Triangles and groups via cevians

Abstract

For a given triangle T and a real number ρ we define Ceva’s triangle ${\mathcal{C}_{\rho}(T)}$ to be the triangle formed by three cevians each joining a vertex of T to the point which divides the opposite side in the ratio ρ: (1 – ρ). We identify the smallest interval ${\mathbb{M}_T \subset \mathbb{R}}$ such that the family ${\mathcal{C}_{\rho}(T), \rho \in \mathbb{M}_T}$, contains all Ceva’s triangles up to similarity. We prove that the composition of operators ${\mathcal{C}_\rho, \rho \in \mathbb{R}}$, acting on triangles is governed by a certain group structure on ${\mathbb{R}}$. We use this structure to prove that two triangles have the same Brocard angle if and only if a congruent copy of one of them can be recovered by sufficiently many iterations of two operators ${\mathcal{C}_\rho}$ and ${\mathcal{C}_\xi}$ acting on the other triangle.