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OPEN This is open, and cannot be resolved with a finite computation.
Let $A=\{a_1<\cdots<a_k\}$ be a finite set of positive integers and extend it to an infinite sequence $\overline{A}=\{a_1<a_2<\cdots \}$ by defining $a_{n+1}$ for $n\geq k$ to be the least integer exceeding $a_n$ which is not of the form $a_i+a_j$ with $i,j\leq n$. Is it true that the sequence of differences $a_{m+1}-a_m$ is eventually periodic?
An old problem of Dickson. Even a starting set as small as $\{1,4,9,16,25\}$ requires thousands of terms before periodicity occurs.

This problem is discussed under Problem 7 on Green's open problems list.
Additional thanks to: Desmond Weisenberg
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This page was last edited 20 January 2026. (View history) (View the LaTeX source)

When referring to this problem, please use the original sources of Erdős. If you wish to acknowledge this website, the recommended citation format is:

T. F. Bloom, Erdős Problem #341, https://www.erdosproblems.com/341, accessed 2026-09-01

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