1999/10/19 by Bruce Landman, Aaron Robertson, Landman, Bruce +1
Mathematics · #05D10 #Combinatorics (math.CO) #FOS: Mathematics #math.CO #msc:05D10
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.math/9910092
14 pages
arxiv created 1999/10/19 · arxiv updated 2009/11/30
Van der Waerden's classical theorem on arithmetic progressions states that for any positive integers k and r, there exists a least positive integer, w(k,r), such that any r-coloring of 1,2,...,w(k,r) must contain a monochromatic k-term arithmetic progression x,x+d,x+2d,...,x+(k-1)d. We investigate the following generalization of w(3,r). For fixed positive integers a and b with a <= b, define N(a,b;r) to be the least positive integer, if it exists, such that any r-coloring of 1,2,...,N(a,b;r) must contain a monochromatic set of the form x,ax+d,bx+2d. We show that N(a,b;2) exists if and only if b <> 2a, and provide upper and lower bounds for it. We then show that for a large class of pairs (a,b), N(a,b;r) does not exist for r sufficiently large. We also give a result on sets of the form x,ax+d,ax+2d,...,ax+(k-1)d.