Solving Math's Map Coloring Problem Using Graph Theory

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  • čas přidán 12. 06. 2024
  • Can you fill in any map with just four colors? The so-called Four-Color theorem says that you can always do so in a way that neighboring regions never share the same color. But a proof eluded mathematicians for more than a century before Wolfgang Haken and Kenneth Appel controversially used a computer to show it must be true. This breakthrough forever changed mathematics.
    Featuring David S. Richeson, Professor of Mathematics and the John J. & Ann Curley Faculty Chair in the Liberal Arts, Dickinson College
    Read the full article at Quanta Magazine: www.quantamagazine.org/only-c...
    Learn more about graph theory: www.quantamagazine.org/tag/gr...
    00:00 What is the to the Four Color Problem
    01:12 Historical origins of the map coloring theorem
    01:49 Kempe's first proof techniques using planar graphs and unavoidable sets
    04:49 Heawood finds a flaw in Kempe's proof
    05:49 How Appel and Haken used a computer to verify their proof
    08:15 Applications of the proof in the study of network theory
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    Quanta Magazine is an editorially independent publication supported by the Simons Foundation: www.simonsfoundation.org/
    #math #proof #computerscience
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Komentáře • 259

  • @QuantaScienceChannel
    @QuantaScienceChannel  Před 10 měsíci +32

    To learn more, read the article on the Quanta Magazine website www.quantamagazine.org/only-computers-can-solve-this-map-coloring-problem-from-the-1800s-20230329/

  • @ronald3836
    @ronald3836 Před 10 měsíci +389

    I once attended a talk on the four colour theorem. The professor explained the history of the problem and gave the proof of the five colour theorem. He then told us that if we now tried to prove the four colour theorem at home, we would find a proof and it would be wrong. Sure enough, when I tried to adapt the proof of the five colour theorem to prove the four colour theorem I succeeded quite quickly, and it took me considerably longer to realise where the subtle mistake was. (And I only found the mistake because I KNEW that there was one.)

    • @Mateus_py
      @Mateus_py Před 10 měsíci +17

      Yess this gives me same sensation as the konigsberg bridge problem, aways having the feeling that you can do it! but you also know that is impossible XD

    • @_FFFFFF_
      @_FFFFFF_ Před 9 měsíci +6

      With my rough back of the napkin math, 1000 hours of 1970s computer time , on a modern smartphone would take appropriate 2 hours, even with poor algorithm search. If an exhaustive search was done then, why would it be invalid now?

    • @ronald3836
      @ronald3836 Před 9 měsíci +9

      @@_FFFFFF_ the 1970 computer-assisted proof is valid, the method that was used in the 1800s to "prove" the 4-colour theorem can be used to prove that 5 colours suffice, but it very subtly goes wrong for 4 colours.
      I think the method works by assuming N colours are not enough, taking a minimal map that needs N+1 colours, then finding chains of countries in alternating colours and showing that you can flip them in such a way that you free up a colour for the country that needed the N+1-th colour. So contradiction, which means you have shown that N are enough. So with N=5 you can make this work (and you can explain it to a high school student), and with N=4 it almost works but not quite.

    • @tasty_fish
      @tasty_fish Před 8 měsíci +1

      How do you deal with multiple enclaves?

    • @ronald3836
      @ronald3836 Před 8 měsíci +1

      @@tasty_fish The four/five colour theorem ignores them.

  • @davecgriffith
    @davecgriffith Před 10 měsíci +27

    0:43 Holding down a map with solids of constant width - I like this guy already.

  • @caspermadlener4191
    @caspermadlener4191 Před 10 měsíci +178

    The proof of the four colour theorem may be extremely long, but if memory serves, it was still verified (by a team) after the computer produced it.
    It has also been verified by computers, which is ironically often seen as more rigorous than human verification, since it has to be written in pure logic, making misleading steps impossible.

    • @ronald3836
      @ronald3836 Před 10 měsíci +25

      Indeed, the whole proof has now been converted into a form that can be checked by a proof checker. The proof checker program is simple enough that its correctness can be verified by a human.
      Converting a proof into a form that a computer can check is a huge amount of work, but I suppose AI wil lbe able to help us with that in the near future.

    • @DarkSkay
      @DarkSkay Před 9 měsíci

      Is there a correlation between the length of a mathematical statement, problem or question, and the length of corresponding proofs? What kinds of proofs can be shown to be incompressible? When taking statements and corresponding proofs, then applying a set of diverse 'hash functions' on them - will interesting relations between the three leave traces, be preserved or even appear in a different structure?

    • @caspermadlener4191
      @caspermadlener4191 Před 9 měsíci +2

      @@DarkSkay When looking at the proof of a specific theorem, you generally want to slightly weaken some axioms, and determine whether the theorem still holds.
      A slightly weaker version of geometry doesn't allow for similar triangles per reflection, and also doesn't have area. Here, the Pythagorean theorem does not necessarily hold.
      To proof the Pythagorean theorem, you would have to use the similarity of two triangles that are mirrored images of each other, or use area.
      This only works on relatively simple proofs though. The proof of the four colour theorem is so immensly long that this approach is unrealistic here.

