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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. P. Erdős, On a problem of Grünbaum, Canad. Math. Bull. 15 (1972), no. 1, 23--25, proves that there is an absolute constant c1c_1 such that every integer mm with c1n3/2<m≤(n2)c_1n^{3/2}<m\le\binom n2, other than (n2)−1\binom n2-1 and (n2)−3\binom n2-3, is the number of lines determined by some nn points in the plane (its Theorem, p. 23). The two exceptions never occur; this is Grünbaum's observation, which the paper proves. The range is best possible up to the constant: for some c2>0c_2>0 and all large nn, some m>c2n3/2m>c_2n^{3/2} is not attained (p. 23, shown on p. 24 from the Kelly--Moser bound). The construction behind the Theorem places the points in general position except for a few collinear groups, whose sizes are chosen by a lemma on representing every t<(n2)−c1n3/2t<\binom n2-c_1n^{3/2}, t≠1,3t\ne1,3, as a sum of terms (ni2)−1\binom{n_i}2-1.

Covers. For all sufficiently large nn, the values of f(n)f(n) above c1n3/2c_1n^{3/2}: every integer in that range but (n2)−1\binom n2-1 and (n2)−3\binom n2-3. Not covered: the values up to c1n3/2c_1n^{3/2}, which Salamon and Erdős determine. They also show that the continuum of attained values reaches down to about n3/2n^{3/2}, the best constant c=1c=1.

Depends on. Nothing in this wiki; the proof is the paper's own, with the Kelly--Moser theorem as its external input.

Acceptance. Refereed: the paper appeared in Canad. Math. Bull. 15 (1972), no. 1, 23--25, DOI 10.4153/CMB-1972-005-4, received 17 February 1971; the publisher's record dates the issue March 1972, the page's date. The second link is the copy on the Rényi Institute's Erdős page. Reviewed: the site's curator, T. F. Bloom, labels the problem SOLVED and credits Erdős with this range in its commentary (problem page accessed 2026-09-04). No independent proof review and no formalization are recorded.