Find the smallest positive integer for which, no matter how we choose to color red vertices of a cube, there is a vertex of the cube whose three adjacent vertices are all colored red.
Solution
Let be a cube. Coloring red the four vertices of a face (e.g. ), no vertex of the cube has all three adjacent vertices colored red, so .
Now, let us color 5 vertices of the cube in red. Anyway we do it, one of the faces and has at least three red vertices. Without loss of generality, suppose are red.
If is also red, the face has only one red vertex; if is the red vertex, with , then all the adjacent vertices of are colored red.
If is not red, the face has two red vertices. If one of or is red, then the adjacent vertices of , respectively , are all red. Otherwise, and are red.
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