English

On monochromatic solutions to linear equations over the integers

Combinatorics 2024-10-29 v2

Abstract

We study the number of monochromatic solutions to linear equations in a 22-coloring of {1,,n}\{1,\ldots,n\}. We show that any nontrivial linear equation has a constant fraction of solutions that are monochromatic in any 22-coloring of {1,,n}\{1,\ldots,n\}. We further study commonness of four-term equations and disprove a conjecture of Costello and Elvin by showing that, unlike over Fp\mathbb{F}_p, the four-term equation x1+2x2x32x4=0x_1 + 2x_2 - x_3 - 2x_4 = 0 is uncommon over {1,,n}\{1,\ldots,n\}.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2410.13758,
  title  = {On monochromatic solutions to linear equations over the integers},
  author = {Dingding Dong and Nitya Mani and Huy Tuan Pham and Jonathan Tidor},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2410.13758},
  year   = {2024}
}

Comments

12 pages

R2 v1 2026-06-28T19:26:11.582Z