On Rado numbers for \(\Sigma^{m-1}_{i=1} a_{i}x_{i}= x_{m}\) (Q2490019)

Let \(k\) be a positive integer. A \(k\)-colouring of the set \([1,\dots, n]\) is a function \(\Delta:[1,\dots,n]\to[0,\dots,k-1]\). Let \(a_1,\dots, a_{m-1}\) be natural numbers and let \(n=R(a_1,\dots,a_{m-1})\) be the least integer such that for every 2-colouring of the set \([1,\dots,n]\) there exists a monochromatic solution to \(a_1x_1+\cdots+a_{m-1}x_{m-1}= x_m\), that is, a solution such that \(\Delta(x_1)=\cdots=\Delta(x_{m-1})\). We notice that \(R(a_1,\dots,a_{m-1})\) is the well-known Schur number when \(m=3\) and \(a_i=1\) for all \(i\). In this paper, the authors show that \(R(a_1,\dots,a_{m-1})=2b^2+9b+8\) where \(b=a_1+\cdots +a_{m-1}-t\) with \(t=\min\{a_1,\dots,a_{m-i}\}=2\). A lower bound for \(R(a_1,\dots,a_{m-1})\) for all values of \(t\) is also found.