On four color monochromatic sets with nondecreasing diameter

Let m and r be positive integers. Define f(m,r) to be the least positive integer N such that for every coloring of the integers 1,…,N with r colors there exist monochromatic subsets B₁ and B₂ (not necessarily of the same color), each having m elements, such that (a) max(B₁)-min(B₁)max(B₂)-min(B₂), and (b) max(B₁)B₂). We improve previous upper bounds to determine that f(m,4)=12m-9.