Let X 1, X 2, …, X n be independent and uniformly distributed random variables in the unit square [0, 1]2, and let L(X 1, …, X n ) be the length of the shortest traveling salesman path through these points. In 1959, Beardwood, Halton and Hammersley proved the existence of a universal constant β such that limn→∞ n−1/2 L(X 1, …, X n ) = β almost surely. The best bounds for β are still those originally established by Beardwood, Halton and Hammersley, namely 0.625 ≤ β ≤ 0.922. We slightly improve both upper and lower bounds.
