Related papers: Everywhere unbalanced configurations
New bounds on the number of similar or directly similar copies of a pattern within a finite subset of the line or the plane are proved. The number of equilateral triangles whose vertices all lie within an $n$-point subset of the plane is…
We study a pinned variant of Bourgain's theorem, concerning the occurrence of affine copies of $k$-point patterns in $\mathbb{R}^d$. Focusing on the case $k=2$, which corresponds to pinned distances, we show that the classical conclusion…
Let $S$ be a set of $n$ points in $\mathbb{R}^3$, no three collinear and not all coplanar. If at most $n-k$ are coplanar and $n$ is sufficiently large, the total number of planes determined is at least $1 + k…
The Erd\H{o}s distinct distance problem is a ubiquitous problem in discrete geometry. Less well known is Erd\H{o}s' distinct angle problem, the problem of finding the minimum number of distinct angles between $n$ non-collinear points in the…
Given a finite set of non-collinear points in the plane, there exists a line that passes through exactly two points. Such a line is called an ordinary line. An efficient algorithm for computing such a line was proposed by Mukhopadhyay et…
We consider colored variants of a class of geometric-combinatorial questions on $k$-gons and empty $k$-gons that have been started around 1935 by Erd\H{o}s and Szekeres. In our setting we have $n$ points in general position in the plane,…
Pseudoline arrangements are fundamental objects in discrete and computational geometry, and different works have tackled the problem of improving the known bounds on the number of simple arrangements of $n$ pseudolines over the past…
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…
We present proofs of basic results, including those developed by Harold Bell, for the plane fixed point problem: does every map of a non-separating plane continuum have a fixed point? Some of these results had been announced much earlier by…
We prove that if $N$ points lie in convex position in the plane then they determine $\Omega(N^{5/4})$ distinct angles, provided that the points do not lie on a common circle. This is derived from a more general claim that if $N$ points in…
We use a well known problem in discrete and computational geometry (partitions of measures by $k$-fans) as a motivation and as a point of departure to illustrate many aspects, both theoretical and computational, of the problem of…
In this paper we present proofs of basic results, including those developed so far by H. Bell, for the plane fixed point problem. Some of these results had been announced much earlier by Bell but without accessible proofs. We define the…
The parameter space of $n$ ordered points in projective $d$-space that lie on a rational normal curve admits a natural compactification by taking the Zariski closure in $(\mathbb{P}^d)^n$. The resulting variety was used to study the…
Given $2k-1$ convex sets in $R^2$ such that no point of the plane is covered by more than $k$ of the sets, is it true that there are two among the convex sets whose union contains all $k$-covered points of the plane? This question due to…
A Besicovitch set in AG(n,q) is a set of points containing a line in every direction. The Kakeya problem is to determine the minimal size of such a set. We solve the Kakeya problem in the plane, and substantially improve the known bounds…
We characterize the largest point sets in the plane which define at most 1, 2, and 3 angles. For $P(k)$ the largest size of a point set admitting at most $k$ angles, we prove $P(2)=5$ and $P(3)=5$. We also provide the general bounds of $k+2…
This paper develops a unified theory of natural superconvergence points for polynomial spline approximations to second-order elliptic problems. Beginning with the one-dimensional case, we establish that when a point $x_0$ is a local…
We study "distance spheres": the set of points lying at constant distance from a fixed arbitrary subset $K$ of $[0,1]^d$. We show that, away from the regions where $K$ is "too dense" and a set of small volume, we can decompose $[0,1]^d$…
Every smooth cubic plane curve has 9 inflection points, 27 sextatic points, and 72 ``points of type nine". Motivated by these classical algebro-geometric constructions, we study the following topological question: Is it possible to…
We study combinatorial configurations with the associated point and line graphs being strongly regular. Examples not belonging to known classes such as partial geometries and their generalizations or elliptic semiplanes are constructed.…