An Infinite Orchard

22 points by bladecatcher 7 years ago | 5 comments

The final paragraph on the topic alludes to Olber's paradox, but stars are not infinitesimally small, so I do not think the argument applies here (though the Big Bang makes the question moot anyway.)

http://cmb.physics.wisc.edu/pub/tutorial/olbers.html

Retra 7 years ago | |

Stars are also not confined to an integral grid. Surely if the trees in the orchard were not so confined, they would cover the entire field of view.

mannykannot 7 years ago | | |

Good point - though it has me wondering this: the equi-spaced grid is a case having a straightforward proof (given that Cantor did the heavy lifting), but is it a necessary condition?

mcenedella 7 years ago |

In the final problem, as the apple trees can be in more than one line, the minimal valid solution is 9 trees, not 12.