    • @samwallaceart288
      @samwallaceart288 Před 8 měsíci

      Yeah, if _one_ value is wrong, the computer won't get it

    • @DarkSkay
      @DarkSkay Před 8 měsíci +2

      @@caspermadlener4191 Thank you! Sometimes, the more I think about what's happening, 'self-constructing', almost organically growing, emerging in maths, the more philosophically mysterious it appears to me. Not only is the number of questions infinite, intuitively the uncountable oceans of 'interesting' ones seem as well - like a natural affinity or family ties between abstract logic structures and the mind. Curiosity never running out of projections and destinations.

  • @ajw20
    @ajw20 Před 8 měsíci +55

    As a mapmaker, I never expected this to be an actual discussion in math! I’ve had to deal with the 4/5 color theories before when making state maps or county maps. but I never considered the math behind it!

    • @idk_whatmynameis
      @idk_whatmynameis Před 8 měsíci +2

      Samee

    • @leoglisic8324
      @leoglisic8324 Před 5 měsíci

      @@spltorky colors can repeat. You can even have ten countries touching one country (call it X), you just reuse three colors so that no color touches another color, and then you can have the fourth color for X

    • @erik3371
      @erik3371 Před 5 měsíci

      How old are you?

  • @DrEnzyme
    @DrEnzyme Před 10 měsíci +136

    I'm always impressed by the quality of these videos. Your cameramen, editors and VFX people must be very talented :)

    • @adityakhanna113
      @adityakhanna113 Před 10 měsíci +2

      The VFX is absolutely high-tier!

    • @atavanH
      @atavanH Před 10 měsíci +2

      Music and audio too!

  • @hamboz8976
    @hamboz8976 Před 8 měsíci +26

    Such a bizarre problem. Normally topological problems like these wind up having a basic explanation when you peel it back; this one has a proof so long we can't read it end to end! Very cool.

  • @jessstuart7495
    @jessstuart7495 Před 10 měsíci +46

    Writing this computer proof in IBM 370 assembly language seems like a herculean feat of programming.

  • @chakra6666
    @chakra6666 Před 10 měsíci +65

    The animations at 2:13 are seamless and awesome. Great video :)

  • @joseftrojan7664
    @joseftrojan7664 Před 10 měsíci +30

    Give the editor a raise! Good job!

  • @xavierdarche4822
    @xavierdarche4822 Před 10 měsíci +49

    The four colors only hold true for maps without exclaves/enclaves. If you want to color exclaves/enclaves in the same color as the country they belong to then in some cases you might need additional colors.

    • @Will.i.am.Mitchell
      @Will.i.am.Mitchell Před 10 měsíci +1

      Is that right?

    • @xavierdarche4822
      @xavierdarche4822 Před 10 měsíci +18

      Try it yourself and you soon figure it out. You could theoretically place hundreds of small enclaves within a country. And if you do that for every country than every country theoretically borders hundreds of countries at the same time and you need hundreds of colors. Of course, this is extreme and doesn’t happen in real life.
      A real life example. If you would include bodies of water the are territorial and color them as if their land, The Netherlands, Belgium, Germany all border each other and the UK. So, all four need their own colors. Now Belgium, Germany and the UK all border France, (UK borders France across the channel and part Atlantic Ocean) so France would need the same color as The Netherlands. But now, in the Caribbean France borders The Netherlands. So, a fifth color is needed.

    • @colmkeanly5409
      @colmkeanly5409 Před 10 měsíci +22

      I'm guessing here but I would think including enclaves and exclaves in the map results in non-planar graphs, so the initial assumptions on the question have changed, from a purely 'mathematical' point of view

    • @ilfedarkfairy
      @ilfedarkfairy Před 8 měsíci +1

      Yeah, I'm kinda suprised that this was not mentioned. This completly changes the maths behind the problem, adding extra dimensions.

    • @0106johnny
      @0106johnny Před 8 měsíci +1

      ​@@ilfedarkfairyIt makes the maths really easy, because there is a simple way to construct a map with enclaves that can't be colored with n colors or fewer (for any given n). Just take n+1 countries, make them each have an enclave of every other country and boom, you need n+1 colors

  • @aryah1778
    @aryah1778 Před 10 měsíci +1

    The quality of this video is impressive. Thank you.

  • @hminhph
    @hminhph Před 10 měsíci +5

    great quality of content and visuals!!! love it

  • @Adityarm.08
    @Adityarm.08 Před 10 měsíci +2

    Very interesting. Thank you.

  • @evilparkin
    @evilparkin Před 10 měsíci +10

    What about enclaves and exclaves? For example, consider a map with 5 countries, where one of the countries has a small territory inside every other country.

    • @woland_
      @woland_ Před 9 měsíci +12

      The theorem only holds for contiguous regions. Once you add non-contiguous regions like enclaves and exclaves, it starts breaking down.

    • @danielf.7151
      @danielf.7151 Před 8 měsíci +4

      from my understanding, with enclaves and exclaves there is no maximum amount of colors. no matter how many colors you allow, you can always construct a map that needs more than that.
      for the same reason, countries that only share a corner do not count as adjacent.

