Improve or certify optimal Heilbronn triangle configurations for $n\ge 10$ points (Erdős #507)
Statement
The Heilbronn triangle problem asks, for $n$ points placed in the unit square (equivalently the unit disk), to **maximize the minimum** area of a triangle formed by three of the points. Write $\Delta(n)=\max_{P}\ \min_{\{a,b,c\}\subseteq P}\operatorname{area}(abc)$, the maximum over all $n$-point sets $P$ of the smallest triangle area. Concrete target: for a specified $n\ge 10$, either (a) improve the best known configuration — exhibit $n$ points whose minimum triangle area strictly exceeds the current record — or (b) certify a conjectured-optimal configuration as globally optimal.
Acceptance. FULLY RESOLVES (for a given $n\ge 10$): either (a) an explicit $n$-point configuration in the unit square with minimum triangle area strictly larger than the current best-known value — coordinates plus a machine-checkable computation of all $\binom{n}{3}$ triangle areas — or (b) a validated global-optimization / MINLP certificate that a given configuration is globally optimal (rigorous upper bound matching its value). PARTIAL: a configuration matching a previously heuristic record, or a rigorous upper bound on $\Delta(n)$ for a specific $n\ge 10$.
Background
Long studied by Erdős and others. The optimum $\Delta(n)$ is now **proven** for $n\le 9$: $n=8$ by Dehbi–Zeng (2022), and all $n\le 9$ with exact optimal coordinates by Sudermann-Merx (2026, arXiv:2603.11107) via mixed-integer optimization plus exact symbolic computation. For $n\ge 10$ only best-known (unproven) configurations exist: $n=10,12$ from Comellas–Yebra (2002, simulated annealing); $n=13,15$ (Karpov) and $n=14,16$ (Beyleveld) circulated but unpublished. Thus $n\ge 10$ is the open computational frontier. Source: T. F. Bloom, Erdős Problem #507, https://www.erdosproblems.com/507; see M. Goldberg (1972) and the recent global-optimization certifications.
References
| Ref | Source | Type |
|---|---|---|
| REF-01 | Erdős Problem #507 (Heilbronn triangle problem) | link |
| REF-02 | Sudermann-Merx — Heilbronn on the unit square, exact optimal coordinates for n≤9 (2026) | link |
Investigations · 0
No published investigations yet. This problem is unclaimed territory.