Pythagorean walks on $\mathbb{Z}^2$

TL;DR

This paper investigates a graph on ^2 with edges representing Pythagorean triangles, proving its diameter is 3 and exploring the complex structure of shortest paths, supported by computer experiments and conjectures.

Contribution

It establishes the diameter of the Pythagorean walk graph as 3 and introduces a general relation for infinite series of length-2 paths, supported by computational evidence.

Findings

Graph diameter is exactly 3.

Paths of length 2 can connect geometrically close nodes via distant points.

Computer experiments support the conjecture on path structures.

Abstract

We consider an infinite graph with the vertex set $\mathbb{Z}^2$ and edges connecting the vertices iff the Euclidean distance between the respective points is an integer, and the points do not lie on the same horizontal or vertical. Equivalently, there must exist a Pythagorean triangle with the hypotenuse corresponding to the graph edge and the legs parallel to the axes. We prove that the diameter of this graph is $3$, but surprisingly it appears that the nodes at the maximal (graph) distance of $3$ apart seem to be only those that are geometrically very close to each other. It also appears that the paths of length $2$ connecting geometrically close nodes may need to go through geometrically very distant points. We prove a general relation that generates infinite series of length-$2$ paths, and present the results of our computer experiments. We conclude the paper with a general conjecture about the length-$2$ and length-$3$ paths. We have posed this conjecture to several of the current leading AI models. Remarkably, none of them managed to make any significant progress in proving it.