English

On balancing consecutive slices of cake

Combinatorics 2026-07-01 v1

Abstract

Let a=(ai)i=1\boldsymbol{a}=(a_i)_{i=1}^\infty be an infinite sequence of points on a circle. The first nn of these points cuts the circle into nn pieces. For any given rr, let μnr(a)\mu^r_n(\boldsymbol{a}) be the ratio between the maximum and minimum sizes of rr consecutive pieces. Addressing a question of De Bruijn and Erd\H{o}s, we define a family of sequences for which the asymptotic least upper bound of this ratio, μr(a)  =  lim supnμnr(a), \mu_r(\boldsymbol{a}) \;=\; \limsup_{n\to\infty}\mu^r_n(\boldsymbol{a}) , can easily be calculated. Hence, for small rr, we present upper bounds on infμr(a)\inf\mu_r(\boldsymbol{a}).

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2607.00775,
  title  = {On balancing consecutive slices of cake},
  author = {David Bevan},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2607.00775},
  year   = {2026}
}

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8 pages