Convexly independent sets (Q2638527)

A family of pairwise disjoint compact convex sets of the Euclidean plane is called convexly independent, if none of its members is contained in the convex hull of the union of the other members of the family. Let h(k,n) denote the maximum cardinality of a family \({\mathcal F}\) of mutually disjoint compact convex sets such that any subfamily of at most k members of \({\mathcal F}\) is convexly independent, but no subfamily of size n is. The following bounds are established: \[ h(4,n)\leq (n-4)\left( \begin{matrix} 2n-4\\ n-2\end{matrix} \right)-n+7, \] for \(5\leq k\leq n\), \[ h(k,n)\leq (n- 3)\lfloor (n-4)/(k-4)\rfloor +n-1; \] and \[ n-1+\lfloor (n-1)/(k- 2)\rfloor \leq h(k,n). \]