    • @tankadar
      @tankadar Před 8 měsíci +1

      yeah exactly ignoring mathematics it is extremely simple to disprove this theory by looking at actual maps. Hell even in the 1800s this was obvious, exclaves were far more common and far more cursed than today, they just needed to think about the german confederation or later the internal borders of the german empire

    • @zerotwoisreal
      @zerotwoisreal Před 8 měsíci

      easy, let's say you have south africa and lesotho. if south africa is colored red, you can color lesotho any of the other 3 colors, because it only borders one country.

  • @BishopIsJustHappyToBeHere
    @BishopIsJustHappyToBeHere Před 10 měsíci +42

    Fascinating story! While I've never had any formal education in graph theory, and unfortunately probably never will, it does appear to be a very approachable and rich subject, ripe for plenty more engaging content such as this video. Might have to pick up a textbook on the subject sometime!

    • @hrperformance
      @hrperformance Před 10 měsíci +3

      You definitely should! 😁👍🏼

    • @richross4781
      @richross4781 Před 10 měsíci +3

      I guarantee you do not talk like that in real life. Absolutely no chance.
      Sound like Jordan Peterson, when he babbles on and forgets what he started talking about in the first place.
      Catch my drift?

    • @ArawnOfAnnwn
      @ArawnOfAnnwn Před 10 měsíci +1

      @@richross4781 Wut?

    • @aug3842
      @aug3842 Před 10 měsíci +4

      @@richross4781bruh nobody types how they talk irl n this person here did not lose track of their original poiny

  • @modolief
    @modolief Před 10 měsíci

    Superb video, thanks!!!

  • @bbsara0146
    @bbsara0146 Před 10 měsíci +13

    quanta always puts out gold. you guys have amazing interesting content

  • @me5ng3
    @me5ng3 Před 10 měsíci +8

    This is genuinely interesting. I remember reading about the four color theorem in my mathematical logic class and trying to apply Kőnig's lemma to it (with no success).

  • @marcusklaas4088
    @marcusklaas4088 Před 9 měsíci +3

    Really well explained and excellent animations. Love it!

  • @allBARKnoMEOW
    @allBARKnoMEOW Před 10 měsíci +5

    6:15 Altgeld Hall at UIUC! I'm doing my math undergrad there. What a beautiful winter picture of the math department building. They're doing renovations right now! :)

  • @deldridg
    @deldridg Před 4 měsíci

    Fascinating and consequential story. Just one point, in "The Mathematical Tourist", Ivars Peterson (1988) and widely cited in other literature, it is stated that the problem was first proposed in a letter in 1852 written by British graduate student Francis Guthrie to his younger brother, and not from Augustus de Morgan to William Hamilton. Just a point of interest and many thanks - Dave

  • @PopeLando
    @PopeLando Před 10 měsíci +1

    Assuming that the unavoidable set of 1,936 configurations was rigourously proved, what the computer did was not find any counterexamples to the four-color requirement. It's like disproving Riemann or Fermat by finding one counterexample. The search space is finite, every combination was checked, no counterexamples were found, QED.

  • @RISHI_RAJ0
    @RISHI_RAJ0 Před 10 měsíci +1

    The explanation and animation are both top notch , Thanks you for the video 😊

  • @MathclubMalik
    @MathclubMalik Před 10 měsíci

    So nice sir g.

  • @ImperatordeElysium
    @ImperatordeElysium Před 8 měsíci +1

    Of course the ironic thing is that the *original* theorem is actually a five-colour theorem- because there is always an implicit decision to ignore the *oceans* that surround the area talking about- which on a map will either be blue or white but cannot be considered 'blanks' or 'non-existent' because they're a defined boundary in and of themselves that connects to every point on the outer edge of the graph/map. And if your area has defined oceanic *and* land borders external to the area being coloured that's 6 colours for the final work regardless.
    And of course Mt. Etna is actually home to a point where 11 municipalities meet (one in fact being enclosed by two arms of another) meaning you just have to shrug and decide that vertices don't count as boundaries.
    And the whole system just ignores that actual geographical areas might not be contiguous which means that an entity can very easily have borders with *more* 'points' than the graph theoretically suggests.
    Which is probably why cartographers have never particularly cared about this.

    • @matejlieskovsky9625
      @matejlieskovsky9625 Před 8 měsíci +1

      Well, you can assign one of those four colours to the oceans, but lakes will probably not work well. And yes, point borders and exclaves mess the system up, but originally even proving the (now trivial) six colour theorem was a success. Asking if six is the best possible result is only natural.

  • @gustamanpratama3239
    @gustamanpratama3239 Před 10 měsíci

    Mantap!
    Next is ... coloring problem in arbitrary dimension

  • @geanmdesouza5395
    @geanmdesouza5395 Před 10 měsíci

    Here way before 1m views, but soon you'll get there. Great material, *proof* that is possible to make a great and informative math video in

  • @iVeNiiMXD
    @iVeNiiMXD Před 8 měsíci +1

    My old friend Network theory strikes again. Easily the most intriguing aspect of my mathematics degree

  • @sourabhyadav3873
    @sourabhyadav3873 Před 10 měsíci

    Very very very nice.

