ω.
Page limit for your calculations: 1 page.
13TSTST1
[3♣] Problem 17 (TSTST 2013/1). Let ABC be a triangle and D, E, F be the
midpoints of arcs BC, CA, AB on the circumcircle. Line `a passes through the feet
of the perpendiculars from A to DB and DC. Line ma passes through the feet of the
perpendiculars from D to AB and AC. Let A1 denote the intersection of lines `a and ma .
Define points B1 and C1 similarly. Prove that triangles DEF and A1 B1 C1 are similar to
each other.
Page limit for your calculations: 1 page.
98SLG5
[3♣] Problem 18 (Shortlist 1998 G5). Let ABC be a triangle with orthocenter H and
circumcenter O. Let D, E, F be the reflections of the three vertices across the opposite
sides. Prove that D, E, F are collinear if and only if the length of OH is equal to the
circumdiameter of ABC.

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 Evan Chen《陳誼廷》 (OTIS, updated 2025-01-01) Complex Geometry

Z7C50130
[3♣] Problem 19 (Brocard theorem). Cyclic quadrilateral ABCD has circumcenter
O. Let P = AB ∩ CD, Q = BC ∩ DA, R = AC ∩ BD. Prove that the orthocenter of
triangle P QR is O.
11MEX2
[3♣] Problem 20 (Mexico 2011, added by Diego Caballero). Let ABC be an acute
triangle and Γ its circumcircle. Let ` be the line tangent to Γ at A. Let D and E be
the intersections of the circumference with center B and radius AB with lines ` and AC,
respectively. Prove the orthocenter of ABC lies on line DE.
KMLB5333
[3♣] Problem 21 (KoMaL B5333, added by Soham Das). The foot of the altitude from
vertex A of acute triangle ABC is TA . The ray drawn from A through the circumcenter
O intersects BC at RA . Let the midpoint of ARA be FA . Define TB , RB , FB , TC , RC ,
FC similarly. Show that TA FA , TB FB , TC FC are concurrent.

》
[1♣] Mini Survey. Fill out feedback on the OTIS-WEB portal when submitting this

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problem set. Any thoughts on problems (e.g. especially nice, instructive, easy, etc.) or
overall comments on the unit are welcome.

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In addition, if you have any suggestions for problems to add, or want to write hints for

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one problem you really liked, please do so in the ARCH system!

The maximum number of [♣] for this unit is [62♣], including the mini-survey.

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 Evan Chen《陳誼廷》 (OTIS, updated 2025-01-01) Complex Geometry

§4 Solutions to the walkthroughs

§4.1 Solution 2.1, Newton
Set unit circle to be ω. Let W , X, Y , Z be the tangency points on ω. Let w, x, y, z be
corresponding free variables on ω.
If A = W W ∩ ZZ, then
2zw
a= z+w
2wx
b= w+x
2xy
c= x+y
2yz
d= y+z .

》
1 1 1
=⇒ (a + c) = +
2 z+w x+y

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1 1 1
=⇒ (b + d) = +
2 w+x y+z

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(w + x)(y + z)
quotient = ∈R

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(z + w)(x + y)
( w1 + x1 )( y1 + z1 )
quotient = 1

《 al
( z + w1 )( x1 + y1 )

n
e rn
(w + x)(y + z)
= ∈ R.

h
(z + w)(x + y)

C e
§4.2 Solution 2.2, Simson

n nt
Here is a solution using complex numbers. Let (ABC) be the unit circle, of course. Then

I
a ,
it would be sufficient to show that the three points

Ev I S
x = 12 (a + b + p − ab/p)
y = 12 (a + c + p − ac/p)

y T
m = 12 (a + b + c + p)

B O
are collinear. Note that

so
m−x
m−y
=
c + ab/p
b + ac/p
1
=
pc + ab
pb + ac
1
+
 
m−x pc ab pc + ab m−x
= 1 1 = =
m−y pb + ac
pb + ac m−y

hence m−x
m−y ∈ R.

§4.3 Solution 2.3, JMO 2011/5

We present two solutions.

¶ First solution using harmonic bundles. Let M = BE ∩ AC and let ∞ be the point
at infinity along DE k AC.

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 Evan Chen《陳誼廷》 (OTIS, updated 2025-01-01) Complex Geometry

P C M A

D E

》
Note that ABCD is harmonic, so

廷
E
−1 = (AC; BD) = (AC; M ∞)

誼 se
implying M is the midpoint of AC.

陳 U
¶ Second solution using complex numbers (Cynthia Du). Suppose we let b, d, e be

《 al
free on unit circle, so p = b+d
2bd
. Then d/c = a/e, and a + c = p + acp. Consequently,

n
e rn
ac = de

h
1 bd 1 d(b + e)
+ de ·

e
(a + c) = = .

C
2 b+d b+d b+d

t
a+c (b + e)

n n
= .

I
2ac e(b + d)

va ,
From here it’s easy to see

S
a+c a+c

E I
+ · be = b + e
2 2ac

y
which is what we wanted to prove.

B O T
§4.4 Solution 2.4, Romania 2003
This is also an instructive exercise in complex numbers.
Let a, b, c be on the unit circle in the usual manner. The midpoint of the A-altitude,
which denote by X, then has coordinates
  
1 1 bc
x= a+ a+b+c−
2 2 a
bc 2
2a − bc
4x − (a + b + c) = 2a − =
a a
2 1
2 − bc 2bc − a2
4x − (a + b + c) = a = .
1/a abc
Define y and z similarly. Now x, y, z are collinear iff 4x − (a + b + c), et cetera, are
collinear. So the desired collinearity is equivalent to
 2 
2a −bc 2bc−a2  2
2abc − a3 a

a abc 1 2a − bc
1
0 = det  2b b−ca 2ca−b det
 2 2
2b2 − ca
1 = 2abc − b3 b 

abc (abc)2

2c2 −ab 2ab−c2
1 2c2 − ab 2abc − c3 c.
c abc

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 Evan Chen《陳誼廷》 (OTIS, updated 2025-01-01) Complex Geometry

1 X 2 3 2 3



= c (2a − bc)(2abc − b ) − (2b − ca)(2abc − a )
(abc)2 cyc
1 X 3 2
4a bc − 2ab2 c3 − 2a2 b3 c + b4 c2 − 4ab3 c2 + 2a2 bc3 + 2a3 b2 c − a4 c2

= 2
(abc) cyc
1 X 4 2 4 2
 −(a2 − b2 )(b2 − c2 )(c2 − a2 )
= b c − a c =
(abc)2 cyc (abc)2
−(a − b)(b − c)(c − a)(a + b)(b + c)(c + a)
= .
(abc)2

Thus we’re done.

Remark. Indeed, the factorization could have been known in advance, since (a + b)(b +

》
c)(c + a) must be a factor, as is (a − b)(b − c)(c − a), since if two vertices coincide then two
of the midpoints coincide. Degree counting then tells us the final result beforehand.

廷
誼 se
Remark (Evan Chen). Here is a synthetic approach. Let AD, BE, CF be altitudes and
assume ABC is not right. Let ` be the line through three collinear points. By Gauss line on

陳 U
BF CE, we find ` bisects AX, where X = BC ∩ EF . So ` is the A-midline of 4AXD and
therefore ` k BC. Similarly ` k CA, ` k AB, contradiction.

n《 al
h e rn
C nt e
n
a , I
Ev I S
y
B O T

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