FormalConjectures/Wikipedia/BorsukConjecture.lean
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14 declarations, 12 contain sorry, 0 declared as axioms
Borsuk's conjecture
In 1933 Karol Borsuk [Bo33] asked whether every bounded subset of $\mathbb{R}^n$ can be partitioned into $n + 1$ sets, each of strictly smaller diameter. The hypothesis that the answer is positive became known as Borsuk's conjecture.
The conjecture is true for $n = 2$ [Bo33] and $n = 3$ [Pe47, Eg55]. It is false in general: Kahn and Kalai [KK93] disproved it for $n = 1325$ and for all $n > 2014$. Bondarenko [Bo14] gave a counterexample in dimension $65$, and Jenrich and Brouwer [JB14] one in dimension $64$, the smallest refereed counterexample. In 2026 Grinsztajn [Gr26] posted a 321-point counterexample in dimension $63$, obtained with AI assistance and verified by exact computation; the same configuration was found independently by Konz and by Ji [Ji26]. The cases $4 \leq n \leq 62$ are open. In dimension $4$, every bounded set can be partitioned into $9$ parts of smaller diameter [La82], and a 2026 preprint reduces this to $8$ parts [TV26].
Erdős Problem 505 (FormalConjectures.ErdosProblems.«505») points to this file.
References:
- Wikipedia
- [Bo33] Borsuk, K. (1933). Drei Sätze über die n-dimensionale euklidische Sphäre. Fundamenta Mathematicae 20, 177–190. https://doi.org/10.4064/fm-20-1-177-190
- [Pe47] Perkal, J. (1947). Sur la subdivision des ensembles en parties de diamètre inférieur. Colloquium Mathematicum 2, 45.
- [Eg55] Eggleston, H. G. (1955). Covering a three-dimensional set with sets of smaller diameter. Journal of the London Mathematical Society 30, 11–24. https://doi.org/10.1112/jlms/s1-30.1.11
- [La82] Lassak, M. (1982). An estimate concerning Borsuk partition problem. Bulletin of the Polish Academy of Sciences, Mathematics 30(9–10), 449–451.
- [KK93] Kahn, J., Kalai, G. (1993). A counterexample to Borsuk's conjecture. Bulletin of the American Mathematical Society 29(1), 60–62. https://arxiv.org/abs/math/9307229
- [Bo14] Bondarenko, A. (2014). On Borsuk's conjecture for two-distance sets. Discrete & Computational Geometry 51(3), 509–515. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00454-014-9579-4
- [JB14] Jenrich, T., Brouwer, A. E. (2014). A 64-dimensional counterexample to Borsuk's conjecture. Electronic Journal of Combinatorics 21(4), P4.29. https://doi.org/10.37236/4069
- [Gr26] Grinsztajn, M. (2026). A 63-dimensional counterexample to Borsuk's conjecture. Proof note and verification script, https://github.com/maaxgrin/borsuk-63-counterexample
- [Ji26] Ji, Y. (2026). An AI generated counterexample to Borsuk problem in dimension 63. https://arxiv.org/abs/2608.12561 (withdrawn as a duplicate of [Gr26])
- [TV26] Tolmachev, A., Voronov, V. (2026). Reducing the upper bound for the Borsuk number in $\mathbb{R}^4$ to 8. https://arxiv.org/abs/2605.19068
- [OP28a] Tao, T. et al., Optimization problems, constant 28a (smallest Borsuk counterexample dimension). https://teorth.github.io/optimizationproblems/constants/28a.html
- [Ka15] Kalai, G. (2015). Some old and new problems in combinatorial geometry I: Around Borsuk's problem. https://arxiv.org/abs/1505.04952
Imports (1)
Imported by 1 file
- def
Borsuk.HasBorsukCoverHasBorsukCover k smeans that the setscan be covered byksets, each of strictly smaller extended diameter thansline 88 sourceSource documentation
HasBorsukCover k smeans that the setscan be covered byksets, each of strictly smaller extended diameter thans.We use the extended diameter
Metric.ediamrather thanMetric.diam: the latter takes the junk value0on unbounded sets, which would makeSet.univa covering set of "small" diameter. WithMetric.ediam, a set of diameter0has no Borsuk cover, and an unbounded set has no finite Borsuk cover, matching Borsuk's formulation for bounded sets with at least two points.standard axioms: Classical.choice, Quot.sound, propext what this means
Statement uses:
PseudoEMetricSpace,Nat,SetProof uses:
Exists,Fin,And,LE.le,Set.iUnion,LT.lt,ENNReal,Metric.ediam4 instances, coercions and auxiliary constants left out.
