A dynamic proof of Thébault's theorem (Q2380721)

Thébault's theorem, discovered in 1938, needed three decades to have a first proof which consists in 24 pages of calculations. It was followed by other shorter proofs, but not easy ones, in 1980's. Nowadays, the mathematicians are still interested in this theorem. In this note, the authors emphasize the role of a certain parabola which comes out of a dynamic machine, and which allows an easy understanding. The key point of the proof is the TTT machine, describing the parabola. The first T stands for Thébault, the second for Turnwald, whose corrected version of a formula of Thébault was the main motivation for this machine, the third T stands for Jean Tinguely and emphasizes the dynamic thinking of the proof.