Related papers: Piercing the chessboard
For all $k \geq 1$, we show that deciding whether a graph is $k$-planar is NP-complete, extending the well-known fact that deciding 1-planarity is NP-complete. Furthermore, we show that the gap version of this decision problem is…
A neat 1972 result of Pohl asserts that [3n/2]-2 comparisons are sufficient, and also necessary in the worst case, for finding both the minimum and the maximum of an n-element totally ordered set. The set is accessed via an oracle for…
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…
We study the maximum number of straight-line segments connecting $n$ points in convex position in the plane, so that each segment intersects at most $k$ others. This question can also be framed as the maximum number of edges of an outer…
The objective of the matrix selection problem is to select a submatrix $A_{S}\in \mathbb{R}^{n\times k}$ from $A\in \mathbb{R}^{n\times m}$ such that its minimum singular value is maximized. In this paper, we employ the interlacing…
The Harary-Hill Conjecture states that for $n\geq 3$ every drawing of $K_n$ has at least \begin{align*} H(n) :=…
Let $H$ be a $k$-uniform hypergraph on $n$ vertices where $n$ is a sufficiently large integer not divisible by $k$. We prove that if the minimum $(k-1)$-degree of $H$ is at least $\lfloor n/k \rfloor$, then $H$ contains a matching with…
A "book with k pages" consists of a straight line (the "spine") and k half-planes (the "pages"), such that the boundary of each page is the spine. If a graph is drawn on a book with k pages in such a way that the vertices lie on the spine,…
We show that a matchstick graph with $n$ vertices has no more than $3n-c\sqrt{n-1/4}$ edges, where $c=\frac12(\sqrt{12} + \sqrt{2\pi\sqrt{3}})$. The main tools in the proof are the Euler formula, the isoperimetric inequality, and an upper…
The $n$-Queens' graph, $\mathcal{Q}(n)$, is the graph associated to the $n \times n$ chessboard (a generalization of the classical $8 \times 8$ chessboard), with $n^2$ vertices, each one corresponding to a square of the chessboard. Two…
For sufficiently large $n$, we show that in every configuration of $n$ points chosen inside the unit square there exists a triangle of area less than $n^{-8/7-1/2000}$. This improves upon a result of Koml\'os, Pintz and Szemer\'edi from…
The Minimum Spanning Tree with Conflicting Edge Pairs is a generalization that adds conflict constraints to a classical optimization problem on graphs used to model several real-world applications. In the last few years several approaches,…
Consider the following problem: Given a planar graph $G$, what is the maximum number $p$ such that $G$ has a planar straight-line drawing with $p$ collinear vertices? This problem resides at the core of several graph drawing problems,…
In the $k$-cut problem, we are given an edge-weighted graph and want to find the least-weight set of edges whose deletion breaks the graph into $k$ connected components. Algorithms due to Karger-Stein and Thorup showed how to find such a…
Let k>0 be an integer, let H be a minor-minimal graph in the projective plane such that every homotopically non-trivial closed curve intersects H at least k times, and let G be the planar double cover of H obtained by lifting G into the…
Let $K$ be a closed polygonal curve in $\RR^3$ consisting of $n$ line segments. Assume that $K$ is unknotted, so that it is the boundary of an embedded disk in $\RR^3$. This paper considers the question: How many triangles are needed to…
By now, the Maker-Breaker connectivity game on a complete graph $K_n$ or on a random graph $G\sim G_{n,p}$ is well studied. Recently, London and Pluh\'ar suggested a variant in which Maker always needs to choose her edges in such a way that…
We give a sharp lower bound to the largest possible Euclidean norm of signed sums of $n$ vectors in the plane. This is achieved by connecting the signed vector sum problem to the isoperimetric problem for the circumradius of polygons. In…
Consider a situation with $n$ agents or players where some of the players form a coalition with a certain collective objective. Simple games are used to model systems that can decide whether coalitions are successful (winning) or not…
An octilinear drawing of a planar graph is one in which each edge is drawn as a sequence of horizontal, vertical and diagonal at 45 degrees line-segments. For such drawings to be readable, special care is needed in order to keep the number…