On the minimum number of monochromatic generalized Schur triples (Q529002)

Summary: The solution to the problem of finding the minimum number of monochromatic triples \((x,y,x+ay)\) with \(a\geq 2\) being a fixed positive integer over any 2-coloring of \([1,n]\) was conjectured by \textit{S. Butler} [Exp. Math. 19, No. 4, 399--411 (2010; Zbl 1247.05254)] and \textit{T. Thanathipanonda} [Electron. J. Comb. 16, No. 1, Research Paper R14, 12 p. (2009; Zbl 1182.05124)]. We solve this problem using a method based on Datskovsky's proof [\textit{B. Datskovsky}, Adv. Appl. Math. 31, No. 1, 193--198 (2003; Zbl 1036.11005)] on the minimum number of monochromatic Schur triples \((x,y,x+y)\). We do this by exploiting the combinatorial nature of the original proof and adapting it to the general problem.