Related papers: Nerves, minors, and piercing numbers

We prove a new fractional Helly theorem for families of sets obeying topological conditions. More precisely, we show that the nerve of a finite family of open sets (and of subcomplexes of cell complexes) in R^d is k-Leray where k depends on…

A cornerstone theorem in the Graph Minors series of Robertson and Seymour is the result that every graph $G$ with no minor isomorphic to a fixed graph $H$ has a certain structure. The structure can then be exploited to deduce far-reaching…

The nerve theorem is a basic result of algebraic topology that plays a central role in computational and applied aspects of the subject. In topological data analysis, one often needs a nerve theorem that is functorial in an appropriate…

Tutte (1961) proved the chain theorem for simple $3$-connected graphs with respect to minors, which states that every simple $3$-connected graph $G$ has a simple $3$-connected minor with one edge fewer than $G$, unless $G$ is a wheel graph.…

Menger's Theorem is a fundamental result in graph theory. It states that if in a graph $G$ with distinguished sets of terminal vertices $S$ and $T$ there are no $k$ pairwise vertex-disjoint $S$-$T$ paths, then there is a set of less than…

Given a simplicial complex and a collection of subcomplexes covering it, the nerve theorem, a fundamental tool in topological combinatorics, guarantees a certain connectivity of the simplicial complex when connectivity conditions on the…

We study a variety of natural constructions from topological combinatorics, including matching complexes as well as other graph complexes, from the perspective of the graph minor category of \parencite{MiProRa}. We prove that these…

In this note we show that a particular homological nerve theorem, which was originally proved for a finite cover of a simplicial complex by subcomplexes, also holds for an open cover of an arbitrary topological space. The motivation for…

Given a locally finite cover of a simplicial complex by subcomplexes, Bj\"orner's version of the Nerve Theorem provides conditions under which the homotopy groups of the nerve agree with those of the original complex through a range of…

We prove the existence of a function f: N^2 -> N such that for all p,k in N every (k(p-3) + 14p+14) - connected graph either has k disjoint K_p minors or contains a set of at most f(p,k) vertices whose deletion kills all its K_p minors. For…

Tverberg's theorem says that a set with sufficiently many points in $\mathbb{R}^d$ can always be partitioned into $m$ parts so that the $(m-1)$-simplex is the (nerve) intersection pattern of the convex hulls of the parts. In…

A graph G is weakly 4-connected if it is 3-connected, has at least five vertices, and for every pair of sets (A,B) with union V(G) and intersection of size three such that no edge has one end in A-B and the other in B-A, one of the induced…

A theorem of Tutte states that every 4-connected non-hamiltonian graph contains $K_{3,3}$ as a minor. We strengthen this result by proving that such a graph must contain $K_{3,4}$ as a minor, thereby confirming a special case of a…

For a (possibly infinite) fixed family of graphs F, we say that a graph G overlays F on a hypergraph H if V(H) is equal to V(G) and the subgraph of G induced by every hyperedge of H contains some member of F as a spanning subgraph.While it…

Let $G$ be a $3$-connected graph with a $3$-connected (or sufficiently small) simple minor $H$. We establish that $G$ has a forest $F$ with at least $\left\lceil(|G|-|H|+1)/2\right\rceil$ edges such that $G/e$ is $3$-connected with an…

Tangles of graphs have been introduced by Robertson and Seymour in the context of their graph minor theory. Tangles may be viewed as describing "k-connected components" of a graph (though in a twisted way). They play an important role in…

The graph minor structure theorem by Robertson and Seymour shows that every graph that excludes a fixed minor can be constructed by a combination of four ingredients: graphs embedded in a surface of bounded genus, a bounded number of…

Almost $4$-connectivity is a weakening of $4$-connectivity which allows for vertices of degree three. In this paper we prove the following theorem. Let $G$ be an almost $4$-connected triangle-free planar graph, and let $H$ be an almost…

A $k$-connected set in an infinite graph, where $k > 0$ is an integer, is a set of vertices such that any two of its subsets of the same size $\ell \leq k$ can be connected by $\ell$ disjoint paths in the whole graph. We characterise the…

Let $G$ be a graph and $p \in [1, \infty]$. The parameter $f_p(G)$ is the least integer $k$ such that for all $m$ and all vectors $(r_v)_{v \in V(G)} \subseteq \mathbb{R}^m$, there exist vectors $(q_v)_{v \in V(G)} \subseteq \mathbb{R}^k$…