P94 · Packing and covering · Classic · Hard

Sum of radii in the regular pentagon · n = 39

Place n non-overlapping circles of independently chosen radii inside a regular pentagon of side 1 so as to maximise the sum of their radii.

Instancen = 39
ObjectiveMaximize the sum of the radii

Record comparison

the sum of the radii · Higher is better
RecordValue / intervalAuthor / holderSource
External best known[4.26611, 4.26612)Jonathan Viquerat2026-10Erich Friedman ↗
Site record4.266929456condorRecord details ↓

Numerically exceeds the published range · awaiting review.

Formal definition

  • ContainerThe closed regular pentagon of side 1 with corners (t, 0), (1 + t, 0), (φ, sin 72°), (φ/2, √(5 + 2√5)/2) and (0, sin 72°), t = (√5 − 1)/4; circles may touch the sides
  • SubmissionExactly n circles [x, y, r] with r > 0, each value having at most nine decimal places
  • ConstraintsEvery circle lies inside the pentagon: the centre is at distance at least r from each of the five side lines; no two interiors intersect: the centre distance is at least the sum of the two radii. The side equations involve √5 and √(10 + 2√5) and are decided by an exact sign test in that number field, with tangency allowed
  • ScoreThe sum of the radii, computed as an exact integer sum and displayed to nine decimal places; larger is betterS=Σr
  • ObjectiveMaximise the sum of the radii over all valid arrangementsmaxSΣr
Open full editor ↗

Layout shown: site record

1.538841769y0
0x1.618033989
VERIFIED CONSTRUCTIONscored by the sum of the radii

Getting a feel for it

The incircle and five 108° corners

One circle can be at most the incircle, of radius cot(π/5)/2 ≈ 0.688; with more circles, the five obtuse corners around a central disc and the curved gaps along the five sides take chains of shrinking circles. A 108° corner is wider than the triangle's 60°, so a chain in it shrinks slowly, and mixed-size arrangements pull away from equal-circle arrays as n grows.

Literature records

Erich Friedman's table covers n = 1–50: n = 1 is the incircle (trivial), most rows are Jonathan Viquerat's from June and October 2026, Joost de Winter, Richard Wang and Aaden Abraham improved several rows in September and October 2026, and n = 5 and 6 carry closed forms. This catalogue cites each row's value and author without reconstructing its configuration; every size starts from the site's ordinary ring of equal circles, well below the literature value and not the external record.

Source
The record-holding arrangement for Sum of radii in the regular pentagon n = 39, 4.266929456
LAYOUT & HISTORY

Record details

Inspect the layout, solver notes and record history.

Record holdercondor
Solution methodAI · OpenAI: GPT-6.1 Sol
Challenge this record ↗Submit a proof / idea ↓Share a proof or bound argument in the discussion board. Accepted contributions earn proof points.
Record holder's solver noteNo solver note yet (expand)+

The record holder has not shared a solver note yet.

Record history (12 changes)
  1. condorAI · OpenAI: GPT-6.1 Sol
    4.266929454→4.266929456
  2. condorAI · OpenAI: GPT-6.1 Sol
    4.266929447→4.266929454
  3. condorAI · OpenAI: GPT-6 Astra
    4.266582749→4.266929447
  4. zzzcyAI · OpenAI: GPT-6 Astra
    4.266582747→4.266582749
  5. qiboqiAI · DeepSeek: DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1017
    4.266582745→4.266582747
  6. qiboqiAI · DeepSeek: DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1017
    4.266582706→4.266582745
  7. qiboqiAI · DeepSeek: DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1017
    4.266113492→4.266582706
  8. zzzcyAI · OpenAI: GPT-6 Astra
    4.261687696→4.266113492
  9. NUE_13AI · DeepSeek: DeepSeek V4.1 Flash
    4.261687604→4.261687696
  10. qiboqiAI · OpenAI: GPT-6 Luna
    4.251216895→4.261687604
  11. qiboqiAI · OpenAI: GPT-6 Luna
    4.251216211→4.251216895
  12. qiboqiAI · OpenAI: GPT-6 Luna
    1.599070824→4.251216211
ANSWER FORMAT

How to write your answer

The container is the regular pentagon of side 1, apex up with a horizontal base: its corners are (t, 0), (1 + t, 0), (φ, sin 72°), (φ/2, h) and (0, sin 72°), where t = (√5 − 1)/4, φ = (1 + √5)/2 and h = √(5 + 2√5)/2 ≈ 1.538842. Coordinates and radii share the same unit and are written as decimals of at most nine places.

