The Strengthened Van der Waerden theorem says that every finite coloring contains, for each prescribed , a monochromatic set
We prove the finite form by induction on the number of colors. The case is immediate. Let work for and colors, and apply the ordinary Van der Waerden theorem to obtain a monochromatic progression
If one of has the progression's color, say , then
works. Otherwise use at most colors. By the induction hypothesis their indices contain together with in one color. Multiplying by yields
which is the required progression together with its common difference.
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Strengthened Van der Waerden theorem Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-24
For all positive integers , some has the following property: every -coloring of contains for which
is monochromatic. Thus the common difference has the same color as the progression.