  • @McShmoodle
    @McShmoodle Před 8 měsíci +1

    The skepticism surrounding proofs generated by early computing has a lot of parallels to the current unease surrounding AI generated content today. Doctors and lawyers in particular are having their paradigms shifted by neural networks trained to solve problems that were considered very tough problems only a few short years ago. Just goes to show that the perceptions of the problems we face are constantly shifting!

  • @JeremyGabbard
    @JeremyGabbard Před 10 měsíci +1

    Casual reuleaux solid as paperweight at 0:42 with a stack behind him.

  • @DrRandyDavila
    @DrRandyDavila Před 10 měsíci +3

    Would love to collaborate with Quanta on the history of computers making mathematical conjecture

  • @Turdfergusen382
    @Turdfergusen382 Před 10 měsíci

    Interesting.

  • @tommyrjensen
    @tommyrjensen Před 2 měsíci

    It is a nice video. But it is a mistake at 6:45 to say that every map that contains one of the unavoidable configurations is proven 4-colorable. The actual point is that if a map contains one of the configurations, then it provably is not a minimal counterexample.

  • @CrimeMinister1
    @CrimeMinister1 Před 10 měsíci +2

    Omg that's Dickinson College in Denny Hall!

  • @wigpiipgiw1582
    @wigpiipgiw1582 Před 8 měsíci +1

    I'm really confused on the minimal counterexample argument, because I get it in theory, but here he seemed to take some random variation, show you can do it with 4 colours, and say that proves you can with any map, can someone please explain

    • @matejlieskovsky9625
      @matejlieskovsky9625 Před 8 měsíci

      The image is not the minimal counterexample. The idea is that IF a minimal counterexample existed, THEN we show that it is not a minimal counterexample (either by solving it or making it smaller) and THEREFORE no minimal counterexample exists. These proofs by contradiction are a bit tricky and really hard to illustrate, since the object you are talking about does not actually exist.

  • @jillyapple1
    @jillyapple1 Před 8 měsíci +1

    Does Four-Color Theorem also work for theoretical exclaves? Or does it assume all regions are contiguous?

    • @mariasolpersico7115
      @mariasolpersico7115 Před 8 měsíci +1

      It does not work on enclaves in some cases, because in math the term "map" does not have exclaces

  • @petrospaulos7736
    @petrospaulos7736 Před 10 měsíci +2

    This is true. My old laptop can confirm...

  • @procdalsinazev
    @procdalsinazev Před 8 měsíci +1

    Really well made again. I also like Kempe's (fake) proof, I even once released an April fool's day video proving the four color theorem with it. Despite this, I didn't really understand the idea behind the valid computer-generated proof, and this video just explained it so clearly. Similarly as with Langlads program, it is impressive how you can go deeper than ordinary math youtubers in such a short time and remain easily understandable. By the way coincidentally, I am now working on computer / formal mathematics -- I would like computers to be able to one day solve IMO problems but there is still a long way to go.

  • @username00081
    @username00081 Před 15 dny

    u deserve more subs and likes

  • @yamatocannon1
    @yamatocannon1 Před 10 měsíci +420

    How can this video have 731 views when there's only 600 people on earth?

    • @ashutoshgupta1935
      @ashutoshgupta1935 Před 10 měsíci +27

      131 from another universe 😂😂

    • @yoshi314
      @yoshi314 Před 10 měsíci +13

      off by one error

    • @mal9369
      @mal9369 Před 10 měsíci +53

      You can watch the video more than once. All of the views actually only come from 13 different people

    • @shredl0ck
      @shredl0ck Před 10 měsíci +3

      😅

    • @Cpt_John_Price
      @Cpt_John_Price Před 10 měsíci +1

      Im pretty sure people dont exist, its just a random bunch of numbers that increases with no reason.

  • @robertforster8984
    @robertforster8984 Před 10 měsíci +2

    You know all that footage is from the 50’s and not the 70’s right?

  • @efkastner
    @efkastner Před 10 měsíci

    why is David S. Richson’s voice SO familiar?!

  • @yashwantg5045
    @yashwantg5045 Před 9 měsíci

    is it same as graph bipartitie problem?

  • @erik2602
    @erik2602 Před 7 měsíci +1

    Only issue I have about this theorem is: what if 5 countries touch each other in the same point, like a 5-way star? Or doesn't that single point count as 'bordering'?

  • @najmiebinmaliki
    @najmiebinmaliki Před 10 měsíci +1

    My question is, how do they know there are a finite number of unavoidable sets? (1,936 sets)

    • @tommyrjensen
      @tommyrjensen Před 2 měsíci

      Basically they constructed an unavoidable set of configurations, that is to say, every planar graph provably contains at least one of these. Also the configurations are chosen so that they all are "likely to be" reducible, in the same sense as in Kempe's failed proof. Finally a computer program is used to verify that each configuration is indeed reducible. When they hit on a set of configurations that works, they were done.

