English

The fourth positive element in the greedy $B_h$-set

Number Theory 2024-09-26 v1 Combinatorics

Abstract

For h1h \geq 1, a BhB_h-set is a set of integers such that every integer nn has at most one representation in the form n=ai1++aihn = a_{i_1} + \cdots + a_{i_h}, where airAa_{i_r} \in A for all r=1,,hr = 1,\ldots, h and ai1aiha_{i_1} \leq \ldots \leq a_{i_h}. The greedy BhB_h-set is the infinite set of nonnegative integers {a0(h),a1(h),a2(h),}\{a_0(h), a_1(h), a_2(h), \ldots \} constructed as follows: If a0(h)=0a_0(h) = 0 and {a0(h),a1(h),a2(h),,ak(h)}\{a_0(h), a_1(h), a_2(h), \ldots, a_k(h) \} is a BhB_h-set, then ak+1(h)a_{k+1}(h) is the least positive integer such that {a0(h),a1(h),a2(h),,ak(h),ak+1(h)}\{a_0(h), a_1(h), a_2(h), \ldots, a_k(h), a_{k+1}(h) \} is a BhB_h-set. Then a1(h)=1a_1(h) = 1, a2(h)=h+1a_2(h) = h+1, and a3(h)=h2+h+1a_3(h) = h^2+h+1 for all hh. This paper proves that a4(h)a_4(h), the fourth term of the greedy BhB_h-set is (h3+3h2+3h+1)/2\left( h^3 + 3h^2 + 3h + 1\right) /2 if hh is odd and (h3+2h2+3h+2)/2\left( h^3 + 2h^2 + 3h + 2\right) /2 if hh is even.

Cite

@article{arxiv.2311.14021,
  title  = {The fourth positive element in the greedy $B_h$-set},
  author = {Melvyn B. Nathanson and Kevin O'Bryant},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2311.14021},
  year   = {2024}
}

Comments

7 pages

R2 v1 2026-06-28T13:29:31.786Z