A dense planar point set from iterated line intersections

Given S₁, a starting set of points in the plane, not all on a line, we define a sequence of planar point sets {S_i}_i=1^∞ as follows. With S_i already determined, let L_i be the set of all the lines determined by pairs of points from S_i, and let S_i+1 be the set of all the intersection points of lines in L_i. We show that with the exception of some very particular starting configurations, the limiting point set _i=1^∞S_i is everywhere dense in the plane.     

Planarity of iterated line graphs

The line index of a graph G is the smallest k such that the kth iterated line graph of G is nonplanar. We show that the line index of a graph is either infinite or it is at most 4. Moreover, we give a full characterization of all graphs with respect to their line index.     

THE MAXIMUM NUMBER OF INTERSECTIONS BETWEEN TWO PLANE RECTANGULAR PATHS

We show that the maximum number of intersections between two plane rectangular paths with lengths m and n: 2 ≤ m ≤ n, is 4n 2, if m=4 and n≡1(mod 3); and it is mn 1 otherwise.     

Stable intersections of affine cantor sets

We construct open sets of pairs of affine Cantor sets (K, K′) with the simplest possible combinatorics (i. e., defined by two affine increasing maps) which have stable intersection, while the product of lateral thicknesses τ_R(K) • τ_L (K′) is smaller than one. Thus, in a strong form, the converse to the following classic result due to Newhouse is not true: if the product of the thicknesses of two Cantor sets is bigger than one then there are translations of them which have stable intersection. We also describe the topological structure of K—K′ for typical pairs (K, K′) in this open set.     

Stabbers of line segments in the plane

The problem of computing a representation of the stabbing lines of a set S of segments in the plane was solved by Edelsbrunner et al. We provide efficient algorithms for the following problems: computing the stabbing wedges for S, finding a stabbing wedge for a set of parallel segments with equal length, and computing other stabbers for S such as a double-wedge and a zigzag. The time and space complexities of the algorithms depend on the number of combinatorially different extreme lines, critical lines, and the number of different slopes that appear in S.     

Illumination in the presence of opaque line segments in the plane

What is the minimal number of light sources which is always sufficient to illuminate the plane in the presence of n disjoint opaque line segments? For n5, O'Rourke proved that 2n/3 light sources are always sufficient and sometimes necessary, if light sources can be placed on the line segments and thus they can illuminate both sides of a segment.

We prove that 2(n+1)/3 light sources are always sufficient and sometimes necessary, if light sources cannot be placed on the line segments. An O(nlogn) time algorithm is presented which allocates at most 2(n+1)/3 light sources collectively illuminating the plane.     

Location-domination in line graphs

A set $D$ of vertices of a graph $G$ is locating if every two distinct vertices outside $D$ have distinct neighbors in $D$; that is, for distinct vertices $u$ and $v$ outside $D$, $N\left(u\right)\cap D\ne N\left(v\right)\cap D$, where $N\left(u\right)$ denotes the open neighborhood of $u$. If $D$ is also a dominating set (total dominating set), it is called a locating-dominating set (respectively, locating-total dominating set) of $G$. A graph $G$ is twin-free if every two distinct vertices of $G$ have distinct open and closed neighborhoods. It is conjectured (Garijo et al., 2014 [15]) and (Foucaud and Henning, 2016 [12]) respectively, that any twin-free graph $G$ without isolated vertices has a locating-dominating set of size at most one-half its order and a locating-total dominating set of size at most two-thirds its order. In this paper, we prove these two conjectures for the class of line graphs. Both bounds are tight for this class, in the sense that there are infinitely many connected line graphs for which equality holds in the bounds.     

Refined weight of edges in normal plane maps

The weight $w\left(e\right)$ of an edge $e$ in a normal plane map (NPM) is the degree-sum of its end-vertices. An edge $e=uv$ is of type $(i,j)$ if $d\left(u\right)\le i$ and $d\left(v\right)\le j$. In 1940, Lebesgue proved that every NPM has an edge of one of the types $(3,11)$, $(4,7)$, or $(5,6)$, where 7 and 6 are best possible. In 1955, Kotzig proved that every 3-connected planar graph has an edge $e$ with $w\left(e\right)\le 13$, which bound is sharp. Borodin (1989), answering Erd?s’ question, proved that every NPM has either a $(3,10)$-edge, or $(4,7)$-edge, or $(5,6)$-edge.A vertex is simplicial if it is completely surrounded by 3-faces. In 2010, Ferencová and Madaras conjectured (in different terms) that every 3-polytope without simplicial 3-vertices has an edge $e$ with $w\left(e\right)\le 12$. Recently, we confirmed this conjecture by proving that every NPM has either a simplicial 3-vertex adjacent to a vertex of degree at most 10, or an edge of types $(3,9)$, $(4,7)$, or $(5,6)$.By a $k^{\left(?\right)}$-vertex we mean a $k$-vertex incident with precisely $?$ triangular faces. The purpose of our paper is to prove that every NPM has an edge of one of the following types: $(3^{\left(3\right)},10)$, $(3^{\left(2\right)},9)$, $(3^{\left(1\right)},7)$, $(4^{\left(4\right)},7)$, $(4^{\left(3\right)},6)$, $(5^{\left(5\right)},6)$, or $(5,5)$, where all bounds are best possible. In particular, this implies that the bounds in $(3,10)$, $(4,7)$, and $(5,6)$ can be attained only at NPMs having a simplicial 3-, 4-, or 5-vertex, respectively.     

