Related papers: On sets defining few ordinary solids

We present some elementary ideas to prove the following Sylvester-Gallai type theorems involving incidences between points and lines in the planes over the complex numbers and quaternions. (1) Let A and B be finite sets of at least two…

We study the structure of complex points on real surfaces, embedded into complex Elliptic surfaces. We show, for example, that any compact surface has a totally real embedding into a blow-up of a K3 surface. We also exhibit smooth disc…

We present a polynomial partitioning theorem for finite sets of points in the real locus of an irreducible complex algebraic variety of codimension at most two. This result generalizes the polynomial partitioning theorem on the Euclidean…

Let $G$ be a commutative connected algebraic group over a number field $K$, let $A$ be a finitely generated and torsion-free subgroup of $G(K)$ of rank $r>0$ and, for $n>1$, let $K(n^{-1}A)$ be the smallest extension of $K$ inside an…

We characterize those closed $2k$-manifolds admitting smooth maps into $(k+1)$-manifolds with only finitely many critical points, for $k\in\{2,4\}$. We compute then the minimal number of critical points of such smooth maps for $k=2$ and,…

We construct, for $m\geq 6$ and $2n\leq m$, closed manifolds $M^{m}$ with finite nonzero $\varphi(M^{m},S^{n}$), where $\varphi(M,N)$ denotes the minimum number of critical points of a smooth map $M\to N$. We also give some explicit…

Generalizing the problem of counting rational points on curves and surfaces over finite fields, we consider the setting of $n \times n$ matrix points with finite field entries. We obtain exact formulas for matrix point counts on elliptic…

The Erd\H os unit distance conjecture in the plane says that the number of pairs of points from a point set of size $n$ separated by a fixed (Euclidean) distance is $\leq C_{\epsilon} n^{1+\epsilon}$ for any $\epsilon>0$. The best known…

These notes are intended as an easy-to-read supplement to part of the background material presented in my talks on enumerative geometry. In particular, the numbers $n_3$ and $n_4$ of plane rational cubics through eight points and of plane…

A graph is called a $k$-planar unit distance graph if it can be drawn in the plane such that every edge is a unit line segment and is involved in at most $k$ crossings. We investigate $u_k(n)$, the maximum number of edges of such graphs on…

We consider a question raised by Rudnev: given four pencils of $n$ concurrent lines in $\mathbb R^2$, with the four centres of the pencils non-collinear, what is the maximum possible size of the set of points where four lines meet? Our main…

A problem that is simple to state in the context of spherical geometry, and that seems rather interesting, appears to have been unexamined to date in the mathematical literature. The problem can also be recast as a problem in the real…

Let $X$ be an algebraic variety, defined over the rationals. This paper gives upper bounds for the number of rational points on $X$, with height at most $B$, for the case in which $X$ is a curve or a surface. In the latter case one excludes…

We address a special case of the Stabilization Problem for Heegaard splittings, establishing an upper bound on the number of stabilizations required to make a Heegaard splitting of a Haken 3-manifold isotopic to an amalgamation along an…

Given S_1, a finite set of points in the plane, we define a sequence of point sets S_i as follows: With S_i already determined, let L_i be the set of all the line segments connecting pairs of points of the union of S_1,...,S_i, and let…

Let $(P,E)$ be a $(d+1)$-uniform geometric hypergraph, where $P$ is an $n$-point set in general position in $\mathbb{R}^d$ and $E\subseteq {P\choose d+1}$ is a collection of $\epsilon{n\choose d+1}$ $d$-dimensional simplices with vertices…

We show that the total number of non-torsion integral points on the elliptic curves $\mathcal{E}_D:y^2=x^3-D^2x$, where $D$ ranges over positive squarefree integers less than $N$, is $O( N(\log N)^{-1/4+\epsilon})$. The proof involves a…

We study linear systems of surfaces in $\mathbb{P}^3$ singular along general lines. Our purpose is to identify and classify special systems of such surfaces, i.e., those nonempty systems where the conditions imposed by the multiple lines…

Let $f_{1}, \ldots, f_{k}$ be polynomials defining an algebraic set in affine $n$-space over a finite field. Suppose $k>n$. We prove that there exists a system of polynomials $g_{1}, \ldots, g_{n}$, each being a linear combination with…

Haken showed that the Heegaard splittings of reducible 3-manifolds are reducible, that is, a reducing 2-sphere can be found which intersects the Heegaard surface in a single simple closed curve. When the genus of the "interesting" surface…