A Jordan-Brouwer separation theorem for polyhedral pseudomanifolds (Q2391204)

The Jordan Curve Theorem referring to a simple closed curve in the plane has a particularly simple proof in the case that the curve is polygonal, called the ``raindrop proof'' [see \textit{H. Guggenheimer}, Arch. Hist. Exact Sci. 17, 193--200 (1977; Zbl 0357.01023)]. In the present paper the authors generalize the notion of a simple closed polygon to that of a \textit{polyhedral \((d-1)\)-pseudomanifold} \((d\geq 2)\) and prove a Jordan-Brouwer Separation Theorem [see \textit{E. H. Spanier}, Algebraic topology. McGraw-Hill Series in Higher Mathematics. New York etc.: McGraw-Hill Book Company (1966; Zbl 0145.43303)] for such a manifold embedded in \(\mathbb R^{d}\). Note that this statement is only a special case of a Jordan-Brouwer Separation Theorem for \((d-1)\)-pseudomanifolds in \(\mathbb R^{d}\) formulated in mid 1940s and proved by homological methods [see \textit{P. S. Alexandroff}, Combinatorial topology. Vol. I. Rochester, N. Y.: Graylock Press XVI (1956; Zbl 0070.17902)]. The main novelty of the present result relays in its pure polyhedral formulation and its elementary ``raindrop proof'', which makes it accessible also to geometers not specialized in algebraic topology. As a consequence, the authors get also bounds on the polygonal diameter of the interior and exterior of \((d-1)\)-pseudomanifolds in \(\mathbb R^{d}\) which are almost tight.