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Let be infinite and let count the number of indices for which . Is it true that ?
How large can
be?
Source: erdosproblems.com/440
An accepted solution exists. Settled in another form, for example when its parts resolve differently or the question is open-ended.
Solved. Both questions are answered in Erdős and Szemerédi's 1980 paper (Mat. Lapok 28, 121--124, in Hungarian). Theorem I gives with , so and the answer to the first question is yes; Theorem II gives for every , and attains , so the largest possible value of the liminf is exactly . The printed proof of Theorem II ends with a false numerical assertion ( for a series equal to ) and does not close as printed; the theorem is true, by the authored averaging proof under Current assessment, which is a note of this corpus and not acceptance evidence. Mat. Lapok is the refereed journal of the Bolyai Society (the card records MR 82c:10066 and Zbl 476.10045). Claim page: Erdős and Szemerédi 1980 (accepted; refereed, and credited by the site's curator), which also links the public Lean file of August 2026 that declares itself a formalization of their result (not built or audited in this corpus).