On sets defining few ordinary circles

DOI10.1007/S00454-017-9885-8zbMATH Open1384.52023arXiv1607.06597OpenAlexW2506035431WikidataQ47147715 ScholiaQ47147715MaRDI QIDQ1702346FDOQ1702346

Josef Schicho, Hossein Nassajian Mojarrad, Aaron Lin, Konrad J. Swanepoel, Mehdi Makhul, Frank de Zeeuw

Publication date: 28 February 2018

Published in: Discrete \& Computational Geometry (Search for Journal in Brave)

Abstract: An ordinary circle of a set $P$ of $n$ points in the plane is defined as a circle that contains exactly three points of $P$. We show that if $P$ is not contained in a line or a circle, then $P$ spans at least $frac14n^2-O(n)$ ordinary circles. Moreover, we determine the exact minimum number of ordinary circles for all sufficiently large $n$ and describe all point sets that come close to this minimum. We also consider the circle variant of the orchard problem. We prove that $P$ spans at most $frac124n^3-O(n^2)$ circles passing through exactly four points of $P$. Here we determine the exact maximum and the extremal configurations for all sufficiently large $n$. These results are based on the following structure theorem. If $n$ is sufficiently large depending on $K$, and $P$ is a set of $n$ points spanning at most $K{n}^2$ ordinary circles, then all but $O(K)$ points of $P$ lie on an algebraic curve of degree at most four. Our proofs rely on a recent result of Green and Tao on ordinary lines, combined with circular inversion and some classical results regarding algebraic curves.

Full work available at URL: https://arxiv.org/abs/1607.06597

zbMATH Keywords

inversionSylvester-Gallaicircular curvesGreen-Taoordinary circles

Mathematics Subject Classification ID

Plane and space curves (14H50) Erd?s problems and related topics of discrete geometry (52C10) Arrangements of points, flats, hyperplanes (aspects of discrete geometry) (52C35) Enumerative problems (combinatorial problems) in algebraic geometry (14N10)

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Cited In (9)

• On sets defining few ordinary hyperplanes
• The Elekes-Szabó theorem in four dimensions
• Ordinary planes, coplanar quadruples, and space quartics
• On sets defining few ordinary planes
• On the minimum number of ordinary conics
• On sets defining few ordinary solids
• Concyclic intervals in the plane
• Ordinary hyperspheres and spherical curves
• On the number of ordinary circles determined by \(n\) points

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