  • @JordanBeagle
    @JordanBeagle Před 8 měsíci

    4:42 This is another reason why peer review is so important

  • @annaairahala9462
    @annaairahala9462 Před 8 měsíci +3

    Unfortunately this is only true for 2 dimensional maps, is there a known minimum for 3 dimensional maps as those become more common?

  • @HazhMcMoor
    @HazhMcMoor Před 9 měsíci

    What other theorems are proved by computers by now?

  • @raphaelrossi6339
    @raphaelrossi6339 Před 8 měsíci +2

    If you represent the areas of any map with 4 or more areas with a vertices and draw a line between each bordering vertices, (as mentioned in the video), but then translate the vertices into 4 vertices in three dimensions, you will get a three sided pyramid with each vertices being a point and each line connecting a bordering area being an edge for any possible arrangement of four areas. And then if you project this pyramid back onto two dimensions with a light, then one of the connecting lines between the vertices must cross another line, therefore those two vertices (areas) cannot be bordering each other and can be colored using the same color. I am not a mathematician, but is this not a proof?

    • @Jethro-goro
      @Jethro-goro Před 8 měsíci +2

      A three-sided pyramid, aka a tetrahedron, can be flattened without the edges crossing by depicting it as a triangle (the base of the pyramid) with a vertex (the peak) in the center.

  • @hassanalihusseini1717
    @hassanalihusseini1717 Před 8 měsíci

    I understood the six colour proof.... but five colours already was very hard for me.

  • @peeet
    @peeet Před 9 měsíci +1

    Maps tend to be 2D.
    You don't find a map with an upstairs... or do you?
    House plans might have any number of "staircases" to the next floor, that has rooms with different coloured carpets.
    How many different colours of carpet are needed to ensure that the adjacent room doesn't have the same colour?
    Have I accidentally set another level of challenge?

    • @thedoczekpl
      @thedoczekpl Před 8 měsíci

      No, because it can be easily proven that there is no answer (the answer is infinity)
      [========================
      [=^=][=^=][=^=][=^=][=^=][=^=][=
      There can be one large room upstairs that can be connected to all the rooms downstairs

  • @anomos1611
    @anomos1611 Před 6 měsíci

    Highly recommend Donald Mackenzie's book Mechanizing Proof

  • @stephenclark9917
    @stephenclark9917 Před 8 měsíci

    Yorkshire is massive!

  • @rajankandel8354
    @rajankandel8354 Před 10 měsíci +1

    "Suppose you want to color the map with four or fewer colors, if you can't there exist smallest map of such"

    • @ronald3836
      @ronald3836 Před 10 měsíci +3

      All natural numbers are interesting. If this were false, there would be a smallest non-interesting natural number, and that number would be very interesting. QED

  • @catmonarchist8920
    @catmonarchist8920 Před 10 měsíci

    Historic counties!

  • @PaGDu333
    @PaGDu333 Před 8 měsíci +1

    For some reason, graph coloring seems much more complicated for me

  • @Trolligi
    @Trolligi Před 10 měsíci +9

    Exclaves and enclaves in question:

    • @skyscraperfan
      @skyscraperfan Před 10 měsíci +3

      With enclaves and exclaves the number is not limited, as each country could have an exclave in each other country. Then each country would need a different colour.

  • @delxinogaming6046
    @delxinogaming6046 Před 10 měsíci

    Has math solved gerrymandering? Area to circumference ratio

  • @sgtpprrus
    @sgtpprrus Před 10 měsíci

    what about 3d map from starwars

  • @hungvu262
    @hungvu262 Před 9 měsíci

    Wonder if something like that exists for 3d

  • @robertburton432
    @robertburton432 Před 6 měsíci

    How many theorems make a theory? Shapes and Colours make a state?4 points of references=D

  • @nomoredarts8918
    @nomoredarts8918 Před 10 měsíci

    I've learned about this from Persona 5

  • @Will.i.am.Mitchell
    @Will.i.am.Mitchell Před 10 měsíci

    Uh oh, a problem?!

  • @RogueDakotan
    @RogueDakotan Před 8 měsíci

    so this only applies to maps with "states" that have five or fewer neighbors?

    • @SabiaSparrow
      @SabiaSparrow Před 8 měsíci

      No, the proof uses the fact that every map has *at least one* state with five or fewer neighbours, that doesn't mean higher ones don't exist

  • @JordanBeagle
    @JordanBeagle Před 8 měsíci

    4:00 But this doesn't account for every possible map I wouldn't think

    • @0106johnny
      @0106johnny Před 8 měsíci

      No, it doesn't work for exclaves. The regions have to be contiguous

  • @abdjahdoiahdoai
    @abdjahdoiahdoai Před 10 měsíci +1

    great timing to release this story. More AI and learning based methods will be the important in many computational field

  • @Emc4421
    @Emc4421 Před 10 měsíci +4

    This would make a great project for math students at any age. Ask them, color in this map, so that no neighbors are the same color, and try and use the least amount of colors possible. See who wins.

