Related papers: A variant of the Hadwiger-Debrunner (p,q)-problem …

A family of sets $F$ is said to satisfy the $(p,q)$ property if among any $p$ sets in $F$, some $q$ have a non-empty intersection. Hadwiger and Debrunner (1957) conjectured that for any $p \geq q \geq d+1$ there exists $c=c_d(p,q)$, such…

Let $HD_d(p,q)$ denote the minimal size of a transversal that can always be guaranteed for a family of compact convex sets in $\mathbb{R}^d$ which satisfy the $(p,q)$-property ($p \geq q \geq d+1$). In a celebrated proof of the…

If K' and K are convex bodies of the plane such that K' is a subset of K then the perimeter of K' is not greater than the perimeter of K. We obtain the following generalization of this fact. Let K be a convex compact body of the plane with…

Hadwiger and Debrunner showed that for families of convex sets in $\mathbb{R}^d$ with the property that among any $p$ of them some $q$ have a common point, the whole family can be stabbed with $p-q+1$ points if $p \geq q \geq d+1$ and…

Hadwiger's theorem is a Helly-type theorem involving common transversals to families of convex sets instead of common intersections. Subsequently, Pollack and Wenger identified a necessary and sufficient condition, called a consistent…

Suppose that each proper subset of a set $S$ of points in a vector space is contained in the union of planes of specified dimensions, but $S$ itself is not contained in any such union. How large can $|S|$ be? We prove a general upper bound…

The Hadwiger-Debrunner number $HD_d(p,q)$ is the minimal size of a piercing set that can always be guaranteed for a family of compact convex sets in $\mathbb{R}^d$ that satisfies the $(p,q)$ property. Hadwiger and Debrunner showed that…

A classical open problem in combinatorial geometry is to obtain tight asymptotic bounds on the maximum number of k-level vertices in an arrangement of n hyperplanes in d dimensions (vertices with exactly k of the hyperplanes passing below…

Fixing $n$ general points $p_i$ in the plane, what is the dimension of the space of plane curves of degree $d$ having multiplicity $m_i$ at $p_i$ for each $i$? In this article we propose an approach to attack this problem, and demonstrate…

A central problem in discrete geometry, known as Hadwiger's covering problem, asks what the smallest natural number $N\left(n\right)$ is such that every convex body in ${\mathbb R}^{n}$ can be covered by a union of the interiors of at most…

The convexity number of a set $X \subset \mathbb{R}^2$ is the minimum number of convex subsets required to cover it. We study the following question: what is the largest possible convexity number $f(n)$ of $\mathbb{R}^2 \setminus S$, where…

In this article we address the problem of computing the dimension of the space of plane curves of degree $d$ with $n$ general points of multiplicity $m$. A conjecture of Harbourne and Hirschowitz implies that when $d \geq 3m$, the dimension…

A closed subscheme of codimension two $T \subset P^2$ is a quasi complete intersection (q.c.i.) of type $(a,b,c)$ if there exists a surjective morphism $\mathcal{O} (-a) \oplus \mathcal{O} (-b) \oplus \mathcal{O} (-c) \to \mathcal{I} _T$.…

Let C be two times continuously differentiable curve in R^2 with at least one point at which the curvature is non-zero. For any i,j > 0 with i+j =1, let Bad(i,j) denote the set of points (x,y) in R^2 for which max {||qx ||^{1/i},…

Given a finite set satisfying condition $\mathcal{A}$, the subset selection problem asks, how large of a subset satisfying condition $\mathcal{B}$ can we find? We make progress on three instances of subset selection problems in planar point…

We study the lengths of curves passing through a fixed number of points on the boundary of a convex shape in the plane. We show that for any convex shape $K$, there exist four points on the boundary of $K$ such that the length of any curve…

A family of sets has the $(p,q)$ property if among any $p$ members of the family some $q$ have a nonempty intersection. It is shown that for every $p\ge q\ge d+1$ there is a $c=c(p,q,d)<\infty$ such that for every family $\scr F$ of…

We consider the problem of testing, for a given set of planar regions $\cal R$ and an integer $k$, whether there exists a convex shape whose boundary intersects at least $k$ regions of $\cal R$. We provide a polynomial time algorithm for…

Let us have in S^2, R^2 or H^2 a pair of convex bodies, for S^2 different from S^2, such that the intersections of any congruent copies of them are centrally symmetric. Then our bodies are congruent circles. If the intersections of any…

We consider smooth surfaces $S \subset \Pq$ containing a plane curve $P$ and prove some general result concerning the linear system $|H-P|$. We then look at regular surfaces lying on hypersurfaces of degree $s$ having a plane of…