Related papers: Repeated Patterns of Dense Packings of Equal Disks…
This paper investigates the impossibility of certain $({n^2+n+k}_{n+1})$ configurations. Firstly, for $k=2$, the result of \cite{gropp1992non} that $\frac{n^2+n}{2}$ is even and $n+1$ is a perfect square or $\frac{n^2+n}{2}$ is odd and…
Call a permutation $k$-inflatable if the sequence of its tensor products with uniform random permutations of increasing lengths has uniform $k$-point pattern densities. Previous work has shown that nontrivial $k$-inflatable permutations do…
We study the maximum multiplicity $\mathcal{M}(k,n)$ of a simple transposition $s_k=(k \: k+1)$ in a reduced word for the longest permutation $w_0=n \: n-1 \: \cdots \: 2 \: 1$, a problem closely related to much previous work on sorting…
We consider the following problem: Preprocess a set $\mathcal{S}$ of $n$ axis-parallel boxes in $\mathbb{R}^d$ so that given a query of an axis-parallel box in $\mathbb{R}^d$, the pairs of boxes of $\mathcal{S}$ whose intersection…
The well-known problem stated by A. Meir and L. Moser consists in tiling the unit square with rectangles (details), whose side lengths equal $1/n\times 1/(n+1)$, where indices~$n$ range from 1 to infinity. Recently, Terence Tao has proved…
Packing problems have been of great interest in many diverse contexts for many centuries. The optimal packing of identical objects has been often invoked to understand the nature of low temperature phases of matter. In celebrated work,…
We describe an algorithm that allows one to find dense packing configurations of a number of congruent disks in arbitrary domains in two or more dimensions. We have applied it to a large class of two dimensional domains such as rectangles,…
How should you choose a good set of (say) 48 planes in four dimensions? More generally, how do you find packings in Grassmannian spaces? In this article I give a brief introduction to the work that I have been doing on this problem in…
We investigate the existence of closed polylines (also known as closed polygonal chains or self-crossing polygons) that intersect each of their edges the same number of times. The most general question in this corner of combinatorial…
The assignments of a set of $m$ items into $n$ clusters of prescribed sizes $k_1,\dots,k_n$ can be encoded as the vertices of the partition polytope $\mathrm{PP}(k_1,\dots,k_n)$. We prove that, if $K = \max\{k_1,\dots,k_n\}$, then the…
In 1967, Moon and Moser proved a tight bound on the critical density of squares in squares: any set of squares with a total area of at most 1/2 can be packed into a unit square, which is tight. The proof requires full knowledge of the set,…
We consider packings of congruent circles on a square flat torus, i.e., periodic (w.r.t. a square lattice) planar circle packings, with the maximal circle radius. This problem is interesting due to a practical reason - the problem of "super…
Let $H$ be a fixed graph. A {\em fractional $H$-decomposition} of a graph $G$ is an assignment of nonnegative real weights to the copies of $H$ in $G$ such that for each $e \in E(G)$, the sum of the weights of copies of $H$ containing $e$…
Orthogonal designs and weighing matrices have many applications in areas such as coding theory, cryptography, wireless networking and communication. In this paper, we first show that if positive integer $k$ cannot be written as the sum of…
We determine putative optimal packings of regular spherical polygons via optimization on smooth manifolds. For several cases, we establish maximality by extending the Lov\'asz theta number to Cayley graphs on the special orthogonal group…
We provide a tight result for a fundamental problem arising from packing disks into a circular container: The critical density of packing disks in a disk is 0.5. This implies that any set of (not necessarily equal) disks of total area…
We present filling as a new type of spatial subdivision problem that is related to covering and packing. Filling addresses the optimal placement of overlapping objects lying entirely inside an arbitrary shape so as to cover the most…
In the standard planar $k$-center clustering problem, one is given a set $P$ of $n$ points in the plane, and the goal is to select $k$ center points, so as to minimize the maximum distance over points in $P$ to their nearest center. Here we…
Motivated by map labeling, Funke, Krumpe, and Storandt [IWOCA 2016] introduced the following problem: we are given a sequence of $n$ disks in the plane. Initially, all disks have radius $0$, and they grow at constant, but possibly…
The decision problem of perfect matchings in uniform hypergraphs is famously an NP-complete problem. It has been shown by Keevash--Knox--Mycroft [STOC, 2013] that for every $\varepsilon>0$, such decision problem restricted to $k$-uniform…