Problem Statement
Let $g(k)$ be the smallest integer (if any such exists) such that any $g(k)$ points in $\mathbb{R}^2$ contains an empty convex $k$-gon (i.e. with no point in the interior). Does $g(k)$ exist? If so, estimate $g(k)$.
Categories:
Geometry Convex
Progress
A variant of the 'happy ending' problem [107], which asks for the same without the 'no point in the interior' restriction. Erdős observed $g(4)=5$ (as with the happy ending problem) but Harborth [Ha78] showed $g(5)=10$. Nicolás [Ni07] and Gerken [Ge08] independently showed that $g(6)$ exists. Horton [Ho83] showed that $g(n)$ does not exist for $n\geq 7$.Heule and Scheucher [HeSc24] have proved that $g(6)=30$.
This problem is #2 in Ramsey Theory in the graphs problem collection.
Source: erdosproblems.com/216 | Last verified: January 14, 2026