An improved bound for joints in arrangements of lines in space (Q1772127)

Let \(L\) be a set of \(n\) lines in space. A joint of \(L\) is a point in \({\mathbb R}^3\) where at least three non-coplanar lines meet. The paper under review improves the bound on the number of joints of \(L\) to \(O(n^{112/69} \log^{6/23}n) = O(n^{1.6232})\). Here is an outline of the proof: First, the lines of \(L\) are mapped into points and/or hyperplanes in projective 5-space, using Plücker coordinates. The authors then apply a two-stage decomposition process, which partitions the problem into subproblems, using cuttings of arrangements of appropriate subsets of the Plücker hyperplanes. The number of joints within each subproblem is estimated and the results are summed to give the estimate.