On the monochromatic Schur triples type problem (Q1010918)

Summary: We discuss a problem posed by Ronald Graham [see \textit{R.L. Graham}, \textit{V. Rödl}, and \textit{A. Rucinński}, ``On Schur properties of random subsets of integers'', J. Number Theory 61. No.\,2, 388--408 (1996; Zbl 0880.05081)] about the minimum number, over all 2-colorings of \([1,n]\), of monochromatic \(\{x,y, x+ay\}\) triples for \(a \geq 1\). We give a new proof of the original case of \(a=1\). We show that the minimum number of such triples is at most \(\frac{n^2}{2a(a^2+2a+3)} + O(n)\) when \(a \geq 2\). We also find a new upper bound for the minimum number, over all \(r\)-colorings of \([1,n]\), of monochromatic Schur triples, for \(r \geq 3\).