Minimum Number of Colours to Avoid <i>k</i>-Term Monochromatic Arithmetic Progressions

Abstract

By recalling van der Waerden theorem, there exists a least a positive integer w=w(k;r) such that for any n≥w, every r-colouring of [1,n] admits a monochromatic k-term arithmetic progression. Let k≥2 and rk(n) denote the minimum number of colour required so that there exists a rk(n)-colouring of [1,n] that avoids any monochromatic k-term arithmetic progression. In this paper, we give necessary and sufficient conditions for rk(n+1)=rk(n). We also show that rk(n)=2 for all k≤n≤2(k−1)2 and give an upper bound for rp(pm) for any prime p≥3 and integer m≥2.

Keywords

• van der Waerden theorem
• monochromatic arithmetic progression