Research notes on every problem, and a library of the papers behind them. Built from the open erdos repository.
Updated
Source. Problem 28, p. 13 (Section 7, "Distinct distances with local properties", pp. 13--15), with Table 3 (p. 13), of Adam Sheffer, Distinct Distances: Open Problems and Current Bounds, arXiv:1406.1949v3 (2 July 2018), the edition read for the source card.
Statement
Notation (p. 13). For positive integers , is the least number of distinct distances spanned by a set of points in the plane in which every points determine at least distinct distances. The survey reads as the least number of distinct distances among points spanning no isosceles triangle, degenerate (collinear) isosceles triangles included.
What the survey records (p. 13):
- Lower bound : with no isosceles triangle, each point has distinct distances to the others.
- Upper bound , observed by Erdős: take Behrend's set of positive integers with no three-term arithmetic progression and , and place the points on a line; they span no isosceles triangle and at most distances.
- Erdős conjectured .
Problem 28 (p. 13). "Find the asymptotic value of ." (quoted)
Read depth
Claims checked on the print. Behrend's construction is reported as the survey states it and was not checked against its source here.
Bears on
- Problem 657: the problem asks whether planar points with no isosceles triangle must determine at least distinct distances for some , that is, Erdős's conjecture as the survey states it. The survey records the bounds and and leaves the problem open as Problem 28.