Related papers: A positive fraction mutually avoiding sets theorem

In 1935, Erd\H{o}s and Szekeres proved that every set of $n$ points in general position in the plane contains the vertices of a convex polygon of $\frac{1}{2}\log_2(n)$ vertices. In 1961, they constructed, for every positive integer $t$, a…

We prove a fractional Helly theorem for $k$-flats intersecting fat convex sets. A family $\mathcal{F}$ of sets is said to be $\rho$-fat if every set in the family contains a ball and is contained in a ball such that the ratio of the radii…

A pair of planes, both projective or both affine, of the same order and on the same pointset are orthogoval if each line of one plane intersects each line of the other plane in at most two points. In this paper we prove new constructions…

In 1961, P. Erd\H{o}s, A. Ginzburg, and A. Ziv proved a remarkable theorem stating that each set of $2n-1$ integers contains a subset of size $n$, the sum of whose elements is divisible by $n$. We will prove a similar result for pairs of…

Let $X$ be any subset of the interval $[-1,1]$. A subset $I$ of the unit sphere in $R^n$ will be called \emph{$X$-avoiding} if $<u,v >\notin X$ for any $u,v \in I$. The problem of determining the maximum surface measure of a $\{ 0…

We study orbits of semigroups of $\text{SL}(2,\mathbb{Z})$, and demonstrate reciprocity obstructions: we show that certain such orbits avoid squares, but not as a consequence of obstructions inherited from an algebraic set, and not as a…

Erd\H{o}s asked what is the maximum number $\alpha(n)$ such that every set of $n$ points in the plane with no four on a line contains $\alpha(n)$ points in general position. We consider variants of this question for $d$-dimensional point…

More than twenty-five years ago, Manickam, Miklos, and Singhi conjectured that for positive integers $n,k$ with $n \geq 4k$, every set of $n$ real numbers with nonnegative sum has at least $\binom{n-1}{k-1}$ $k$-element subsets whose sum is…

Harborth [{\it Elemente der Mathematik}, Vol. 33 (5), 116--118, 1978] proved that every set of 10 points in the plane, no three on a line, contains an empty convex pentagon. From this it follows that the number of disjoint empty convex…

Let $P$ be a set of $m$ points and $L$ a set of $n$ lines in $\mathbb R^4$, such that the points of $P$ lie on an algebraic three-dimensional surface of degree $D$ that does not contain hyperplane or quadric components, and no 2-flat…

We show that there are sets of $n$ points in the plane with $n$ arbitrarily large that contain more than $n^{1.014}$ pairs of points separated by a distance exactly $1$. This improves on very recent work of a team at OpenAI, who proved the…

Let $P = A\times A \subset \mathbb{F}_p \times \mathbb{F}_p$, $p$ a prime. Assume that $P= A\times A$ has $n$ elements, $n<p$. See $P$ as a set of points in the plane over $\mathbb{F}_p$. We show that the pairs of points in $P$ determine…

A set of n segments in the plane may form a Euclidean TSP tour, a tree, or a matching, among others. Optimal TSP tours as well as minimum spanning trees and perfect matchings have no crossing segments, but several heuristics and…

We explore the separability of point sets in the plane by a restricted-orientation convex hull, which is an orientation-dependent, possibly disconnected, and non-convex enclosing shape that generalizes the convex hull. Let $R$ and $B$ be…

We compare two partitions of real bitangents to smooth plane quartics into sets of 4: one coming from the closures of connected components of the avoidance locus and another coming from tropical geometry. When both are defined, we use the…

We isolate conditions on the relative size of sets of natural numbers $A,B$ that guarantee a nonempty intersection $\Delta(A)\cap\Delta(B)\ne\emptyset$ of the corresponding sets of distances. Such conditions apply to a large class of zero…

For every $\beta\in(0,\infty)$, $\beta\neq 1$ we prove that a positive measure subset $A$ of the unit square contains a point $(x_0,y_0)$ such that $A$ nontrivially intersects curves $y-y_0 = a (x-x_0)^\beta$ for a whole interval…

A planar point set of $n$ points is called {\em $\gamma$-dense} if the ratio of the largest and smallest distances among the points is at most $\gamma\sqrt{n}$. We construct a dense set of $n$ points in the plane with…

Given a point set $S$ in $\mathbb{R}^d$, a family of sets is $S$-intersecting if its members have a point in common in $S$. Recently, Edwards and Sober\'{o}n proved a fractional version of Halman's theorem for axis-parallel boxes, showing…

Let $P$ be a set of $n$ points in general position in the plane. Let $R$ be a set of $n$ points disjoint from $P$ such that for every $x,y \in P$ the line through $x$ and $y$ contains a point in $R$ outside of the segment delimited by $x$…