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Research notes on every problem, and a library of the papers behind them. Built from the open erdos repository.

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Claim. For every N≥4N\ge4, with nn the integer such that 2n−1<N≤2n2^{n-1}<N\le2^n,

αN=π(1−1n)for 2n−1+2n−3<N≤2n,\alpha_N=\pi\Bigl(1-\frac1n\Bigr) \quad\text{for }2^{n-1}+2^{n-3}<N\le2^n, αN=π(1−22n−1)for 2n−1<N≤2n−1+2n−3.\alpha_N=\pi\Bigl(1-\frac2{2n-1}\Bigr) \quad\text{for }2^{n-1}<N\le2^{n-1}+2^{n-3}.

Here αN\alpha_N is the supremum of the angles α\alpha such that every set of NN points in the plane has three distinct points determining an angle of at least α\alpha, the quantity the problem asks to determine. The formula is taken from the zbMATH record of the 1993 note, reindexed from the record's convention 2n<N≤2n+12^n<N\le2^{n+1} to the range 2n−1<N≤2n2^{n-1}<N\le2^n used here. The record prints the two branches with no lower limit on NN, but the formula holds only from N=4N=4 on: at N=3N=3 its first branch would give π/2\pi/2, while α3=π/3\alpha_3=\pi/3, the equilateral triangle, as Erdős and Szekeres record. From N=4N=4 on it reproduces their values α4=π/2\alpha_4=\pi/2, α5=3π/5\alpha_5=3\pi/5 and α6=α7=α8=2π/3\alpha_6=\alpha_7=\alpha_8=2\pi/3. The site's commentary prints 1/(2n−1)1/(2n-1) in place of 2/(2n−1)2/(2n-1) on the second branch, which is inconsistent with α5=3π/5≤α8=2π/3\alpha_5=3\pi/5\le\alpha_8=2\pi/3 (with 1/(2n−1)1/(2n-1) it would give α5=4π/5\alpha_5=4\pi/5).

History. The problem goes back to Blumenthal. Szekeres (1941) proved α2n≤π(1−1/n)\alpha_{2^n}\le\pi(1-1/n) and the lower bound α2n+1>π(1−1/n+1/(n(2n+1)2))\alpha_{2^n+1}>\pi(1-1/n+1/(n(2^n+1)^2)). Erdős and Szekeres (1960) proved α2n=α2n−1=π(1−1/n)\alpha_{2^n}=\alpha_{2^n-1}=\pi(1-1/n) for n≥3n\ge3, recorded on their claim page (their print states the 2n−12^n-1 case for n≥2n\ge2, an error, since α3=π/3\alpha_3=\pi/3), and suggested that αN=π(1−1/n)\alpha_N=\pi(1-1/n) might hold throughout 2n−1<N<2n2^{n-1}<N<2^n for n≥4n\ge4. Sendov refuted that suggestion in a first note, On a conjecture of P. Erdős and G. Szekeres, C. R. Acad. Bulgare Sci. 45 (1992), no. 12, 17–20, and then determined every value in the paper this page records. The values at powers of two agree with Erdős and Szekeres, and the second branch of the formula is where the suggestion fails. Sendov's full paper, Minimax of the angles in a plane configuration of points, Acta Math. Hungar. 69 (1995), no. 1–2, 27–46, proves the same theorem; its zbMATH record (Zbl 0853.52009) prints the formula with n≥2n\ge2 in the record's convention, that is from N=5N=5 on, and takes α3\alpha_3, α4\alpha_4 and α5\alpha_5 as known.

Acceptance. The result is refereed twice: the 1993 note, Bl. Sendov, Angles in a plane configuration of points, C. R. Acad. Bulgare Sci. 46 (1993), no. 5, 27–30, cited as its zbMATH record gives it, and the full publication with proofs, Bl. Sendov, Minimax of the angles in a plane configuration of points, Acta Mathematica Hungarica 69 (1995), no. 1–2, 27–46, the paper link above. The curator of erdosproblems.com, Thomas Bloom, labels the problem solved and credits the 1993 note with the definitive answer. Neither Comptes rendus note is available online; the links above are the zbMATH record of the 1993 note, the 1995 paper's DOI and the site's page, and the page is dated to the 1993 note's publication year, the record giving no day. No check of the proof beyond the journals' refereeing and the curator's credit is recorded.