def HasBorsukCover (k : ℕ) (s : Set E) : Prop := …
- def
Borsuk.BorsukConjectureBorsuk's conjecture in dimensionn: every bounded subset of $\mathbb{R}^n$ with at least two points can be partitioned into $n + 1$ sets of strictly smaller diameter line 95 sourceSource documentation
Borsuk's conjecture in dimension
n: every bounded subset of $\mathbb{R}^n$ with at least two points can be partitioned into $n + 1$ sets of strictly smaller diameter.standard axioms: Classical.choice, Quot.sound, propext what this means
Statement uses:
NatProof uses:
Set,EuclideanSpace,Real,Fin,Bornology.IsBounded,OfNat.ofNat,ENNReal,Set.Nontrivial, Borsuk.HasBorsukCover,HAdd.hAdd17 instances, coercions and auxiliary constants left out.
def BorsukConjecture (n : ℕ) : Prop := …
- theorem
Borsuk.borsuk_conjectureDocumented declaration: borsuk_conjecture sorry line 106 sourceSource documentation
Borsuk's conjecture, open range: every bounded subset of $\mathbb{R}^n$ with at least two points can be partitioned into $n + 1$ sets of strictly smaller diameter, for $4 \leq n \leq 62$.
The conjecture is known to be true for $n \leq 3$ and false for $n \geq 63$.
depends on sorry what this means
Statement uses:
Nat,LE.le,OfNat.ofNat, Borsuk.BorsukConjectureProof uses:
sorryAx,Lean.Name,Bool.false,Lean.Name.num,Lean.Name.str,Lean.Name.anonymous4 instances, coercions and auxiliary constants left out.
Tactic trace: 1 steps
Open to load the checked before-and-after goal states.
theorem borsuk_conjecture (n : ℕ) (hn : 4 ≤ n) (hn' : n ≤ 62) : BorsukConjecture n := by …
Mentions: Borsuk.BorsukConjecture
- theorem
Borsuk.borsuk_conjecture.fourBorsuk's conjecture in dimension $4$, the smallest open case sorry line 111 sourceSource documentation
Borsuk's conjecture in dimension $4$, the smallest open case.
depends on sorry what this means
Statement uses: Borsuk.BorsukConjecture,
OfNat.ofNat,NatProof uses:
sorryAx,Lean.Name,Bool.false,Lean.Name.num,Lean.Name.str,Lean.Name.anonymous2 instances, coercions and auxiliary constants left out.
Tactic trace: 1 steps
Open to load the checked before-and-after goal states.
theorem borsuk_conjecture.four : BorsukConjecture 4 := by …
Mentions: Borsuk.BorsukConjecture
- theorem
Borsuk.borsuk_conjecture.four.nine_partsPartial result in dimension $4$: every bounded subset of $\mathbb{R}^4$ with at least two points can be partitioned into $9$ sets of strictly smaller diameter sorry line 120 sourceSource documentation
Partial result in dimension $4$: every bounded subset of $\mathbb{R}^4$ with at least two points can be partitioned into $9$ sets of strictly smaller diameter. Proved by Lassak [La82], who showed more generally that $2^{n-1} + 1$ parts suffice in $\mathbb{R}^n$.
depends on sorry what this means
Statement uses:
Set,EuclideanSpace,Real,Fin,OfNat.ofNat,Nat,Bornology.IsBounded,ENNReal,Set.Nontrivial, Borsuk.HasBorsukCoverProof uses:
sorryAx,Lean.Name,Bool.false,Lean.Name.num,Lean.Name.str,Lean.Name.anonymous30 instances, coercions and auxiliary constants left out.
Tactic trace: 1 steps
Open to load the checked before-and-after goal states.
theorem borsuk_conjecture.four.nine_parts (s : Set (ℝ^4)) (hs : IsBounded s) (hs' : s.Nontrivial) : HasBorsukCover 9 s := by …Mentions: Borsuk.HasBorsukCover
- theorem
Borsuk.borsuk_conjecture.four.eight_partsPartial result in dimension $4$: every bounded subset of $\mathbb{R}^4$ with at least two points can be partitioned into $8$ sets of strictly smaller diameter sorry line 131 sourceSource documentation
Partial result in dimension $4$: every bounded subset of $\mathbb{R}^4$ with at least two points can be partitioned into $8$ sets of strictly smaller diameter. Claimed by Tolmachev and Voronov [TV26] via computer-assisted partitions of a truncated Lassak cover, with floating-point verification; the preprint is not yet refereed.
depends on sorry what this means
Statement uses:
Set,EuclideanSpace,Real,Fin,OfNat.ofNat,Nat,Bornology.IsBounded,ENNReal,Set.Nontrivial, Borsuk.HasBorsukCoverProof uses:
sorryAx,Lean.Name,Bool.false,Lean.Name.num,Lean.Name.str,Lean.Name.anonymous30 instances, coercions and auxiliary constants left out.
