Determine whether or nor there exist two disjoint infinite sets $ A$ and $ B$ of points in the plane satisfying the following conditions: a.) No three points in $ A \cup B$ are collinear, and the distance between any two points in $ A \cup B$ is at least 1. b.) There is a point of $ A$ in any triangle whose vertices are in $ B,$ and there is a point of $ B$ in any triangle whose vertices are in $ A.$
Problem
Source: IMO Shortlist 1996, C4
Tags: combinatorial geometry, combinatorics, point set, Triangle, IMO Shortlist
15.08.2008 02:58
29.11.2010 23:13
21.02.2017 18:53
@archimedes1, I am sorry if this is dumb question, but is it possible for the quadrilateral to decrease every time but decrease "asymptotically," so it decreases but stays above side length 1? Thanks!
22.02.2017 17:44
MathPanda1, I see what you are saying. If you look at each of these "concentric" quadrilaterals individually, then it is not obvious that any of them have side length less than 1. Instead, note that archimedes1's lemma 2 proves that any given quadrilateral $WXYZ$ with finite area must have an infinite amount of distinct points inside of it. From here it is easy to see that there must be two points with distance less than 1.
23.02.2017 16:53
Ah, I see, that is really nice, thank you so much for all your help!