Rational distances with rational angles

DOI10.1112/S0025579311001847zbMATH Open1252.52014arXiv1008.3671OpenAlexW3103075167MaRDI QIDQ2902667FDOQ2902667

Authors: Ryan Schwartz, Frank de Zeeuw, József Solymosi 

Publication date: 22 August 2012

Published in: Mathematika (Search for Journal in Brave)

Abstract: In 1946 ErdH os asked for the maximum number of unit distances, $u(n)$, among $n$ points in the plane. He showed that $u(n)>n^{1+c/loglogn}$ and conjectured that this was the true magnitude. The best known upper bound is $u(n)<c{n}^{4/3}$, due to Spencer, Szemer'edi and Trotter. We show that the upper bound $n^{1+6/sqrtlogn}$ holds if we only consider unit distances with rational angle, by which we mean that the line through the pair of points makes a rational angle in degrees with the x-axis. Using an algebraic theorem of Mann we get a uniform bound on the number of paths between two fixed vertices in the unit distance graph, giving a contradiction if there are too many unit distances with rational angle. This bound holds if we consider rational distances instead of unit distances as long as there are no three points on a line. A superlinear lower bound is given, due to ErdH os and Purdy. If we have at most $n^{alpha}$ points on a line then we get the bound $O(n^{1+alpha})$ or $n^{1+alpha+6/sqrtlogn}$ for the number of rational distances with rational angle depending on whether $alphage1/2$ or $alpha<1/2$ respectively.

Full work available at URL: https://arxiv.org/abs/1008.3671

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zbMATH Keywords

rational distancesmaximum number of unit distancesunit distances with rational angle

Mathematics Subject Classification ID

Erd?s problems and related topics of discrete geometry (52C10) Planar arrangements of lines and pseudolines (aspects of discrete geometry) (52C30)

Cites Work

• Crossing Numbers and Hard Erdős Problems in Discrete Geometry
• On linear relations between roots of unity
• On Sets of Distances of n Points
• The number of unit distances is almost linear for most norms

Cited In (6)

• On sets with small additive doubling in product sets
• Erdős’s Unit Distance Problem
• Using the subspace theorem to bound unit distances
• The number of unit distances is almost linear for most norms
• Additive structure in convex translates
• Open sets avoiding integral distances

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