Happy Ending problem

E386030

The Happy Ending problem is a famous combinatorial geometry question that investigates the minimum number of points in general position in the plane needed to guarantee the existence of a convex polygon with a given number of vertices.

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Label Occurrences
Happy Ending problem canonical 2

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Statements (48)

Predicate Object
instanceOf mathematical problem ⓘ
problem in combinatorial geometry ⓘ
problem in discrete geometry ⓘ
asksFor minimum number of points in the plane in general position that guarantees a convex polygon with a given number of vertices ⓘ
assumes no three points are collinear ⓘ
points are in general position ⓘ
basedOn observation by Esther Klein ⓘ
concerns convex n-gons ⓘ
existence of convex polygons ⓘ
points in the Euclidean plane ⓘ
conjecture f(n) = 2^{n-2} + 1 for all n ≥ 3 ⓘ
coreQuestion for each integer n ≥ 3, determine the smallest number f(n) such that any set of f(n) points in general position in the plane contains n points in convex position ⓘ
difficulty considered hard for large n ⓘ
field Ramsey theory ⓘ
combinatorial geometry ⓘ
discrete geometry ⓘ
firstPublishedIn 1935 ⓘ
hasLowerBound f(n) ≥ 2^{n-2} + 1 ⓘ
hasUpperBound f(n) ≤ {2n-4 \choose n-2} + 1 (classical Erdős–Szekeres bound) ⓘ
hasVariant higher-dimensional versions asking for convex polytopes ⓘ
problems with additional constraints on point sets ⓘ
improvedUpperBound f(n) ≤ 2^{n+o(n)} ⓘ
influenced development of combinatorial geometry ⓘ
research in geometric Ramsey theory ⓘ
introducedBy George Szekeres ⓘ
Paul Erdős ⓘ
linked to: Pál Erdős
involvesConcept convex hull ⓘ
extreme points ⓘ
general position ⓘ
isAlsoKnownAs Erdős–Szekeres problem ⓘ
knownResult f(3) = 3 ⓘ
f(4) = 5 ⓘ
f(5) = 9 ⓘ
f(6) = 17 ⓘ
namedAfter George Szekeres ⓘ
Paul Erdős ⓘ
linked to: Pál Erdős
notation f(n) ⓘ
originStory name comes from the fact that George Szekeres and Esther Klein later married ⓘ
relatedPerson Esther Klein ⓘ
relatedTo Erdős–Szekeres numbers ⓘ
Erdős–Szekeres theorem ⓘ
Ramsey-type problems ⓘ
convex position in the plane ⓘ
status open for general n ⓘ
partially solved ⓘ
typicalExampleOf classical problem in discrete geometry ⓘ
classical problem in extremal combinatorics ⓘ
yearProposed 1933 ⓘ

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Referenced by (2)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

George Szekeres → notableWork → Happy Ending problem ⓘ
Esther Szekeres → associatedWith → Happy Ending problem ⓘ