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An Erdős-Bacon number is a score in game which combines the Bacon number from the game "Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon", with the Erdős number from a similar game based around proximity to co-working with the mathematician Paul Erdős.

The "Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon" game originates from the Six degrees of separation theory.

For a time, the person with the lowest known Erdős-Bacon number was Brian Greene. He appeared in Frequency with John Di Benedetto, who was in Sleepers with Kevin Bacon, for a Bacon number of 2. He also wrote a paper with Shing-Tung Yau, who wrote a paper with Ronald Graham, who wrote a paper with Paul Erdős, for an Erdős number of 3 and a combined Erdős-Bacon number of 5.

Brian Greene was later matched by Dave Bayer, mathematical consultant to A Beautiful Mind who recieved a minor role on screen in the movie. Rance Howard was also in A Beautiful Mind and in Apollo 13 with Kevin Bacon to give Bayer a Bacon number of 2. Bayer's Erdős number is also 3, totalling to an Erdős-Bacon number of 5 as well.

External links

• Erdos-Bacon Numbers - Written for the Daily Telegraph, April 2002
• The Erdös Number Project
• Boing Boing directory article
• BBC Radio 4 - A Further 5 Numbers

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