Tactic trace: 1 steps
Open to load the checked before-and-after goal states.
theorem borsuk_conjecture.four.eight_parts (s : Set (ℝ^4)) (hs : IsBounded s) (hs' : s.Nontrivial) : HasBorsukCover 8 s := by …Mentions: Borsuk.HasBorsukCover
- theorem
Borsuk.borsuk_conjecture.zerosorry line 139 sourcedepends on sorry what this means
Statement uses: Borsuk.BorsukConjecture,
OfNat.ofNat,NatProof uses:
sorryAx,Lean.Name,Bool.false,Lean.Name.num,Lean.Name.str,Lean.Name.anonymous2 instances, coercions and auxiliary constants left out.
Tactic trace: 1 steps
Open to load the checked before-and-after goal states.
- theorem
Borsuk.borsuk_conjecture.onesorry line 149 sourcedepends on sorry what this means
Statement uses: Borsuk.BorsukConjecture,
OfNat.ofNat,NatProof uses:
sorryAx,Lean.Name,Bool.false,Lean.Name.num,Lean.Name.str,Lean.Name.anonymous2 instances, coercions and auxiliary constants left out.
Tactic trace: 1 steps
Open to load the checked before-and-after goal states.
- theorem
Borsuk.borsuk_conjecture.twosorry line 156 sourcedepends on sorry what this means
Statement uses: Borsuk.BorsukConjecture,
OfNat.ofNat,NatProof uses:
sorryAx,Lean.Name,Bool.false,Lean.Name.num,Lean.Name.str,Lean.Name.anonymous2 instances, coercions and auxiliary constants left out.
Tactic trace: 1 steps
Open to load the checked before-and-after goal states.
- theorem
Borsuk.borsuk_conjecture.threesorry line 163 sourcedepends on sorry what this means
Statement uses: Borsuk.BorsukConjecture,
OfNat.ofNat,NatProof uses:
sorryAx,Lean.Name,Bool.false,Lean.Name.num,Lean.Name.str,Lean.Name.anonymous2 instances, coercions and auxiliary constants left out.
Tactic trace: 1 steps
Open to load the checked before-and-after goal states.
- theorem
Borsuk.borsuk_conjecture.not_forallsorry line 173 sourcedepends on sorry what this means
Statement uses:
Not,Nat, Borsuk.BorsukConjectureProof uses:
sorryAx,Lean.Name,Bool.false,Lean.Name.num,Lean.Name.str,Lean.Name.anonymous,OfNat.ofNat1 instances, coercions and auxiliary constants left out.
Tactic trace: 1 steps
Open to load the checked before-and-after goal states.
- theorem
Borsuk.borsuk_conjecture.not_sixty_fivesorry line 180 sourcedepends on sorry what this means
Statement uses:
Not, Borsuk.BorsukConjecture,OfNat.ofNat,NatProof uses:
sorryAx,Lean.Name,Bool.false,Lean.Name.num,Lean.Name.str,Lean.Name.anonymous2 instances, coercions and auxiliary constants left out.
Tactic trace: 1 steps
Open to load the checked before-and-after goal states.
- theorem
Borsuk.borsuk_conjecture.not_sixty_foursorry line 190 sourcedepends on sorry what this means
Statement uses:
Not, Borsuk.BorsukConjecture,OfNat.ofNat,NatProof uses:
sorryAx,Lean.Name,Bool.false,Lean.Name.num,Lean.Name.str,Lean.Name.anonymous2 instances, coercions and auxiliary constants left out.
Tactic trace: 1 steps
Open to load the checked before-and-after goal states.
- theorem
Borsuk.borsuk_conjecture.not_sixty_threesorry line 201 sourcedepends on sorry what this means
Statement uses:
Not, Borsuk.BorsukConjecture,OfNat.ofNat,NatProof uses:
sorryAx,Lean.Name,Bool.false,Lean.Name.num,Lean.Name.str,Lean.Name.anonymous2 instances, coercions and auxiliary constants left out.
Tactic trace: 1 steps
Open to load the checked before-and-after goal states.