[Math] One-step problems in geometry

big-listdg.differential-geometrymathematics-educationmg.metric-geometry

I'm collecting advanced exercises in geometry. Ideally, each exercise should be solved by one trick and this trick should be useful elsewhere (say it gives an essential idea in some theory).

If you have a problem like this please post it here.

Remarks:

  • I have been collecting such problems for many years. The current collection is at arXiv; the paper version is available at amazon.

  • At the moment, I have just a few problems in topology and in geometric group theory and only one in algebraic geometry.

  • Thank you all for nice problems — I decided to add bounty once in a while and choose the best problem (among new or old).

Best Answer

Given $n$ balls in $\mathbb{R}^d$ with radii $r_1,r_2,\dots,r_n$. Assume that this system of balls can not be separated by a hyperplane (that is, if a hyperplane $H$ does not intersect these balls, they necessarily belong to the same half-space bounded by $H$). Prove that all $n$ balls may be covered by a ball of radius $\sum r_i$.

reference: A. W. Goodman and R. E. Goodman, A circle covering theorem, Amer. Math. Monthly 52 (1945), 494-498.