Cube-like complexes, Steinhaus' chains and the Poincaré-Miranda theorem (Q266362)

Let \(A\) be a finite non-empty set and let \(S\) be a set of subsets of \(A\) which contain \(n+1\) elements. Consider the (abstract) complex \(\mathcal{K}^n\) generated by \(S\). Then \(\mathcal{K}^0\) is said to be \(0\)-cube-like if it consists of a single point in \(A\). Proceed by induction and define \(\mathcal{K}^n\) to be \(n\)-cube-like if the following conditions hold: (A) For every \((n-1)\)-face \(T\in\mathcal{K}^n\setminus\partial\mathcal{K}^n\) there exist exactly two \(n\)-simplices \(S,S'\in\mathcal{K}^n\) such that \(S\cap S'=T\). (B) There exists a sequence of \(n\) pairs of \((n-1)\)-cube-like complexes \(\mathcal{F}_i^-\), \(\mathcal{F}_i^+\) (called the \(i\)th opposite faces) such that {\parindent=6mm \begin{itemize}\item[(1)] \(\partial\mathcal{K}^n=\bigcup_{i=1}^n\mathcal{F}_i^-\cup\mathcal{F}_i^+\),\item [(2)] \(\mathcal{F}_i^-\cap\mathcal{F}_i^+=\emptyset\) for \(i=1,\dotsc,n\),\item [(3)] For all \(i=1,\dotsc,n\) and all \(\epsilon\in\{-,+\}\) the opposite faces of \(\mathcal{F}_i^\epsilon\) are of the form \(\mathcal{F}_i^\epsilon\cap\mathcal{F}_j^-\) or \(\mathcal{F}_i^\epsilon\cap\mathcal{F}_j^+\) for \(j\not=i\). \end{itemize}} A map \(\phi:|\mathcal{K}|^n|\to\{1,\dotsc,n\}\) is called a colouring function of \(|\mathcal{K}^n|\). A sequence \(s_1,\dotsc,s_m\) in \(|\mathcal{K}^n|\) is said to be a chain if \(s_i\cap s_{i+1}\in\mathcal{K}^n\) (if this reviewer understands the definition correctly). The chain is said to be \(i\)th coloured if \(\phi(s_j)=i\) for \(j=1,\dotsc,m\). The authors then prove the following result: Let \(\mathcal{K}^n\) be an \(n\)-cube-like complex and \(\phi\) a colouring function. Then there exists an \(i\in\{1,\dotsc,n\}\) and an \(i\)th coloured chain \(s_1,\dotsc,s_m\) in \(|\mathcal{K}^n|\) such that \(s_1\in\mathcal{F}_i^-\) and \(s_m\in\mathcal{F}_i^+\).