
So many distances!
Here are two problems about distances that interested Paul Erdős. The first studies the distances defined by n points. The second looks for sets of points that define only integer distances.


Here are two problems about distances that interested Paul Erdős. The first studies the distances defined by n points. The second looks for sets of points that define only integer distances.


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The discovery that so simple a figure as a square cannot have both sides and diagonals of integer length troubled several great scholars of antiquity. Can polygons with this property nevertheless be found? This seemingly innocent question continues to open up new avenues of research today.

Long after the 19th century, the golden age of geometry, Erdős took an interest in problems whose statements could appear in an elementary textbook. Among these are two jewels of elegance: the Erdős–Mordell theorem, which involves nothing more than a triangle, and the Erdős–de Bruijn theorem, which features only points defining lines.

The Greek mathematician, geographer and astronomer Claudius Ptolemy discovered a theorem about quadrilaterals inscribed in a circle in the second century CE. His result is certainly far less famous than that of his compatriot Pythagoras, but it is every bit as beautiful.

Three sides completely determine a triangle, up to orientation. With four sides, infinitely many polygons can be constructed. Nevertheless, many general properties can be established for arbitrary convex quadrilaterals.
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