IMO 2018 · Problem 6

A convex quadrilateral \(ABCD\) satisfies \(AB\cdot CD=BC\cdot DA\). Point \(X\) lies inside \(ABCD\) so that \[ \angle XAB=\angle XCD \qquad\text{and}\qquad \angle XBC=\angle XDA. \] Prove that \(\angle BXA+\angle DXC=180^\circ\).

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

Solution

We measure angles in radians. Put \[ \alpha=\angle XAB=\angle XCD,\qquad \beta=\angle XBC=\angle XDA, \] and \[ u=\angle AXB,\quad v=\angle BXC,\quad w=\angle CXD,\quad z=\angle DXA. \] Because \(ABCD\) is convex and \(X\) is inside it, the four triangles with vertex \(X\) and bases \(AB,BC,CD,DA\) are nondegenerate and surround \(X\). Thus \[ 0<u,v,w,z<\pi,\qquad u+v+w+z=2\pi. \]

Define \[ s=\frac{u+w}{2},\qquad P=\sin u\sin w,\qquad Q=\sin v\sin z. \] In particular, \(0<s<\pi\) and \(P,Q>0\). The angle sums in the four triangles give \[ \alpha+u<\pi,\quad \alpha+w<\pi,\quad \beta+v<\pi,\quad \beta+z<\pi. \] Adding these inequalities in pairs yields \[ 0<\alpha+s<\pi,\qquad 0<s-\beta<\pi. \tag{1} \]

The sine rule gives \[ \begin{aligned} AB\cdot CD &=\frac{XA\cdot XC\,P}{\sin(\alpha+u)\sin(\alpha+w)} =\frac{XB\cdot XD\,P}{\sin^2\alpha},\\ BC\cdot DA &=\frac{XA\cdot XC\,Q}{\sin^2\beta} =\frac{XB\cdot XD\,Q}{\sin(\beta+v)\sin(\beta+z)}. \end{aligned} \] Consequently, the hypothesis \(AB\cdot CD=BC\cdot DA\) implies \[ \begin{aligned} P\sin^2\beta&=Q\sin(\alpha+u)\sin(\alpha+w),\\ Q\sin^2\alpha&=P\sin(\beta+v)\sin(\beta+z). \end{aligned} \tag{2} \]

Using the elementary identity \[ \sin(t+x)\sin(t+y) =\sin x\sin y+\sin t\sin(t+x+y), \] together with \(u+w=2s\) and \(v+z=2\pi-2s\), equations (2) become \[ \begin{aligned} P\sin^2\beta&=PQ+Q\sin\alpha\sin(\alpha+2s),\\ Q\sin^2\alpha&=PQ+P\sin\beta\sin(\beta-2s). \end{aligned} \] Eliminating \(PQ\) gives \[ P\sin\beta\bigl(\sin\beta+\sin(\beta-2s)\bigr) = Q\sin\alpha\bigl(\sin\alpha+\sin(\alpha+2s)\bigr). \] The sum-to-product formulas now yield \[ 2\cos s\left( P\sin\beta\sin(s-\beta) + Q\sin\alpha\sin(s+\alpha) \right)=0. \] Both terms inside the parentheses are strictly positive, by (1), \(P,Q>0\), and \(0<\alpha,\beta<\pi\). Therefore \(\cos s=0\). Since \(0<s<\pi\), we obtain \(s=\pi/2\), and hence \[ \angle BXA+\angle DXC=u+w=2s=\pi=180^\circ. \] This proves the assertion.

The solution was checked against the official IMO shortlist solutions.