Dynamics of ellipses inscribed in triangles

Publication date 20 April 2015

Abstract: Suppose that we are given two distinct points,

P_{1}

and

P_{2}

, in the interior of a triangle,

T

. Is there always an ellipse inscribed in

T

which also passes through

P_{1}

and

P_{2}

? If yes, how many such ellipses ? We answer those questions in this paper. It turns out that, except for

P_{1}

and

P_{2}

on a union of three line segments, there are four such ellipses which pass through

P_{1}

and

P_{2}

. We also answer a similar question if instead

P_{1}

and

P_{2}

lie on the boundary of

T

. Finally, an interesting related question, is the following: Given a point,

P

, in the interior of a triangle,

T

, and a real number,

r

, is there always an ellipse inscribed in

T

which passes through

P

and has slope

r

at

P

? Again, if yes, how many such ellipses ? The answer is somewhat different than for the two point case without specifying a slope. There are cases where no such ellipse exists.

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