Related papers: Most plane curves over finite fields are not block…

It is known that every homeomorphism of the plane has a fixed point in a non-separating, invariant subcontinuum. Easy examples show that a branched covering map of the plane can be periodic point free. In this paper we show that any…

Let $P$ be a set of $n$ points in general position in the plane. Let $R$ be a set of points disjoint from $P$ such that for every $x,y \in P$ the line through $x$ and $y$ contains a point in $R$. We show that if $|R| < \frac{3}{2}n$ and $P…

Fixed a point O on a non-singular surface S and a complete mO-primary ideal I in its local ring, the curves on the surface X obtained by blowing-up I are studied in terms of the base points of I. Criteria for the principality of these…

Let $\cC$ be a smooth absolutely irreducible curve of genus $g \ge 1$ defined over $\F_q$, the finite field of $q$ elements. Let $# \cC(\F_{q^n})$ be the number of $\F_{q^n}$-rational points on $\cC$. Under a certain multiplicative…

Let $C$ be a reduced complex projective plane curve, and let $d_1$ and $d_2$ be the first two smallest exponents of $C$. For a free curve $C$ of degree $d$, there is a simple formula relating $d,d_1, d_2$ and the total Tjurina number of…

The purposes of this article are threefold. First, to determine numerically when an arbitrary blowup of a smooth surface is smooth. We show the surface is smooth if and only if certain rational parameters involving log discrepancy and…

In characteristic $p>0$ and for $q$ a power of $p$, we compute the number of nonplanar rational curves of arbitrary degrees on a smooth Hermitian surface of degree $q+1$ under the assumption that the curves have a parametrization given by…

We study the normal map for plane projective curves, i.e., the map associating to every regular point of the curve the normal line at the point in the dual space. We first observe that the normal map is always birational and then we use…

The point-plane incidence theorem states that the number of incidences between $n$ points and $m\geq n$ planes in the projective three-space over a field $F$, is $$O\left(m\sqrt{n}+ m k\right),$$ where $k$ is the maximum number of collinear…

We prove the following results: (1) For every generic closed smooth curve in $\mathbb{R}^3$ there is a point with at least $6$ emanating normals to the curve. (2) For every generic closed piecewise linear curve in $\mathbb{R}^3$ there is a…

Let $P$ be a set of $n$ points in the real plane contained in an algebraic curve $C$ of degree $d$. We prove that the number of distinct distances determined by $P$ is at least $c_d n^{4/3}$, unless $C$ contains a line or a circle. We also…

A plane curve is called strange if its tangent line at any smooth point passes through a fixed point, called the strange point. In this paper, we study $\mathbb{A}^1$-curves on the complement of a rational strange curve of degree $p$ in…

We consider plane curves isomorphic to C*. We prove that with one exception the branches at infinity can be separated by an automorphism of C^2. We also give a bound for selfintersection number of the resolution curve.

Clemm and Trebat-Leder (2014) proved that the number of quadratic number fields with absolute discriminant bounded by $x$ over which there exist elliptic curves with good reduction everywhere and rational $j$-invariant is $\gg…

A graph whose vertices are points in the plane and whose edges are noncrossing straight-line segments of unit length is called a \emph{matchstick graph}. We prove two somewhat counterintuitive results concerning the maximum number of edges…

Let $C \s \pr^2$ be an irreducible plane curve whose dual $C^* \s \pr^{2*}$ is an immersed curve which is neither a conic nor a nodal cubic. The main result states that the Poincar\'e group $\pi_1(\pr^2 \se C)$ contains a free group with…

The square peg problem asks whether every continuous curve in the plane that starts and ends at the same point without self-intersecting contains four distinct corners of some square. Toeplitz conjectured in 1911 that this is indeed the…

How many rational points are there on a random algebraic curve of large genus $g$ over a given finite field $\mathbb{F}_q$? We propose a heuristic for this question motivated by a (now proven) conjecture of Mumford on the cohomology of…

We study plane curves of type p,q having only nodes as singularities. Every Weierstra\ss semigroup is the Weierstra\ss semigroup of such a curve at its place at infinity for properly chosen p,q. We construct plane curves of type p,q with…

This paper considers the task of connecting points on a piece of paper by drawing a curve between each pair of them. Under mild assumptions, we prove that many pairwise disjoint curves are unavoidable if either of the following rules is…