The upper bound conjecture for arrangements of halfspaces (Q5948419)

Let \(A\) be an arrangement of \(n\) open halfspaces in \(\mathbb{R}^{d}\) and denote by \(g_{s,k}(A)\) the number of faces of dimension \(s\) contained in at most \(k\) halfspaces of \(A\). The upper bound conjecture for arrangements of halfspaces says that \(g_{s,k}(A)\) is bounded above by the number of covectors of rank \(s+1\) with at most \(k\) plus signs in the alternating oriented matroid of rank \(d+1\) on \(n\) elements, for \(k\leq n-(d-s)\). This is a generalization of the well-known upper bound theorem for convex polytopes, which corresponds to the case \(k=0\). Here the conjecture is proved for \(d\leq 4\) and \(s\leq 3\) by a substantial extension of ideas of \textit{J. Linhart}, who had given a proof for \(d\leq 4\) and \(s=0\) [Beitr. Algebra Geom. 35, 29-35 (1994; Zbl 0806.52011)].