Related papers: How many contacts can exist between oriented squar…
In this paper, we derive a formula to express the maximum number of non-intersecting diagonals of arbitrary length that can be drawn in n x n square arrays, where n is a multiple of l+1.
Barnette's conjecture asserts that every cubic $3$-connected plane bipartite graph is hamiltonian. Although, in general, the problem is still open, some partial results are known. In particular, let us call a face of a plane graph big…
Let $V_n$ be a set of $n$ points in the plane and let $x \notin V_n$. An $x$-loop is a continuous closed curve not containing any point of $V_n$. We say that two $x$-loops are non-homotopic if they cannot be transformed continuously into…
We solve a problem of Littlewood: there exist seven infinite circular cylinders of unit radius which mutually touch each other. In fact, we exhibit two such sets of cylinders. Our approach is algebraic and uses symbolic and numerical…
The contact number of a packing of finitely many balls in Euclidean $d$-space is the number of touching pairs of balls in the packing. A prominent subfamily of sphere packings is formed by the so-called totally separable sphere packings:…
This work revolves around the two following questions: Given a convex body $C\subset\mathbb{R}^d$, a positive integer $k$ and a finite set $S\subset\mathbb{R}^d$ (or a finite Borel measure $\mu$ on $\mathbb{R}^d$), how many homothets of $C$…
We investigate the maximum number of intersections between two polygons with p and q vertices, respectively, in the plane. The cases where p or q is even or the polygons do not have to be simple are quite easy and already known, but when p…
A totally symmetric set is a subset of a group such that every permutation of the subset can be realized by conjugation in the group. The (non-)existence of large totally symmetric sets obstruct homomorphisms, so bounds on the sizes of…
The problem of finding the largest number of points in the unit cross-polytope such that the $l_{1}$-distance between any two distinct points is at least $2r$ is investigated for $r\in\left(1-\frac{1}{n},1\right]$ in dimensions $\geq2$ and…
The aim in packing problems is to decide if a given set of pieces can be placed inside a given container. A packing problem is defined by the types of pieces and containers to be handled, and the motions that are allowed to move the pieces.…
It is known that $N(n)$, the maximum number of mutually orthogonal latin squares of order $n$, satisfies the lower bound $N(n) \ge n^{1/14.8}$ for large $n$. For $h\ge 2$, relatively little is known about the quantity $N(h^n)$, which…
In this paper, we investigate a problem concerning quartets, which are a particular type of tree on four leaves. Loosely speaking, a set of quartets is said to be `definitive' if it completely encapsulates the structure of some larger tree,…
Given a set of planar curves (Jordan arcs), each pair of which meets -- either crosses or touches -- exactly once, we establish an upper bound on the number of touchings. We show that such a curve family has $O(t^2n)$ touchings, where $t$…
We consider the problem of upper bounding the number of circular transpositions needed to sort a permutation. It is well known that any permutation can be sorted using at most $n(n-1)/2$ adjacent transpositions. We show that, if we allow…
Let $N$ denote the maximum number of congruent infinite cylinders that can be arranged in $\mathbb{R}^3$ so that every pair of cylinders touches each other. Littlewood posed the question of whether $N=7$, which remains unsolved. In this…
We show that deciding whether a given set of circles can be packed into a rectangle, an equilateral triangle, or a unit square are NP-hard problems, settling the complexity of these natural packing problems. On the positive side, we show…
Recently we gave arguments that only two unique topologically different configurations of 7 equal all mutually touching round cylinders (the configurations being mirror reflections of each other) are possible in 3D, although a whole world…
John E. Littlewood posted the question {\em ``Is it possible in 3-space for seven infinite circular cylinders of unit radius each to touch all the others? Seven is the number suggested by counting constants.''} Boz\'oki, Lee, and R\'onyai…
Two latin squares are orthogonal if, when they are superimposed, every ordered pair of symbols appears exactly once. This definition extends naturally to `incomplete' latin squares each having a hole on the same rows, columns, and symbols.…
We study global solutions to the thin obstacle problem with at most quadratic growth at infinity. We show that every ellipsoid can be realized as the contact set of such a solution. On the other hand, if such a solution has a compact…