Don Coppersmith, Alan J. Hoffman
Linear Algebra and Its Applications
Paul Erdös asked how dense a sequence of integers, none of which is the sum of a consecutive subsequence, can be. In other words, let 〈x1,...,xm〉 be an increasing sequence of integers in [1,n], such that there do not exist i, j, and k, with 0 < i < j < k ≤ m and xi + xi+1 + ⋯ + xj = xk. Erdös asked if m > n/2 + 1 is possible. A simple argument shows that m > 2n/3 + O(log n) is impossible. Freud recently constructed a sequence with m = 19n/36. This note constructs a sequence with m = 13n/24 - O(1) and extends the simple upper bound to show that m > (2/3 - ∈)n + (log n) is impossible for ∈= 1/512.
Don Coppersmith, Alan J. Hoffman
Linear Algebra and Its Applications
Don Coppersmith, David Gamarnik, et al.
SODA 2002
Don Coppersmith, Michael Elkin
SODA 2005
Don Coppersmith, Chai Wah Wu
Statistics and Probability Letters