Helly-type theorems for appropriate colorings of visibility sets

Summary. For positive integers q and n, think of P as the vertex set of a (qn + r)-gon, 0 ￡ r ￡ q - 1 0 \leq r \leq q - 1 . For 1 ￡ i ￡ qn + r 1 \leq i \leq qn + r , define V(i) to be a set of q consecutive points of P, starting at p(i), and let S be a subset of {V(i) : 1 ￡ i ￡ qn + r } \lbrace V(i) : 1 \leq i \leq qn + r \rbrace . A q-coloring of P = P(q) such that each member of S contains all q colors is called appropriate for S, and when 1 ￡ j ￡ q 1 \leq j \leq q , the definition may be extended to suitable subsets P(j) of P. If for every 1 ￡ j ￡ q 1 \leq j \leq q and every corresponding P(j), P(j) has a j-coloring appropriate for S, then we say P = P(q) has all colorings appropriate for S. With this terminology, the following Helly-type result is established: Set P = P(q) has all colorings appropriate for S if and only if for every (2n + 1)-member subset T of S, P has all colorings appropriate for T. The number 2n + 1 is best possible for every r 3 1 r \geq 1 . Intermediate results for q-colorings are obtained as well.