Erdős Problem #866

Partial progress by Wouter van Doorn with Aristotle and GPT-5.3 Instant (4 May 2026): partial result (Lean).

Problem
Erdős problem #866 (number theory, additive combinatorics); current status: open
Credit
Wouter van Doorn with Aristotle and GPT-5.3 Instant · AI working with humans
Checked
Lean formalizationListed in Tao's wiki
Timeline
First AI contribution 2026-05-04 · wiki data as of 2026-06-30
Sources
Problem page (erdosproblems.com)Tao's AI-contributions wiki
PARTIALPer Tao's AI-contributions wiki

The problem

Let k≥3k\geq 3 and gk(N)g_k(N) be minimal such that if A⊆{1,…,2N}A\subseteq \{1,\ldots,2N\} has ∣A∣≥N+gk(N)\lvert A\rvert \geq N+g_k(N) then there exist integers b1,…,bkb_1,\ldots,b_k such that all (k2)\binom{k}{2} pairwise sums are in AA (but the bib_i themselves need not be in AA).

Estimate gk(N)g_k(N).

Statement quoted from erdosproblems.com/866, maintained by Thomas Bloom. Original source: [CES75][Er92c,p.41]. Current status there: open.

AI contributions

As recorded in Terence Tao's wiki AI contributions to Erdős problems (data as of 30 Jun 2026). 🟢 full, 🟡 partial, ⚪ unverified, 🔴 incorrect.

Date Kind AI systems Humans Outcome
4 May, 2026 AI working with humans Aristotle, GPT-5.3 Instant Wouter van Doorn 🟡 Partial result (Lean)

Caveats

The wiki's classifications are provisional and are not a benchmark. Many Erdős problems have never had a thorough literature review, so a result that looks new may later turn out to be known; some problems were also stated ambiguously or incorrectly. See the problem page for the full discussion.

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