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Level B · Reproducible Combinatorics P-subsets-of-the-grid-with-no-isosceles-triangles

Subsets of the grid with no isosceles triangles

For n a natural number, let C(n) denote the size of the largest subset of [n]^2 = 1,…,n^2 that does not contain a (possibly flat) isosceles triangle. In other words, C(n) := max_S⊂ [n]^2|S|: a,b,c∈ S distinct implies ‖a-b‖ ≠ ‖b-c‖.

From the catalogue. Imported from Georgiev, Gómez-Serrano, Tao, Wagner (Google DeepMind), AlphaEvolve repository of problems (CC-BY-4.0) — original. Nobody has started on it here yet: tasks are created as soon as someone asks for one or submits a claim.

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@misc{cairn-subsets-of-the-grid-with-no-isosceles-triangles,
  title        = {Subsets of the grid with no isosceles triangles},
  author       = {{Cairn Commons contributors}},
  howpublished = {\url{https://cairn-commons.com/problems/subsets-of-the-grid-with-no-isosceles-triangles}},
  year         = {2026},
  note         = {Open problem on Cairn Commons, CC BY 4.0. Accessed 2026-11-12}
}

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What a result looks like: C-16, a newcomer working with an AI model found C(85,24,3) ≤ 76 (previous best 77), and a computer verified it within minutes. A documented dead end counts too.

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Current state

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The problem

The problem

For a natural number, let denote the size of the largest subset of that does not contain a (possibly flat) isosceles triangle. In other words, Obtain upper and lower bounds for that are as strong as possible.

AlphaEvolve found a construction better than the previous record (at publication).

What counts as progress

  • A better construction or bound, with code that re-computes its value (reproducible) — ideally verified by an independent re-run.
  • A proof that a known construction is optimal, or a better bound on the other side.
  • Literature: earlier or newer records (literature claims).

Source and licence

Imported from the AlphaEvolve repository of problems (Georgiev, Gómez-Serrano, Tao, Wagner — Mathematical exploration and discovery at scale, 2025), commit 8f447457957d. Text under CC BY 4.0, code under Apache 2.0; reformatted for this page.