English

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

Number Theory 2025-03-03 v3 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 aijAa_{i_j} \in A for all j=1,,hj = 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. One has a1(h)=1a_1(h) = 1 and a2(h)=h+1a_2(h) = h+1 for all hh. Elementary proofs are given that a3(h)=h2+h+1a_3(h) = h^2+h+1 for all h1h \geq 1 and that ak(h)i=0k1hia_k(h) \leq \sum_{i=0}^{k-1} h^i for all h1h \geq 1 and k1k \geq 1.

Cite

@article{arxiv.2310.14426,
  title  = {The third positive element in the greedy $B_h$-set},
  author = {Melvyn B. Nathanson},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2310.14426},
  year   = {2025}
}

Comments

5 pages; minor changes

R2 v1 2026-06-28T12:58:14.354Z