Where can I download the approx 1500 Appel-Haken reducible configurations in the Four-Color-Theorem proof?

Question

Where can I download computer representations of the approximately 1500 Appel-Haken reducible configurations in the Four-Color-Theorem proof?

The Wikipedia article (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_color_theorem) states "Their proof reduced the infinitude of possible maps to 1,936 reducible configurations (later reduced to 1,476) which had to be checked one by one by computer and took over a thousand hours". I'm assuming running their computer-based proof would be much faster on modern equipment, so I'd be happy to pointers to that code, too, from which I could extract this data.

You may find this 2010 paper, An Unavoidable Set of D-Reducible Configurations by John P. Steinberger, of interest. It presents a larger collection of unavoidable configurations (2822) that can be reduced by an easy algorithm. According to the paper, computer readable representations of the configurations are provided in the "ancillary" files shown on the Abstract page. — hardmath, Aug 13 '14 at 01:09

score 3 · Answer 1 · answered Aug 13 '14 at 16:48

I don't think there is a file easily available that contains Appel and Haken's configurations. The RSST paper mentions that in order to verify the AH paper, they would need to create a file from scratch containing all the configurations. Anyway, if you're interested in verifying the proof of the 4-color theorem, RSST simplified the process greatly, so you'd be better off using their method, and their files are also available for download here.

Thank you for letting me know. – Bruy Azca Aug 13 '14 at 21:58 — Bruy Azca, Aug 13 '14 at 21:58

Where can I download the approx 1500 Appel-Haken reducible configurations in the Four-Color-Theorem proof?

1 Answers1