Simson line of a Quadrilateral

We all know about quadrilateral as a polygon with 4 sides. What is a Simson line of it? Is there a Simson line for a triangle? Yes !

Consider a \triangle ABC and a point P\neq A, B, C on the plane. Let the feet of perpendiculars from P to BC, CA, AB be D, E, F respectively. Then D, E, F are collinear if and only if P lies on the circumcircle of \triangle ABC. If it happens that D, E, F are collinear, then the line DEF is called as the Simson line of point P w.r.t \triangle ABC. Try to prove this fact using the Inscribed Angle Theorem (i.e., An arc of a circle subtends equal angles at the other arc of the circle) and write your proof in the comments.

Let us now come back to quadrilaterals. Draw a quadrilateral ABCD so that opposite sides are not parallel and complete it by extending its sides to meet. Let AB\cap CD=E,\ AD\cap BC=F.

Which circle should we take and which point should we take on it to draw the Simson line of the quadrilateral? Here is the catch, consider the circumcircles of \triangle EAD, \triangle EBC, \triangle FAB, \triangle FCD, say \Gamma_1, \Gamma_2, \Gamma_3, \Gamma_4. Let us prove that all these circles pass through a common point known as the Miquel Point of Quadrilateral.

Let M be the intersection of \Gamma_1 and \Gamma_2 other than E. Let us prove that M also lies on \Gamma_3 and \Gamma_4. By the Inscribed Angle Theorem on \Gamma_1, \Gamma_2, \angle MAD=180-\angle MED=180-\angle MEC=\angle MBC. But we also know that \angle MAF=180 -\angle MAD and \angle MBF=180-\angle MBC\Rightarrow \angle MAF=\angle MBF\Rightarrow points M,A,F,B are concyclic by the Inscribed Angle Theorem and hence M lies on \Gamma_3. Similarly, \angle MDF=\angle MDA=\angle MEA=\angle MEB=\angle MCB=\angle MCF\Rightarrow M lies on \Gamma_4 as well. Hence, all the 4 circles pass through this common point M known as the Miquel point of Quadrilateral.

Now the Simson line is drawn w.r.t. the Miquel point M by dropping perpendiculars from it to the sides AB, BC, CD, DA of the quadrilateral. Of course, the feet of perpendiculars are collinear because the point M lies on all four circumcircles and it will correspond to the Simson line of M w.r.t all four triangles \triangle EAD, \triangle EBC, \triangle FAB, \triangle FCD. Hence, this line will be called as Simson line of the quadrilateral ABCD.

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