IMO 2013 · Problem 2

A configuration of 4027 points in the plane is called Colombian if it consists of 2013 red points and 2014 blue points, and no three of the points of the configuration are collinear. By drawing some lines, the plane is divided into several regions. An arrangement of lines is good for a Colombian configuration if the following two conditions are satisfied:

  • no line passes through any point of the configuration;
  • no region contains points of both colours.

Find the least value of \(k\) such that for any Colombian configuration of 4027 points, there is a good arrangement of \(k\) lines.

Official text of the problem. Official problem paper (PDF)

Answer

\[ \boxed{k=2013}. \]

Solution

We first prove that 2013 lines always suffice.

For any two points of the same colour, their joining line contains no other point of the configuration. Consequently, we can draw two parallel lines on opposite sides of it, sufficiently close that the open strip between them contains precisely those two points. Neither boundary line passes through a point of the configuration: choose the strip’s half-width smaller than the minimum distance from any other point to the joining line.

We will cover all points of one colour by such strips and one half-plane, each containing no point of the other colour. Drawing their boundary lines then gives a good arrangement. Indeed, a region containing a covered point lies entirely within every strip or half-plane containing that point, because their boundaries belong to the arrangement.

Let \(H\) be the convex hull of the configuration. There are two cases.

Case 1: Some vertex of \(H\) is red.

Let this vertex be \(R\). There is a supporting line of \(H\) whose only point of contact with \(H\) is \(R\): choose its direction strictly between the directions of the two supporting edges incident to \(R\). Moving this line a sufficiently small distance towards the interior of \(H\) gives a line separating \(R\) from every other point, without passing through any point. Thus one of its open half-planes contains precisely \(R\).

Partition the remaining 2012 red points into 1006 pairs, and surround each pair by a strip as described above. All red points are now covered by a half-plane and strips containing no blue points. Their boundaries give a good arrangement using at most \[ 1+2\cdot1006=2013 \] lines.

Case 2: Every vertex of \(H\) is blue.

Choose an edge \(UV\) of \(H\). Both endpoints are blue, and all other points lie strictly on the same side of the line \(UV\), since no three points are collinear. Translating this line a sufficiently small distance towards the interior of \(H\) therefore produces a line separating \(U,V\) from all other points, without passing through any point.

Partition the remaining 2012 blue points into 1006 pairs and surround each pair by a strip. Now all blue points are covered by a half-plane and strips containing no red points. Again their boundaries give a good arrangement using at most \[ 1+2\cdot1006=2013 \] lines.

If the construction produces fewer distinct lines, we may add lines avoiding all configuration points until there are exactly 2013. Adding lines only subdivides existing regions, so the arrangement remains good.

We next show that fewer lines do not always suffice.

Place 4027 distinct points on a circle, coloured in the following cyclic order: \[ B_0,R_1,B_1,R_2,B_2,\ldots,R_{2013},B_{2013}. \] This is a Colombian configuration, since a line meets a circle in at most two points. Of the 4027 sides of the convex polygon formed by these points, exactly 4026 have endpoints of different colours; only \(B_{2013}B_0\) has endpoints of the same colour.

In any good arrangement, each of those 4026 sides must be crossed by at least one line. Otherwise its entire segment would avoid all the lines, joining its differently coloured endpoints within a single region.

A line avoiding the polygon’s vertices crosses at most two of its sides: its intersection with the convex polygon, when nonempty, is a segment, and crossings occur only at that segment’s two endpoints. Hence an arrangement of \(k\) lines can cross at most \(2k\) of the 4026 required sides. Therefore \[ 2k\ge4026, \qquad\text{so}\qquad k\ge2013. \]

Together with the construction, this proves that the least value is \(\boxed{2013}\).

The solution was checked against the official IMO shortlist solutions.