    • @skyscraperfan
      @skyscraperfan Před 10 měsíci +4

      You raise a good point: While the theorem proves that you can colour any map in four colours, it does not tell you HOW. For a very complicated map you will run into issues, if you you try it by hand. Then you may need some of those complex recolouring algorithms.

    • @Emc4421
      @Emc4421 Před 10 měsíci +3

      @@skyscraperfan or just like ya know, make the kids think a little and use their brains.

    • @fernandobanda5734
      @fernandobanda5734 Před 10 měsíci +2

      ​@@Emc4421I don't know why you think what the other comment said isn't "using their brain"

  • @idk_whatmynameis
    @idk_whatmynameis Před 8 měsíci

    As a digital cartographer, give me any map and I am making it with four colours

  • @EdKolis
    @EdKolis Před 7 měsíci

    I wonder how many colors you'd need to color a 3D map?

  • @fredroberts8275
    @fredroberts8275 Před 8 měsíci

    How many elegant proofs have we missed doing this?

  • @taleladar
    @taleladar Před 9 měsíci +1

    You can prove this theorem yourself by opening up MSPaint (or any other drawing program) and trying to make 5 different shapes all touch one another. It's trivial to get all three to touch each other, and you can easily make all four shapes touch one another. But when you try to add a 5th, they start blocking each other and getting in the way. Make room for one shape/color to touch another, but then you've cut off another shape/color. This happens no matter what you try to do. I'd say this is also a property of geometry and the limits of 2d space.

    • @arpitkumar4525
      @arpitkumar4525 Před 7 měsíci

      But how do you prove that its impossible to have 5 vertices that connect completely with each other? We can see so its intuitive but maybe we are missing something beyond our intuition and visualization?

    • @taleladar
      @taleladar Před 7 měsíci

      @@arpitkumar4525 I guess I don't get what you're asking. If we demonstrate by example that the task is impossible, and exhaust all possibilities, then is that not already proof?

    • @arpitkumar4525
      @arpitkumar4525 Před 7 měsíci

      @@taleladar But how do you know you exhausted all possibilities? There might be something you didn't consider?

  • @killedbyLife
    @killedbyLife Před 9 měsíci +3

    Isn't the simplest proof the fact that you can't draw a clique of five or more without edges intersecting?

    • @taleladar
      @taleladar Před 9 měsíci

      Very simple, and elegant.

    • @SabiaSparrow
      @SabiaSparrow Před 8 měsíci +3

      No, you need to consider that there's more countries than just the ones bordering the one that you're colouring right now, some other neighbours of the neighbouring countries might have made that colouring invalid already

    • @killedbyLife
      @killedbyLife Před 8 měsíci

      @@SabiaSparrow Give me an example.

    • @arpitkumar4525
      @arpitkumar4525 Před 7 měsíci

      But how do you prove your statement that we can't draw a clique of 5 or more without edges intersecting?

    • @taleladar
      @taleladar Před 7 měsíci

      @@arpitkumar4525 Get out a piece of paper, or open some other drawing app.
      First you put one dot anywhere near the middle. Then you draw another dot nearby and connect with a line. The goal here is to add dots, or vertices, which connect to *all other* dots, but their lines *do not* intersect. These first two steps are trivial, and the only "intersection" you could possibly have is if you put the two dots right on top of each other.
      Your next task is a third dot, which is also trivially easy. Place the dot anywhere else on the paper that isn't on the line you just drew. Connect all the vertices and now you have a triangle.
      When you add the fourth dot, this is your first meaningful decision. You only have two options: you can put the dot inside the triangle, or outside it. These are literally your only options, unless you want to put your dot on one of the other lines or dots you drew, which is automatic failure.
      If you put your dot inside the triangle you had, you can easily connect it to all the other dots and still satisfy the requirements. If you put your dot on the outside, it's possible that you can't. You would have to position the dot so that it is essentially extending from a point on the triangle in order for your new dot to connect to the back two vertices. If you do not position this dot correctly, it can't reach the vertex in the back without crossing an existing line.
      If you think about what we've done, it is logically impossible to have arrived at any other outcomes. And if you think about it more, both examples we end up with are pretty much the same configuration, but perhaps stretched in certain ways.
      The last thing to do is try to add a 5th dot which connects to all the vertices, but does not cross any lines. And here is where we run into a problem. Place the dot anywhere inside the bigger triangle, and it is boxed in and can only reach 3 of the 4 previous vertices. Place the dot outside the large triangle, and although you can reach all the outer vertices, you can never reach the inner vertex without crossing a line.
      This truth is absolutely undeniable, and therefore it is a form of proof. If you are looking for something purely mathematical, I don't think anyone in the comments section has any time to entertain you.

  • @qutumap
    @qutumap Před 8 měsíci

    What would a human understandable proof be worth, as in how could the prover's efforts be rewarded? And I don't mean BS such as the accomplishment being reward in itself. I mean financial or livelihood gain.

  • @EdKolis
    @EdKolis Před 7 měsíci

    Is this related to six degrees of Kevin Bacon? Because it feels like it should be...

  • @nolikeygsomnipresence270
    @nolikeygsomnipresence270 Před 10 měsíci +6

    I understood nothing from this video. On one hand, it makes me kinda mad and a bit sad, but also happy that we have so many people understanding it. Please, never support the de-education of peoples.

