English

Generalized Kneser coloring theorems with combinatorial proofs

Combinatorics 2009-11-07 v1 Algebraic Topology

Abstract

The Kneser conjecture (1955) was proved by Lov\'asz (1978) using the Borsuk-Ulam theorem; all subsequent proofs, extensions and generalizations also relied on Algebraic Topology results, namely the Borsuk-Ulam theorem and its extensions. Only in 2000, Matou\v{s}ek provided the first combinatorial proof of the Kneser conjecture. Here we provide a hypergraph coloring theorem, with a combinatorial proof, which has as special cases the Kneser conjecture as well as its extensions and generalization by (hyper)graph coloring theorems of Dol'nikov, Alon-Frankl-Lov\'asz, Sarkaria, and Kriz. We also give a combinatorial proof of Schrijver's theorem.

Cite

@article{arxiv.math/0103146,
  title  = {Generalized Kneser coloring theorems with combinatorial proofs},
  author = {Günter M. Ziegler},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:math/0103146},
  year   = {2009}
}

Comments

19 pages, 4 figures