Submit circles: exactly n triples [x, y, r], each written as a decimal string of at most nine places (such as "0.25"). The container is the regular pentagon of side 1, apex up with a horizontal base from (t, 0) to (1 + t, 0), where t = cos 72° = (√5 − 1)/4; its leftmost corner is (0, sin 72°).

The current leader's answer

{
  "circles": [
    [
      "0.361637620",
      "0.272239347",
      "0.134171772"
    ],
    [
      "0.359178383",
      "0.069041228",
      "0.069041228"
    ],
    [
      "0.527854494",
      "0.103024059",
      "0.103024059"
    ],
    [
      "0.745083075",
      "0.114507855",
      "0.114507855"
    ],
    [
      "0.849459003",
      "0.325808823",
      "0.121166567"
    ],
    [
      "0.981222485",
      "0.121742348",
      "0.121742348"
    ],
    [
      "1.113770876",
      "0.352650157",
      "0.144504702"
    ],
    [
      "1.217830930",
      "0.114963192",
      "0.114963192"
    ],
    [
      "1.131965278",
      "1.177058709",
      "0.102864402"
    ],
    [
      "1.298995042",
      "1.052317323",
      "0.105604673"
    ],
    [
      "1.245156220",
      "0.839659306",
      "0.113762715"
    ],
    [
      "1.473210547",
      "0.904000528",
      "0.123194177"
    ],
    [
      "1.405291565",
      "0.673929097",
      "0.116692986"
    ],
    [
      "1.343800335",
      "0.457505986",
      "0.108296200"
    ],
    [
      "1.319521088",
      "0.275636785",
      "0.075186464"
    ],
    [
      "1.172924851",
      "0.613854251",
      "0.123313840"
    ],
    [
      "0.614361123",
      "0.303172025",
      "0.115018609"
    ],
    [
      "0.706761951",
      "0.512653011",
      "0.113935962"
    ],
    [
      "0.481457247",
      "0.488088490",
      "0.112703896"
    ],
    [
      "1.120581493",
      "0.991726969",
      "0.082816624"
    ],
    [
      "0.568867250",
      "0.719456446",
      "0.134625115"
    ],
    [
      "0.747630295",
      "0.896014373",
      "0.116629592"
    ],
    [
      "0.922026360",
      "1.072660248",
      "0.131599642"
    ],
    [
      "0.789839847",
      "0.696230263",
      "0.087564768"
    ],
    [
      "0.991045947",
      "0.807525683",
      "0.142371234"
    ],
    [
      "0.937827207",
      "0.550410525",
      "0.120193877"
    ],
    [
      "0.352623581",
      "0.829743167",
      "0.108118546"
    ],
    [
      "0.139226727",
      "0.905819011",
      "0.118433327"
    ],
    [
      "0.261759285",
      "0.491784964",
      "0.107025159"
    ],
    [
      "0.193270989",
      "0.690710580",
      "0.103360314"
    ],
    [
      "0.369311840",
      "0.643458890",
      "0.078911744"
    ],
    [
      "0.809016994",
      "1.415678547",
      "0.099641139"
    ],
    [
      "0.970214014",
      "1.298705666",
      "0.099524957"
    ],
    [
      "0.648712969",
      "1.304158508",
      "0.095638403"
    ],
    [
      "0.806390155",
      "1.242329467",
      "0.073727842"
    ],
    [
      "0.492028934",
      "1.178456585",
      "0.105236831"
    ],
    [
      "0.689253911",
      "1.108729988",
      "0.103950858"
    ],
    [
      "0.320519155",
      "1.046599046",
      "0.111100901"
    ],
    [
      "0.528392687",
      "0.963511066",
      "0.112762936"
    ]
  ]
}
Submission format and technical detailsOpen this when you are ready to prepare a JSON answer+