    • @skyscraperfan
      @skyscraperfan Před 10 měsíci +2

      The idea is that if there were maps that could not be coloured with four colours, we look at a minimal one. Then we delete some countries. As the new map is smaller than the minimal one that requires more than five colours, it can be coloured with four colours. No we add the countries back and prove that the map can still be coloured with four colours. The complicated part is proving that there is a set of subgraphs so that each graph without crossing lines contains at least one of them. If that is proven, you need to find recolouring algorithms for every one of those subgraphs that work with four colours or less.

    • @Will.i.am.Mitchell
      @Will.i.am.Mitchell Před 10 měsíci +1

      You make a good point!

    • @Sagittarius-A-Star
      @Sagittarius-A-Star Před 9 měsíci +3

      👍 for admitting that you don't understand this stuff.
      If everybody were as honest as you there would be no Covidiots, conspiracy theories, Antivaxxers, .... I guess.
      Only yesterday I told my daughter that it is not necessarily useless to learn things in school which one will never need again in life - it at least makes one realize that there are things one does not understand but that there ore others who do; so if there is a problem ( like climate change, Covid, ... ), just shut up and let them do their work ( and listen to them ).

  • @janandermatt6290
    @janandermatt6290 Před 7 měsíci +1

    what if a dot has 6 neighbors?

  • @ianclark3912
    @ianclark3912 Před 4 měsíci

    crazy how this random thought evolved into something that connects the whole world

  • @primetime3422
    @primetime3422 Před 9 měsíci

    Wait, wait, wait, wait, does this account for exclaves, and enclaves?

    • @0106johnny
      @0106johnny Před 8 měsíci

      No. if you add non-contiguous reasons it's easy to create an example that requires more than n colors for any given n

  • @InternetProgrammer
    @InternetProgrammer Před 9 měsíci

    1:07 Evidence might be that color was expensive to produce at the time. So, it could be a valid reason, and cartographers are more mathematical than the average joe.

  • @user-kz1jt6se5b
    @user-kz1jt6se5b Před 5 měsíci

    😮

  • @onkcuf
    @onkcuf Před 10 měsíci

    I can solve this Quite easily. Use more colors like maybe 6.

    • @sourdough4645
      @sourdough4645 Před 10 měsíci +2

      Only 4 colors are required, you did not disprove anything.

  • @ratelslangen
    @ratelslangen Před 8 měsíci

    Mathematicians failed to consider exclaves and overseas territories.

    • @Schnoz42069
      @Schnoz42069 Před 8 měsíci +1

      The word map in math doesn't count enclaves or exclaves

  • @tasty_fish
    @tasty_fish Před 8 měsíci

    I’ve created an example where you need 5 colours. When you have to deal with several enclaves. That blows this theory out of the water!

    • @0106johnny
      @0106johnny Před 8 měsíci +3

      Obviously this requires contiguous reasons. With exclaves it's really easy to make a map that uses as many colors as you like

  • @marchlopez9934
    @marchlopez9934 Před 10 měsíci

    The Four Color Theorem, which states that any map can be colored with only four colors without any two adjacent regions sharing the same color, was a longstanding problem in mathematics that was finally solved in 1976 with the use of computers. The problem was initially posed by Francis Guthrie, who wondered if the four-color rule applied to all maps. Mathematicians attempted to solve the problem for decades but couldn't find a proof that satisfied everyone. It wasn't until Kenneth Appel and Wolfgang Haken developed a proof that relied heavily on computers that the problem was finally solved. This sparked a debate about the role of computers in mathematics and what it means to be a mathematician. The proof has wide-ranging applications, from planning wedding seating arrangements to assigning frequencies to radio stations. The problem was originally thought to have come from cartographers, but it was actually posed by mathematicians. The problem can be simplified by converting maps to planar graphs, which are easier to analyze. Mathematicians use graph theory to study relationships between objects, and this helps them analyze the Four Color Theorem. Although the proof is not without controversy, it stands as a testament to the power of computers in mathematics and the innovative thinking of mathematicians.

  • @eisenspiel
    @eisenspiel Před měsícem

    This theorem would fall apart if two non-neighboring countries decided to build a bridge over a third, causing the map to become three-dimensional.

  • @anonanon2031
    @anonanon2031 Před 9 měsíci

    Can't you have 1 huge country connected to 20 other large countries?

    • @0106johnny
      @0106johnny Před 8 měsíci

      Yeah, but you can't make the 20 countries border each other

    • @anonanon2031
      @anonanon2031 Před 8 měsíci

      @@0106johnny What do you mean you can't? Draw a rectangle, and then draw 20 rectangles 20x smaller than the first, all touching it.

    • @0106johnny
      @0106johnny Před 8 měsíci +1

      @@anonanon2031Yeah, but the 20 rectangles wont all touch each other, so you can still use four colors to color them.

    • @anonanon2031
      @anonanon2031 Před 8 měsíci

      That is the part I don't understand. Why wouldn't 1 rectangle touch 20 others?@@0106johnny Therefore, requiring you to have 20 colors so no two colors touched...