New results on binary space partitions in the plane

We prove the existence of linear size binary space partitions for sets of objects in the plane under certain conditions. In particular, we construct linear size binary space partitions for sets of fat objects, for sets of line segments where the ratio between the lengths of the longest and shortest segment is bounded by a constant, and for homothetic objects. For all cases we also show how to turn the existence proofs into efficient algorithms.     

An elementary algorithm for reporting intersections of red/blue curve segments

Let E_r and E_b be two sets of x-monotone and non-intersecting curve segments, E=E_rE_b and |E|=n. We give a new sweep-line algorithm that reports the k intersecting pairs of segments of E. Our algorithm uses only three simple predicates that allow to decide if two segments intersect, if a point is left or right to another point, and if a point is above, below or on a segment. These three predicates seem to be the simplest predicates that lead to subquadratic algorithms. Our algorithm is almost optimal in this restricted model of computation. Its time complexity is O(nlogn+kloglogn) and it requires O(n) space.     

On empty convex polygons in a planar point set

Let P be a set of n points in general position in the plane. Let X_k(P) denote the number of empty convex k-gons determined by P. We derive, using elementary proof techniques, several equalities and inequalities involving the quantities X_k(P) and several related quantities. Most of these equalities and inequalities are new, except for a few that have been proved earlier using a considerably more complex machinery from matroid and polytope theory, and algebraic topology. Some of these relationships are also extended to higher dimensions. We present several implications of these relationships, and discuss their connection with several long-standing open problems, the most notorious of which is the existence of an empty convex hexagon in any point set with sufficiently many points.     

On critical values of numerical parameters characterizing intersections of embedded sets

To study intersections of embedded bounded closed sets in Banach space, a numerical parameter was introduced earlier; in a certain sense, this parameter describes the deviation of the shape of a set from that of a sphere. Critical values of this parameter for some classes of Banach spaces are determined, a new numerical parameter serving the same purpose is introduced, and the relation between the two parameters is examined. Translated fromMatematicheskie Zametki, Vol. 68, No. 2, pp. 303–310, August, 2000.     

Independent spanning trees with small depths in iterated line digraphs

We show that the independent spanning tree conjecture on digraphs is true if we restrict ourselves to line digraphs. Also, we construct independent spanning trees with small depths in iterated line digraphs. From the results, we can obtain independent spanning trees with small depths in de Bruijn and Kautz digraphs that improve the previously known upper bounds on the depths.     

A non‐existence result on Cameron–Liebler line classes

Cameron–Liebler line classes are sets of lines in PG(3, q) that contain a fixed number x of lines of every spread. Cameron and Liebler classified Cameron–Liebler line classes for x ∈ {0, 1, 2, q² ? 1, q², q² + 1} and conjectured that no others exist. This conjecture was disproven by Drudge for q = 3 [8] and his counterexample was generalized to a counterexample for any odd q by Bruen and Drudge [4]. A counterexample for q even was found by Govaerts and Penttila [9]. Non‐existence results on Cameron–Liebler line classes were found for different values of x. In this article, we improve the non‐existence results on Cameron–Liebler line classes of Govaerts and Storme [11], for q not a prime. We prove the non‐existence of Cameron–Liebler line classes for 3 ≤ x < q/2. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Combin Designs 16: 342–349, 2008     

Describing 3-faces in normal plane maps with minimum degree 4

In 1940, Lebesgue proved that every 3-polytope with minimum degree at least 4 contains a 3-face for which the set of degrees of its vertices is majorized by one of the following sequences:

(4,4,∞),(4,5,19),(4,6,11),(4,7,9),(5,5,9),(5,6,7).$(4,4,\infty ),(4,5,19),(4,6,11),(4,7,9),(5,5,9),(5,6,7)\text{.}$