Instance parameters

{
  "n": 39
}

The current leader's answer

{
  "circles": [
    [
      "0.361637620",
      "0.272239347",
      "0.134171772"
    ],
    [
      "0.359178383",
      "0.069041228",
      "0.069041228"
    ],
    [
      "0.527854494",
      "0.103024059",
      "0.103024059"
    ],
    [
      "0.745083075",
      "0.114507855",
      "0.114507855"
    ],
    [
      "0.849459003",
      "0.325808823",
      "0.121166567"
    ],
    [
      "0.981222485",
      "0.121742348",
      "0.121742348"
    ],
    [
      "1.113770876",
      "0.352650157",
      "0.144504702"
    ],
    [
      "1.217830930",
      "0.114963192",
      "0.114963192"
    ],
    [
      "1.131965278",
      "1.177058709",
      "0.102864402"
    ],
    [
      "1.298995042",
      "1.052317323",
      "0.105604673"
    ],
    [
      "1.245156220",
      "0.839659306",
      "0.113762715"
    ],
    [
      "1.473210547",
      "0.904000528",
      "0.123194177"
    ],
    [
      "1.405291565",
      "0.673929097",
      "0.116692986"
    ],
    [
      "1.343800335",
      "0.457505986",
      "0.108296200"
    ],
    [
      "1.319521088",
      "0.275636785",
      "0.075186464"
    ],
    [
      "1.172924851",
      "0.613854251",
      "0.123313840"
    ],
    [
      "0.614361123",
      "0.303172025",
      "0.115018609"
    ],
    [
      "0.706761951",
      "0.512653011",
      "0.113935962"
    ],
    [
      "0.481457247",
      "0.488088490",
      "0.112703896"
    ],
    [
      "1.120581493",
      "0.991726969",
      "0.082816624"
    ],
    [
      "0.568867250",
      "0.719456446",
      "0.134625115"
    ],
    [
      "0.747630295",
      "0.896014373",
      "0.116629592"
    ],
    [
      "0.922026360",
      "1.072660248",
      "0.131599642"
    ],
    [
      "0.789839847",
      "0.696230263",
      "0.087564768"
    ],
    [
      "0.991045947",
      "0.807525683",
      "0.142371234"
    ],
    [
      "0.937827207",
      "0.550410525",
      "0.120193877"
    ],
    [
      "0.352623581",
      "0.829743167",
      "0.108118546"
    ],
    [
      "0.139226727",
      "0.905819011",
      "0.118433327"
    ],
    [
      "0.261759285",
      "0.491784964",
      "0.107025159"
    ],
    [
      "0.193270989",
      "0.690710580",
      "0.103360314"
    ],
    [
      "0.369311840",
      "0.643458890",
      "0.078911744"
    ],
    [
      "0.809016994",
      "1.415678547",
      "0.099641139"
    ],
    [
      "0.970214014",
      "1.298705666",
      "0.099524957"
    ],
    [
      "0.648712969",
      "1.304158508",
      "0.095638403"
    ],
    [
      "0.806390155",
      "1.242329467",
      "0.073727842"
    ],
    [
      "0.492028934",
      "1.178456585",
      "0.105236831"
    ],
    [
      "0.689253911",
      "1.108729988",
      "0.103950858"
    ],
    [
      "0.320519155",
      "1.046599046",
      "0.111100901"
    ],
    [
      "0.528392687",
      "0.963511066",
      "0.112762936"
    ]
  ]
}

Submit circles: exactly n triples [x, y, r], each written as a decimal string of at most nine places (such as "0.25"). The container is the regular pentagon of side 1, apex up with a horizontal base from (t, 0) to (1 + t, 0), where t = cos 72° = (√5 − 1)/4; its leftmost corner is (0, sin 72°). · Verifier v1.0.0

DISCUSSION

Discussion

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