Erdős Problem 331
Erdős Problem 331
Inferred from the community field; finer classification has not been reviewed.
Problem statement
erdos_331.variants.ruzsa
Ruzsa suggests that a non-trivial variant of this problem arises if one imposes the stronger condition that for some constant , and similarly for .
Lean 4
Formal statement
Lean 4/-
Copyright 2026 The Formal Conjectures Authors.
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you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
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-/
import FormalConjecturesUtil
/-!
# Erdős Problem 331
*Reference:* [erdosproblems.com/331](https://www.erdosproblems.com/331)
-/
open Nat Filter
open scoped Asymptotics
namespace Erdos331
open scoped Classical in
/--
Let $A,B\subseteq \mathbb{N}$ such that for all large $N$$$\lvert A\cap \{1,\ldots,N\}\rvert \gg
N^{1/2}$$and$$\lvert B\cap \{1,\ldots,N\}\rvert \gg N^{1/2}.$$
Is it true that there are infinitely many solutions to $a_1-a_2=b_1-b_2\neq 0$ with $a_1,a_2\in A$
and $b_1,b_2\in B$?
Ruzsa has observed that there is a simple counterexample: take $A$ to be the set of numbers whose
binary representation has only non-zero digits in even places, and $B$ similarly but with non-zero
digits only in odd places. It is easy to see $A$ and $B$ both grow like $\gg N^{1/2}$ and yet for
any $n\geq 1$ there is exactly one solution to $n=a+b$ with $a\in A$ and $b\in B$.
This was formalized in Lean by van Doorn using Aristotle.
-/
@[category research solved, AMS 11, formal_proof using lean4 at "https://github.com/Woett/Lean-files/blob/d30552f64c55686d40b928a0a3b8e2396357a4ee/ErdosProblem331.lean"]
theorem erdos_331 :
answer(False) ↔
∀ A B : Set ℕ,
(fun (n : ℕ) ↦ (n : ℝ) ^ (1 / 2 : ℝ)) =O[atTop] (fun (n : ℕ) ↦ (count (· ∈ A) n : ℝ)) →
(fun (n : ℕ) ↦ (n : ℝ) ^ (1 / 2 : ℝ)) =O[atTop] (fun (n : ℕ) ↦ (count (· ∈ B) n : ℝ)) →
{ s : ℕ × ℕ × ℕ × ℕ | let ⟨a₁, a₂, b₁, b₂⟩ := s
a₁ ∈ A ∧ a₂ ∈ A ∧ b₁ ∈ B ∧ b₂ ∈ B ∧
a₁ ≠ a₂ ∧ a₁ + b₂ = a₂ + b₁ }.Infinite := by
sorry
open scoped Classical in
/--
Ruzsa suggests that a non-trivial variant of this problem arises if one imposes the stronger
condition that $|A \cap \{1,\dots,N\}| \sim c_A N^{1/2}$ for some constant $c_A>0$, and similarly
for $B$.
-/
@[category research open, AMS 11]
theorem erdos_331.variants.ruzsa :
answer(sorry) ↔
∀ A B : Set ℕ,
(∃ c_A > 0, (fun (n : ℕ) ↦ (count (· ∈ A) n : ℝ)) ~[atTop] (fun (n : ℕ) ↦ c_A * (n : ℝ) ^ (1 / 2 : ℝ))) →
(∃ c_B > 0, (fun (n : ℕ) ↦ (count (· ∈ B) n : ℝ)) ~[atTop] (fun (n : ℕ) ↦ c_B * (n : ℝ) ^ (1 / 2 : ℝ))) →
{ s : ℕ × ℕ × ℕ × ℕ | let ⟨a₁, a₂, b₁, b₂⟩ := s
a₁ ∈ A ∧ a₂ ∈ A ∧ b₁ ∈ B ∧ b₂ ∈ B ∧
a₁ ≠ a₂ ∧ a₁ + b₂ = a₂ + b₁ }.Infinite := by
sorry
end Erdos331
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Proofs & verification
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Background
Source snapshot inspected on 10 September 2026. Subsequent research status and the accuracy of source formalizations have not been independently certified.
Fixed commit b82b08faa9006484021c12005ab41287fb2ffb69. This file contains 1 source-labeled research-open declarations. Other declarations in the attached file can be definitions, solved results or tests. The file is preserved as source material; it has not been compiled or proved by this import.
Copyright The Formal Conjectures Authors. Code: Apache-2.0; other original material: CC BY 4.0. Third-party sources retain their own licenses. Original source files and notices preserved.
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