A finite set is spherical if all its points lie on one sphere: there are a center and radius with for every . Subtracting the squared-distance equation for gives the equivalent linear equationsThus consistency of a finite linear system tests whether a common center exists. A nondegenerate triangle is spherical, with center its circumcenter. Three distinct collinear points are not spherical: the equal-distance equations along their line are inconsistent. This is the geometric obstruction behind three-term unit arithmetic progression is not Euclidean Ramsey.
Every Euclidean Ramsey set is spherical. The converse was historically conjectured. A September2026 preprint by Dömötör Pálvölgyi reports the seven-point configurationas a counterexample. These points do lie on the circle ; the non-Ramsey assertion is Theorem1 of that dated preprint.[ref]
A cyclic non-Ramsey heptagon by Dömötör Pálvölgyi. Theorem1, arXiv:2609.23327v1, 20 September 2026
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