#143 - Torricelli Triangles
Let \(ABC\) be a triangle with all interior angles being less than \(120\) degrees. Let \(X\) be any point inside the triangle and let \(XA = p\), \(XC = q\), and \(XB = r\).
Fermat challenged Torricelli to find the position of \(X\) such that \(p + q + r\) was minimised.
Torricelli was able to prove that if equilateral triangles \(AOB\), \(BNC\) and \(AMC\) are constructed on each side of triangle \(ABC\), the circumscribed circles of \(AOB\), \(BNC\), and \(AMC\) will intersect at a single point, \(T\), inside the triangle. Moreover he proved that \(T\), called the Torricelli/Fermat point, minimises \(p + q + r\). Even more remarkable, it can be shown that when the sum is minimised, \(AN = BM = CO = p + q + r\) and that \(AN\), \(BM\) and \(CO\) also intersect at \(T\).
If the sum is minimised and \(a, b, c, p, q\) and \(r\) are all positive integers we shall call triangle \(ABC\) a Torricelli triangle. For example, \(a = 399\), \(b = 455\), \(c = 511\) is an example of a Torricelli triangle, with \(p + q + r = 784\).
Find the sum of all distinct values of \(p + q + r \le 120000\) for Torricelli triangles.
Problem text © Project Euler, licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0. Original: projecteuler.net/problem=143. Published Friday, 2nd March 2007, 09:00 pm. Solved by 3,302 members at time of mirroring.
Why this is useful
Optimization. A genuine objective is optimised over a choice set - the same shape as calibration and optimal-execution problems (Phases 10, 16).
We classify relevance honestly - not every Euler problem is a trading application.
Prerequisites
Lessons that prepare you:
10.4 Algorithms: Gradient Descent and Newton's Method · 10.1 Convex Sets and Convex Functions · 17.1 Python for Quants: NumPy, pandas, and Vectorization · 19.14 Computational Complexity, Feasibility Estimation, and Proving Algorithms Correct · 19.10 Search: Backtracking, Branch-and-Bound, Binary Search, Meet-in-the-Middle · 3.1 Vectors, Multivariable Functions, and Level Sets
Recommended stepping-stone problems: #247 · #914 · #955
Concepts: computational-geometry geometry optimization brute-force-reduction
Likely techniques: hashing
Learning mode
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Understand the problem
- What exactly is the input to problem 143? Is it a bound (120000), a supplied dataset, or a definition you must generate from?
- What is the required output - restate it precisely: a single sum.
- Which objects exactly are in scope, and which are excluded by the wording (strict vs non-strict inequality, 'distinct', 'proper', 'below' vs 'up to')?
- What constraint does the bound 120000 impose, and is it inclusive or exclusive?
- What are the edge cases: the smallest legal object, zero/one, ties, and the boundary at exactly 120000?
- Why is brute force hard HERE specifically? Estimate the number of candidates implied by 120000 and the cost of testing one.
- Which geometry fact would, if true, collapse the search - and can you state it as a testable claim before you look for a proof?
Predict & plan (before you code)
- Predict the strategy: in one sentence, what will your solution do? (The classification says geometry / hashing - do you agree, and why?)
- Predict the complexity of your intended method in terms of N = 120000, and the wall-clock time you expect. Write both down now.
- Predict the key data structure: what is stored, keyed by what, and how large will it get at full scale?
- Predict the failure mode: what is most likely to break - an off-by-one on the bound, a definition misread, precision, or memory?
- Predict the output of the small case from rung 3 BEFORE running it (the statement says: "For example, a = 399, b = 455, c = 511 is an example of a Torricelli triangle, with p + q + r = 784.") - then run it. A surprise here is worth more than an hour of debugging later.
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Progressive hints
Optimization
You have a correct answer. That is the start of the learning, not the end.
- Reduce the time complexity. What is the bottleneck, and what mathematical fact removes it?
- Reduce memory. Can you stream, or keep only the last k states?
- Replace brute force with a closed form, a sieve, a recurrence, or a symmetry argument.
- Prove the optimized version computes the same thing.
- Compare two implementations and time them.
Explain it
Which step of your solution were you least confident about, and what evidence would settle it?
What did you try first, and what specifically made you abandon it - a proof, a timing, or a wrong small-case answer?
Where did the geometry structure do the real work? Name the single observation that collapsed the search space.
Could you have reached the hashing idea faster? Which words in the statement were pointing at it, and did you notice them?
What was the bug that cost you the most time, and what CLASS of bug was it (off-by-one, definition misread, precision, state under-specified)?
How would your solution change if the bound 120000 were multiplied by 1000? Does it survive, or does it need a different idea?
What is the honest complexity of what you wrote (not what you intended), and where is the remaining slack?
Which problem you have already solved is this most similar to, and what is the shared skeleton - is it really 'hashing' underneath?
State the transferable technique in one sentence, without mentioning this problem's story at all.
Self-assess (mastery is not a correct number)
You reach Mastered only when you have solved it, rated yourself at least Solid across the dimensions, and written a real explanation.
Confidence
Low confidence schedules this problem for spaced review, even if you solved it.
Mastery check
- Variation: change the bound (or a rule) in the statement. Does your method still work? What breaks first?
- Constraints: if the limit were 10× larger, which step fails, and what would you replace it with?
- Related problem: #247 · #914 · #955
- Transfer: where else does this technique appear? Name a lesson and a real computational setting.
- Spaced re-attempt: come back after the review interval and re-solve it with no hints.