Sparse distance sets in the triangular lattice (Q396964)

Summary: A planar point-set \(X\) in Euclidean plane is called a \(k\)-distance set if there are exactly \(k\) different distances among the points in \(X\). The function \(g(k)\) denotes the maximum number of points in the Euclidean plane that is a \(k\)-distance set. \textit{P. Erdős} and \textit{P. Fishburn} [Discrete Math. 160, No. 1--3, 115--125 (1996; Zbl 0868.52007)] conjectured that for \(k\geq 7\), every \(g(k)\)-point subset of the plane that determines \(k\) different distances is similar to a subset of the triangular lattice. We believe that if \(g(k)\) is an increasing function of \(k\), then the conjecture is false. We present data that supports our claim and a method of construction that unifies known optimal point configurations for \(k\geq 3\).