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Source. Theorem 9 and the sentence after it, p. 572, with the configurations behind it, pp. 570--572, of P. Erdős, R. L. Graham, P. Montgomery, B. L. Rothschild, J. Spencer and E. G. Straus, Euclidean Ramsey Theorems, III, Infinite and Finite Sets (Keszthely 1973), Colloq. Math. Soc. János Bolyai 10, North-Holland (1975), 559--583, as identified on the source card.

Statement

Theorem 9 (p. 572). R(K)R(K) holds for all triangles K=(a,b,c)K=(a,b,c) which

  • (i) have a 30∘30^\circ angle;
  • (ii) have a 150∘150^\circ angle;
  • (iii) are the sides and the circumradius of an isosceles triangle; the print adds "Satisfies 4a2b2−a2c2−b4=04a^2b^2-a^2c^2-b^4=0";
  • (iv) satisfy c2=a2+2b2c^2=a^2+2b^2;
  • (v) satisfy a2±ac−b2=0a^2\pm ac-b^2=0, a≠ca\ne c; the print adds that this includes KK with angles (α,2α,180∘−3α)(\alpha,2\alpha,180^\circ-3\alpha), 0<α<60∘0<\alpha<60^\circ, α≠45∘\alpha\ne45^\circ, and angles (180∘−α,180∘−2α,3α−180∘)(180^\circ-\alpha,180^\circ-2\alpha,3\alpha-180^\circ), 60∘<α<90∘60^\circ<\alpha<90^\circ, and K=(a,2a,3a)K=(a,2a,3a);
  • (vi) satisfy a6−2a4b2+a2b4−3a2b2c2+b2c4=0a^6-2a^4b^2+a^2b^4-3a^2b^2c^2+b^2c^4=0;
  • (vii) satisfy a4c2+a2b4−5a2b2c2+b2c4=0a^4c^2+a^2b^4-5a^2b^2c^2+b^2c^4=0.

Here R(K)R(K) means that every two-coloring of E2E^2 has a monochromatic congruent copy of KK (Theorem 1). The letters in each relation are those of the corresponding four-point configuration on pp. 570--572; the print states the relations without saying which side is which; they are read here as holding for some labeling of the sides. In (iii) the relation holds when b,b,cb,b,c are the sides of the isosceles triangle and aa is its circumradius, matching the configuration on p. 571.

After the theorem the paper notes (p. 572) that the list includes the isosceles triangles with vertical angle θ=30∘\theta=30^\circ, 72∘72^\circ, 108∘108^\circ, 120∘120^\circ, 150∘150^\circ.

The introduction's partial list (p. 562) prints the relation of (vi) with a final term b2c2b^2c^2 where Theorem 9 and the configuration on p. 571 print b2c4b^2c^4.

Proof pointer

Pp. 570--572. Each item comes from a four-point configuration with at most three distances that the paper extends to five points meeting the hypothesis of Theorem 8: an arbitrary 30∘30^\circ or 150∘150^\circ triangle with its circumcenter, an isosceles triangle with its circumcenter, a parallelogram with a diagonal equal to a side, an isosceles trapezoid with one base equal to the legs, and two configurations of overlapping isosceles triangles.

Read depth. Claims checked: the statement was read clause by clause on p. 572 against the configurations on pp. 570--572; the extensions to five points were not checked.

Bears on

  • Problem 173: every triangle of the seven families has a monochromatic congruent copy in every two-coloring of the plane, so none of them is the exceptional triangle of any coloring. The families are thin, each fixing an angle or a polynomial relation among the sides, and the theorem says nothing about whether a coloring can miss two other triangles.