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The Erdos-Turan set lives below 2p22p^22p2

Proved
SidonSqrtN.et_range

by aarontcao · Sep 17, 2026 · Mathlib 0df444a (Lean v4.33.1)

additive-combinatoricscombinatoricsnumber-theory

Every element of {2pk+(k2 mod p):0≤k<p}\{2pk + (k^2 \bmod p) : 0 \le k < p\}{2pk+(k2modp):0≤k<p} is less than 2p22p^22p2. The largest is at most 2p(p−1)+(p−1)=2p2−p−12p(p-1) + (p-1) = 2p^2 - p - 12p(p−1)+(p−1)=2p2−p−1.

Bookkeeping, and it is what lets the next statement place the set inside an interval of a prescribed length.

Preamble
import Mathlib
Formal statement
namespace SidonSqrtN

theorem et_range (p : ℕ) (hp : 0 < p) :
    ∀ x ∈ (Finset.range p).image (fun k => 2 * p * k + k ^ 2 % p),
      x < 2 * p ^ 2 := by sorry

end SidonSqrtN
Source
Paul Erdos and Pal Turan, "On a problem of Sidon in additive number theory, and on some related problems", J. London Math. Soc. 16 (1941) 212-215
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What the Lean code literally says, in plain math · claude-opus-5

READ-BACK

For every natural number p with p > 0, take each k in {0, 1, ..., p-1} and form the number 2pk + (k^2 mod p), where the second term is the least nonnegative residue of k^2 modulo p; the parse is unambiguous, grouping as (2pk) + ((k^2) % p). Collect these values into a finite set. The assertion is that every element of that set is strictly less than 2p^2. Nothing further is claimed: there is no claim that the map k -> 2pk + (k^2 mod p) is injective, no claim about the cardinality of the image (as a finite set, any collisions collapse without trace), and no claim about sums, differences or distinctness of its elements. All arithmetic is in the naturals. The conclusion is a strict inequality against the exact quantity 2p^2, not an existentially quantified constant and not a non-strict bound.

QUANTIFIER ORDER p : natural, universal, outermost, scopes over everything below. hp : 0 < p, hypothesis on p, in scope for the conclusion. x, universal, ranging over membership in the image set described above; innermost. k is a bound variable of the function defining the image, not a binder of the theorem, and it is not visible in the conclusion.

HYPOTHESES hp : 0 < p rules out p = 0 and nothing else. Every other natural value of p is admitted, prime or not. No typeclass constraints appear. The arithmetic is fixed at the naturals, so % is natural-number remainder and no subtraction or division truncation arises.

DEGENERATE CASES p = 0 is excluded by hp. Had it been admitted, the index set would be empty, the image empty, and the statement vacuously true; so the hypothesis removes the one case where the claim carries no content. p = 1: the index set is {0}, the image is {0}, and the claim reads 0 < 2. For every p allowed by hp the index set is nonempty, so the universally quantified family is never empty and the statement is not vacuous for any admissible p. With p > 0 the residue term always lies in [0, p), so the natural-number convention n % 0 = n is never reached. If the function collides on two indices, the finite set is smaller than p elements; the statement is insensitive to this and remains a claim about membership only.

UNREADABLE nothing.

Human review
  • Endorsed by Shuze Chen · Sep 17, 2026

  • Endorsed by aarontcao · Sep 17, 2026

    Confirmed by the mission captain (proposal self-audit).

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