Conway's Circle Theorem in Isabelle/HOL

Arthur Freitas Ramos 📧, David Barros Hulak 📧 and Ruy Jose Guerra Barretto de Queiroz 📧

June 27, 2026

Abstract

We formalize Conway’s circle theorem in Isabelle/HOL. For a nondegenerate Euclidean triangle (ABC) with side lengths $$ a = |BC|,\qquad b = |CA|,\qquad c = |AB|, $$ extend the two side-lines meeting at each vertex past that vertex by the length of the side opposite that vertex:
  • at $A$, both adjacent sides are extended by $a$,
  • at $B$, both adjacent sides are extended by $b$,
  • at $C$, both adjacent sides are extended by $c$.
The six resulting endpoints lie on one circle. Its center is the incenter (I) of the triangle, and its radius is $$ \sqrt{r^{2}+s^{2}}, $$ where (r) is the inradius and $$ s=\frac{a+b+c}{2} $$ is the semiperimeter. We give the result in three equivalent forms: as six explicit distance equations, as a subset relation (\subseteq) into the corresponding (\mathsf{sphere}), and as a single bounded-universal statement over the six-point set. A separate construction-correctness theorem records that each Conway point lies on the intended side line and at the declared extension length from the adjacent vertex.

License

BSD License

Note

Opus 4.8 was used to help with proof engineering

Topics

Session Conway_Circle