ApSimon's Diagonal Point Triangle Problem (Q4340682)

If one diagonal of a (convex) quadrangle chops it into two triangles of areas \(a\) and \(b\), and the other diagonal into two of areas \(c\) and \(d=a +b-c\), then the area of the diagonal point triangle \(PQR\) (where \(P:= AD \cap BC\), \(Q:= AC \cap BD\), \(R:= AB \cap CD)\) is \[ \Delta_1= 2abc(a+b-c) \bigl((a+b) (a-c)(b-c) \bigr). \] If three cevians \(AP\), \(BQ\), \(CR\) of a triangle \(ABC\) concur at an interior point \(D\), and the areas of the triangles \(BDC\), \(CDA\), \(ADB\) are \(a,b,c\), then the area \(\Delta_2\) of the triangle \(PQR\) is given by \(\Delta_2 (a,b,c)= -\Delta_1 (a,b,-c)\). The author considers two analogous problems: If \(a, b,c\) are positive integers, what integer values of \(\Delta_i\) \((i=1,2)\) can occur? Following an idea of Andrew Bremner who succesfully had dealt with problem 1 up to \(\Delta_1=200\) one has to search for pairs of integers \((b,c)\) which make a certain ``discriminant'' \(D_1= D_1(b,c, \Delta_1)\) or \(D_2= D_1(b,-c, -\Delta_2)\), respectively, a perfect square. For both problems the author ran a program from \(\Delta_i =1\) to \(\Delta_i =500\) finding out all solutions \((a,b,c; \Delta_i)\) in that range, among them the following special solutions of problem 1: (2, 2, 1; 6), (20, 12, 2; 5), (35, 28, 3; 7). Besides, for both problems parametric solutions were found, among them: \(a=m (m+n)\), \(b=n (m+n)\), \(c=mn\), \(\Delta_1=2\) \((m^2+ mn+n^2)\) (problem 1) and \(a=m^2 (m-1)\), \(b=c= m^2\), \(\Delta_2=m^2 -1\) (problem 2).