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A finite set of naturals $A$ is said to be a sum-distinct set for $N \in \mathbb{N}$ if
$A\subseteq{1, ..., N}$ and the sums $\sum_{a\in S}a$ are distinct for all $S\subseteq A$
A number of improvements of the constant $\frac{1}{4}$ have been given, with the current
record $\sqrt{2 / \pi}$ first provided in unpublished work of Elkies and Gleason.
A generalisation of the problem to sets $A \subseteq (0, N]$ of real numbers, such that the subset
sums all differ by at least $1$ is proposed in [Er73] and [ErGr80].
The positive statement is false: every natural-number counterexample to erdos_1 embeds into
$\mathbb{R}$, and distinct integer subset sums differ by at least one.
[Er73] Erdős, P., Problems and results on combinatorial number theory. A survey of combinatorial theory (Proc. Internat. Sympos., Colorado State Univ., Fort Collins, Colo., 1971) (1973), 117-138.
[ErGr80] Erdős, P. and Graham, R., Old and new problems and results in combinatorial number theory. Monographies de L'Enseignement Mathematique (1980).