English

Rainbow numbers for $x_1+x_2=kx_3$ in $\mathbb{Z}_n$

Combinatorics 2018-09-13 v1

Abstract

In this work, we investigate the fewest number of colors needed to guarantee a rainbow solution to the equation x1+x2=kx3x_1 + x_2 = k x_3 in Zn\mathbb{Z}_n. This value is called the Rainbow number and is denoted by rb(Zn,k)rb(\mathbb{Z}_n, k) for positive integer values of nn and kk. We find that rb(Zp,1)=4rb(\mathbb{Z}_p, 1) = 4 for all primes greater than 33 and that rb(Zn,1)rb(\mathbb{Z}_n, 1) can be deterimined from the prime factorization of nn. Furthermore, when kk is prime, rb(Zn,k)rb(\mathbb{Z}_n, k) can be determined from the prime factorization of nn.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.1809.04576,
  title  = {Rainbow numbers for $x_1+x_2=kx_3$ in $\mathbb{Z}_n$},
  author = {Erin Bevilacqua and Samuel King and Jürgen Kritschgau and Michael Tait and Suzannah Tebon and Michael Young},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1809.04576},
  year   = {2018}
}