  • @julien827
    @julien827 Před 8 měsíci

    take lesotho and separate it in four quarters, all of them will touch each other and will be four colors, now add south africa back and BAM the four color theorem is wrong unless you dont count corners which is fair

    • @SabiaSparrow
      @SabiaSparrow Před 8 měsíci +2

      The theorem doesn't count corners
      If corners are counted, any amount of colours may be necessary because any amount of countries can touch in one point

  • @1EARTHARCHITECT
    @1EARTHARCHITECT Před 8 měsíci

    The simplest shape is a triangle which has three neighbors plus itself = four colors needed = more complex shapes may need less but couid never need more.

  • @sierramaestra4998
    @sierramaestra4998 Před 8 měsíci

    Is it just me or the paint colour he is wearing looks a bit sus

  • @allangathecha.
    @allangathecha. Před 10 měsíci +1

    GraphQL's origin story?

  • @TheJohnblyth
    @TheJohnblyth Před 10 měsíci +1

    My proof (if you can call it that) is simpler: the main stress is on the borders. Every country on a map has either an odd or an even number of bordering countries. An even number only requires 2 extra colours to contrast with the home country, while an odd number requires three extra: so no configuration of a country and its neighbours needs more than 4 total colours to distinguish them from one another. This is true of every such instance in 2-D. Each neighbouring country has exactly the same scenario. Exclaves won’t always work though because of an unviable rigidity in such an extension of the system. So it’s a problem of numbers after all. A neat little piece of history with the computer proof being finally clearly a proof after all, which I had previously doubted.

    • @skyscraperfan
      @skyscraperfan Před 10 měsíci +9

      That only proves it for one country and all its neighbours. Both those countries have neighbours themselves. Every graph with no crossing lines can represent a map. So their are endless possibilities.

    • @TheJohnblyth
      @TheJohnblyth Před 10 měsíci

      and each such country is subject to exactly same constraints and opportunities. I'm not yet convinced I'm wrong, but if you could explain it in simple terms . . .?@@skyscraperfan

    • @Messilegend1000
      @Messilegend1000 Před 10 měsíci

      ​@@skyscraperfanso iin that case, you can have canada swallow usa to create The Great Canadian Empire, with X+Y states....whiiiich still follow the topological rule that that other person mentioned.
      The 4CT is pro-imperialist, and thus, I reject it, just fyi.

  • @dickybannister5192
    @dickybannister5192 Před 10 měsíci

    on second thoughts. some more stuff. Haken died in October last year. his family are also a bunch of geniuses. armin proved some stuff which Pudlak mentions in "proofs as games". the idea of "gameifying" proofs to use human "game play" intuition is interesting. but the actual fact that it works as a strategy is fun. even when it doesnt, which harks back to this problem as a game (see "the map-coloring game" by Bartnicki, Grytczuk, Kierstead and Zhu. as expected, popularised by Gardner) it reveals some great facts about strategy, like Daltonism (colorblindness) might force a player who suggests the game to another to change the game to something similar and yet they can still get a winning stategy that can be back-ported to the original game!!

  • @randomviever
    @randomviever Před 7 měsíci

    I could break 5 colour therorem in 20 minutes

  • @user-gq2gz3jy7w
    @user-gq2gz3jy7w Před 9 měsíci +1

    The "music" is really annoying.

  • @emmanuelogunlana877
    @emmanuelogunlana877 Před 10 měsíci

    Sorry to sound crude and dumb but why does colouring of a map matter?? Can't you just colour it whatever you want? Again sorry to sound dumb, i am not really a mathematician.

    • @fernandobanda5734
      @fernandobanda5734 Před 10 měsíci +2

      If two neighboring countries have the same color, you might not see that they're different countries, especially at a distance.

  • @BeanBean_Official
    @BeanBean_Official Před 10 měsíci +5

    First

    • @Trolligi
      @Trolligi Před 10 měsíci +2

      you have indeed been first, however no one asked

    • @BeanBean_Official
      @BeanBean_Official Před 10 měsíci +8

      About your opinion

  • @jayme3181
    @jayme3181 Před 10 měsíci

    I'm glad that by increasing use of computers we need less mathematicians.

  • @samsonsoturian6013
    @samsonsoturian6013 Před 8 měsíci +1

    There's an assumption here: Not all countries are geographically continuous.

    • @Schnoz42069
      @Schnoz42069 Před 8 měsíci +1

      You misunderstand what the term map means exactly in mathematics

    • @samsonsoturian6013
      @samsonsoturian6013 Před 8 měsíci

      @@Schnoz42069 I don't care what the teem map means in math

    • @Schnoz42069
      @Schnoz42069 Před 8 měsíci

      @@samsonsoturian6013 Hence why you think there is an assumption when there is none

    • @samsonsoturian6013
      @samsonsoturian6013 Před 8 měsíci

      @@Schnoz42069 then what does this problem have to do with actual maps?

    • @mranima748
      @mranima748 Před 8 měsíci

      @@samsonsoturian6013 it has to do with mathematical maps