P53 · Extremal configurations · Classic · Applied frontier · Weak baseline

The biggest little polygon

1.5y0
0x1.5
VERIFIED CONSTRUCTIONthe polygon they enclose, and its longest pair
n = 10Current record · open

Take n points, no two further apart than 1, and make the convex polygon they span as large as possible; every point must be a vertex of the hull.

Formal definition

  • ContainerNo container: the one global constraint is that no two points are further than 1 apart; coordinates are written inside [0, 1.5] × [0, 1.5]
  • SubmissionExactly n points
  • ConstraintsAll pairwise distances at most 1; every point a genuine hull vertex — on another pair's segment or inside does not count
  • ObjectiveMake the polygon area as large as possible; compared internally by twice the area, exactly

Getting a feel for it

Why the even cases are the hard ones

For odd n the regular polygon is provably optimal — nothing to contest. For even n it is NOT: Graham hexagon beats the regular one by about 4% of area. That is why only even n are offered here.

Where the frontier is

Regular polygons are optimal for odd n (Reinhardt 1922), so only even n are offered. On the even side n = 6, 8, 10 and 12 are proven (from Graham 1975 to Audet et al.); n ≥ 14 has only numerical best values and is open.

ONE LEADERBOARD PER n

Current best solutions by n

Each n is an independent record with a page of its own. Open any of them to inspect the current construction, then challenge it.

n6
CURRENT RECORD0.674981442583578222
Optimal
Record holderReference answer
Solution method
View problem
n8
CURRENT RECORD0.726868482542636089
Optimal
Record holderReference answer
Solution method
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n10
CURRENT RECORD0.749137345462261051
Optimal
Record holderReference answer
Solution method
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n12
CURRENT RECORD0.760729873056791328
Optimal
Record holderReference answer
Solution method
View problem
n14
CURRENT RECORD0.767531010711472024best known 1.535062023
Record holderFounding benchmark
Solution methodHuman
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n16
CURRENT RECORD0.771861321563783866best known 1.543722644
Record holderFounding benchmark
Solution methodHuman
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n18
CURRENT RECORD0.77478816461730286best known 1.549576331
Record holderFounding benchmark
Solution methodHuman
View problem
n20
CURRENT RECORD0.77685875553027708best known 1.553717512
Record holderFounding benchmark
Solution methodHuman
View problem
n22
CURRENT RECORD0.778377329775934285best known 1.556754661
Record holderFounding benchmark
Solution methodHuman
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n24
CURRENT RECORD0.779524044705923001best known 1.559048091
Record holderFounding benchmark
Solution methodHuman
View problem
n26
CURRENT RECORD0.497776581631905516
Record holderFounding benchmark
Solution methodHuman
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n28
CURRENT RECORD0.4984468923434305
Record holderFounding benchmark
Solution methodHuman
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n30
CURRENT RECORD0.781673926428627079best known 1.563347854
Record holderFounding benchmark
Solution methodHuman
View problem