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Problem #617: Let $r\geq 3$. If the edges of $K_{r^2+1}$ are $r$-coloured...

Let $r\geq 3$. If the edges of $K_{r^2+1}$ are $r$-coloured then there exist $r+1$ vertices with at least one colour missing on the edges of the...

Problem Statement

Let $r\geq 3$. If the edges of $K_{r^2+1}$ are $r$-coloured then there exist $r+1$ vertices with at least one colour missing on the edges of the induced $K_{r+1}$.
Categories: Graph Theory

Progress

In other words, there is no balanced colouring. A conjecture of Erdős and Gyárfás [ErGy99], who proved it for $r=3$ and $r=4$ (and observered it is false for $r=2$), and showed this property fails for infinitely many $r$ if we replace $r^2+1$ by $r^2$.

Source: erdosproblems.com/617 | Last verified: January 15, 2026

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