Proving it is impossible; on Erd\H{o}s problem $\# 278$
Combinatorics
2025-08-26 v1
Abstract
Erd\H{o}s asked many mathematical questions. Some lead to exciting research, others turned out to be easily solved. In this article, we provide evidence that one of his questions, Erd\H{o}s problem \#278 , has no general answer. We do so by relating it with a hard knapsack problem instance,and by demonstrating that different, non-equivalent formulas arise depending on the structure of the moduli.
Cite
@article{arxiv.2508.18270,
title = {Proving it is impossible; on Erd\H{o}s problem $\# 278$},
author = {Stijn Cambie},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2508.18270},
year = {2025}
}
Comments
3 pages Comments/ opinion welcome