Ramsey theory
Ramsey theory noun: a branch of mathematics which deals with patterns that inevitably arise in sufficiently large sets (i.e., subsets of some structure).
Noun
Ramsey theory (uncountable)
- A branch of mathematics which deals with patterns that inevitably arise in sufficiently large sets (i.e., subsets of some structure).
- Ramsey theory can be loosely described as the study of structure which is preserved under finite decomposition.1987, R. L. Graham, V. Rôdl, “Numbers in Ramsey Theory”, in C. Whitehead, editor, Surveys in Combinatorics 1987: Invited Papers for the Eleventh British Combinatorial Conference, Cambridge University...
- We are now ready to offer a loose definition of Ramsey theory.
- Ramsey theory is a collection of results which, given a finite coloring of some structure, guarantee the existence of certain monochromatic configurations or substructures.1999, Randall McCutcheon, Elemental Methods in Ergodic Ramsey Theory, Springer, Lecture Notes in Mathematics: 1722, page 8
Origin of Ramsey theory
Named after British mathematician and philosopher Frank P. Ramsey.
Questions about Ramsey theory
- What does Ramsey theory mean?
- Ramsey theory means a branch of mathematics which deals with patterns that inevitably arise in sufficiently large sets (i.e., subsets of some structure).
- What part of speech is Ramsey theory?
- Ramsey theory is a noun.
Words near Ramsey theory in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: Ramsey theory (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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