- Kobon triangle problem
The Kobon triangle problem is an unsolved problem in
combinatorial geometry first stated byKobon Fujimura . The problem asks for the largest number "N"("k") of nonoverlapping triangles that can be produced by "k" straight line segments.Saburo Tamura proved that the largest integer not exceeding "k"("k" − 2)/3 provides an upper bound on the maximal number of nonoverlapping triangles realizable by "k" lines. [MathWorld|urlname=KobonTriangle|title=Kobon Triangle] This sequence is captured in theOn-Line Encyclopedia of Integer Sequences as OEIS2C|id=A032765. In2007 , a tighter upper bound was found by Johannes Bader and Gilles Clément, by proving that Tamura's upper bound couldn't be reached for any "k" congruent to 0 or 2 (mod 6). [ [http://www.tik.ee.ethz.ch/sop/publicationListFiles/cb2007a.pdf G. Clément and J. Bader. Tighter Upper Bound for the Number of Kobon Triangles. Draft Version, 2007.] ] The maximum number of triangles is therefore one less than Tamura's bound in these cases. Perfect solutions (Kobon triangle solutions yielding the maximum number of triangles) are known for "k" = 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 13, 15 and 17. [ [http://www.maa.org/editorial/mathgames/mathgames_02_08_06.html Ed Pegg Jr. on Math Games] ] For other "k"-values the Kobon triangle solution numbers are not known. For "k" = 10, 11 and 12, the best solutions known reach a number of triangles one less than the upper bound.The known Kobon triangle solution numbers are captured in the
On-Line Encyclopedia of Integer Sequences as OEIS2C|id=A006066.Examples
References
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.