Related papers: Algebraic Methods in Discrete Analogs of the Kakey…

We have conjectured that the constraint equations defined by a generic Laman graph are not soluble by radicals when the graph is 3-connected. We prove that this conjecture follows from the following simpler conjecture: the constraint…

We say that a finite set of red and blue points in the plane in general position can be $K_{1,3}$-covered if the set can be partitioned into subsets of size $4$, with $3$ points of one color and $1$ point of the other color, in such a way…

We propose an algebraic geometry framework for the Kakeya problem. We conjecture that for any polynomials $f,g\in\F_{q_0}[x,y]$ and any $\F_q/\F_{q_0}$, the image of the map $\F_q^3\to\F_q^3$ given by $(s,x,y)\mapsto…

Kupavskii, Volostnov, and Yarovikov have recently shown that any set of $n$ points in general position in the plane has at least as many (partial) triangulations as the convex $n$-gon. We generalize this in two directions: we show that…

The Hartshorne--Hirschowitz theorem says that a generic union of lines in $\mathbb{P}^n$, $(n\geq 3)$, has good postulation. The proof of Hartshorne and Hirschowitz in the initial case $\mathbb{P}^3$ is difficult and so long, which is…

Artin's conjecture states that supersingular K3 surfaces over finite fields have Picard number 22. In this paper, we prove Artin's conjecture over fields of characteristic p>3. This implies Tate's conjecture for K3 surfaces over finite…

We give a quintet of proofs resulting from questions posed by Erd\H{o}s. These questions concern ordinary lines in planar point sets, sequences with uniformly small exponential sums, $K_4$-free $4$-critical graphs with few chords in any…

We provide a new lower bound on the number of $(\leq k)$-edges of a set of $n$ points in the plane in general position. We show that for $0 \leq k \leq\lfloor\frac{n-2}{2}\rfloor$ the number of $(\leq k)$-edges is at least $$ E_k(S) \geq…

A knot K is called n-adjacent to another knot K', if K admits a projection containing n generalized crossings such that changing any 0 < m \leq n of them yields a projection of K'. We apply techniques from the theory of sutured 3-manifolds,…

We collect some results in combinatorial geometry that follow from an inequality of Langer in algebraic geometry. Langer's inequality gives a lower bound on the number of incidences between a point set and its spanned lines, and was…

We study congruences of lines $X_\omega$ defined by a sufficiently general choice of an alternating 3-form $\omega$ in $n+1$ dimensions, as Fano manifolds of index $3$ and dimension $n-1$. These congruences include the…

Let $L$ be a set of $n$ lines in $R^3$ that is contained, when represented as points in the four-dimensional Pl\"ucker space of lines in $R^3$, in an irreducible variety $T$ of constant degree which is \emph{non-degenerate} with respect to…

We prove Iitaka's $C_{n,m}$ conjecture for $3$-folds over the algebraic closure of finite fields. Along the way we prove some results on the birational geometry of log surfaces over nonclosed fields and apply these to existence of relative…

We introduce the notion of a combinatorial $n$-od cover, for $n \geq 3$, which is a tool that may be used to show that certain continua embedded in the plane are not simple $n$-od-like. Using this tool, we generalize a classic example of…

A conjecture, known as the Shokurov-Koll\'ar connectedness principle, predicts the following. Let $(X,B)$ be a pair, and let $f \colon X \rightarrow S$ be a contraction with $-(K_X + B)$ nef over $S$; then, for any point $s \in S$, the…

We show that the number of unit-area triangles determined by a set $S$ of $n$ points in the plane is $O(n^{20/9})$, improving the earlier bound $O(n^{9/4})$ of Apfelbaum and Sharir [Discrete Comput. Geom., 2010]. We also consider two…

We show that any finite family of pairwise intersecting balls in $\mathbb{E}^n$ can be pierced by $(\sqrt{3/2}+o(1))^n$ points improving the previously known estimate of $(2+o(1))^n$. As a corollary, this implies that any $2$-illuminable…

We first describe a reduction from the problem of lower-bounding the number of distinct distances determined by a set $S$ of $s$ points in the plane to an incidence problem between points and a certain class of helices (or parabolas) in…

We consider the complexity of Delaunay triangulations of sets of points in R^3 under certain practical geometric constraints. The spread of a set of points is the ratio between the longest and shortest pairwise distances. We show that in…

In 1982, Ungar proved that the connecting lines of a set of $n$ noncollinear points in the plane determine at least $2\lfloor n/2 \rfloor$ directions (slopes). Sets achieving this minimum for $n$ odd (even) are called…