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In Euclidean plane geometry, Apollonius's problem is to construct circles that are tangent to three given circles in a plane (Figure 1). Apollonius of Perga (ca. 262 190 BC) posed and solved this famous problem in his work (', "Tangencies"); this work has been lost, but a 4th-century report of his results by Pappus of Alexandria has survived. Three given circles generically have eight different circles that are tangent to them (Figure 2) and each solution circle encloses or excludes the three given circles in a different way: in each solution, a different subset of the three circles is enclosed (its complement is excluded) and there are 8 subsets of a set whose cardinality is 3, since 8 = 23. In the 16th century, Adriaan van Roomen solved the problem using intersecting hyperbolas, but this solution does not use only straightedge and compass constructions. François Viète found such a solution by exploiting limiting cases: any of the three given circles can be shrunk to zero radius (a point) or expanded to infinite radius (a line). Viète's approach, which uses simpler limiting cases to solve more complicated ones, is considered a plausible reconstruction of Apollonius' method. The method of van Roomen was simplified by Isaac Newton, who showed that Apollonius' problem is equivalent to finding a position from the differences of its distances to three known points. This has applications in navigation and positioning systems such as LORAN. Later mathematicians introduced algebraic methods, which transform a geometric problem into algebraic equations. These methods were simplified by exploiting symmetries inherent in the problem of Apollonius: for instance solution circles generically occur in pairs, with one solution enclosing the given circles that the other excludes (Figure 2). Joseph Diaz Gergonne used this symmetry to provide an elegant straightedge and compass solution, while other mathematicians used geometrical transformations such as reflection in a circle to simplify the configuration of the given circles. These developments provide a geometrical setting for algebraic methods (using Lie sphere geometry) and a classification of solutions according to 33 essentially different configurations of the given circles. Apollonius' problem has stimulated much further work. Generalizations to three dimensions—constructing a sphere tangent to four given spheres—and beyond have been studied. The configuration of three mutually tangent circles has received particular attention. René Descartes gave a formula relating the radii of the solution circles and the given circles, now known as Descartes' theorem. Solving Apollonius' problem iteratively in this case leads to the Apollonian gasket, which is one of the earliest fractals to be described in print, and is important in number theory via Ford circles and the Hardy–Littlewood circle method. ==Statement of the problem== The general statement of Apollonius' problem is to construct one or more circles that are tangent to three given objects in a plane, where an object may be a line, a point or a circle of any size.〔〔〔 These objects may be arranged in any way and may cross one another; however, they are usually taken to be distinct, meaning that they do not coincide. Solutions to Apollonius' problem are sometimes called ''Apollonius circles'', although the term is also used for other types of circles associated with Apollonius. The property of tangency is defined as follows. First, a point, line or circle is assumed to be tangent to itself; hence, if a given circle is already tangent to the other two given objects, it is counted as a solution to Apollonius' problem. Two distinct geometrical objects are said to ''intersect'' if they have a point in common. By definition, a point is tangent to a circle or a line if it intersects them, that is, if it lies on them; thus, two distinct points cannot be tangent. If the angle between lines or circles at an intersection point is zero, they are said to be ''tangent''; the intersection point is called a ''tangent point'' or a ''point of tangency''. (The word "tangent" derives from the Latin present participle, ''tangens'', meaning "touching".) In practice, two distinct circles are tangent if they intersect at only one point; if they intersect at zero or two points, they are not tangent. The same holds true for a line and a circle. Two distinct lines cannot be tangent in the plane, although two parallel lines can be considered as tangent at a point at infinity in inversive geometry (see below). The solution circle may be either internally or externally tangent to each of the given circles. An ''external'' tangency is one where the two circles bend away from each other at their point of contact; they lie on opposite sides of the tangent line at that point, and they exclude one another. The distance between their centers equals the sum of their radii. By contrast, an ''internal'' tangency is one in which the two circles curve in the same way at their point of contact; the two circles lie on the same side of the tangent line, and one circle encloses the other. In this case, the distance between their centers equals the difference of their radii. As an illustration, in Figure 1, the pink solution circle is internally tangent to the medium-sized given black circle on the right, whereas it is externally tangent to the smallest and largest given circles on the left. Apollonius' problem can also be formulated as the problem of locating one or more points such that the ''differences'' of its distances to three given points equal three known values. Consider a solution circle of radius ''r''''s'' and three given circles of radii ''r''1, ''r''2 and ''r''3. If the solution circle is externally tangent to all three given circles, the distances between the center of the solution circle and the centers of the given circles equal , and , respectively. Therefore, differences in these distances are constants, such as ; they depend only on the known radii of the given circles and not on the radius ''r''''s'' of the solution circle, which cancels out. This second formulation of Apollonius' problem can be generalized to internally tangent solution circles (for which the center-center distance equals the difference of radii), by changing the corresponding differences of distances to sums of distances, so that the solution-circle radius ''r''''s'' again cancels out. The re-formulation in terms of center-center distances is useful in the solutions below of Adriaan van Roomen and Isaac Newton, and also in hyperbolic positioning or trilateration, which is the task of locating a position from differences in distances to three known points. For example, navigation systems such as LORAN identify a receiver's position from the differences in arrival times of signals from three fixed positions, which correspond to the differences in distances to those transmitters.〔〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Problem of Apollonius」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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