Curves in \(\mathbb R^d\) intersecting every hyperplane at most \(d+1\) times (Q343098)

Summary: By a curve in \(\mathbb R^d\) we mean a continuous map \(\gamma\:I\rightarrow\mathbb R^d\), where \(I\subset\mathbb R\) is a closed interval. We call a curve \(\gamma\) in \(\mathbb R^d\: (\leq k)\)-crossing if it intersects every hyperplane at most \(k\) times (counted with multiplicity). The \((\leq d)\)-crossing curves in \(\mathbb R^d\) are often called convex curves and they form an important class; a primary example is the moment curve \(\{(t,t^2,\ldots,t^d):t\in[0,1]\}\). They are also closely related to Chebyshev systems, which is a notion of considerable importance, e.g., in approximation theory. Our main result is that for every \(d\) there is \(M=M(d)\) such that every \((\leq d+1)\)-crossing curve in \(\mathbb R^d\) can be subdivided into at most \(M\: (\leq d)\)-crossing curve segments. As a consequence, based on the work of \textit{M. Eliáš} et al. [SIAM J. Discrete Math. 28, No. 4, 1960--1970 (2014; Zbl 1326.14136)], we obtain an essentially tight lower bound for a geometric Ramsey-type problem in \(\mathbb R^d\) concerning order-type homogeneous sequences of points, investigated in several previous papers.