Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2017/iii/paper-130/2/ii/solution

Let the required arithmetic progression have length , let be the number of colors, and take from the Hales-Jewett theorem. Given any finite coloring of , color a word over an alphabet by . For a monochromatic combinatorial line, let be its active coordinate set and let be the sum of its fixed coordinates. The sums of its words are
They all lie in , have one color, and form an arithmetic progression with strictly positive common difference . Thus, writing for the finite Van der Waerden theorem bound,
The length-one case is immediate. Restricting a finite coloring of the positive integers to this finite integer interval gives the infinite-domain formulation of the Van der Waerden theorem as well.

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