Chromatic numbers of algebraic hypergraphs

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Publication:1990885



Abstract: A k-uniform hypergraph is algebraic if its vertex set is n-dimensional Euclidean space, for some n, and its hyperedge set is defined from the zero set of some polynomial. The chromatic numbers of all algebraic hypergraphs are determined, provided they are infinite.


If \(p(x_0,x_1,\ldots,x_{k-1})\) is a polynomial in which each \(x_i\) is an \(n\)-tuple of variables and \(H=(V,E)\) is a \(k\)-hypergraph, then \(H\) is called the zero hypergraph of \(p(x_0,x_1,\ldots,x_{k-1})\) if \(V=\mathbb{R}^n\) and \(E=\{\{a_0,a_1,\ldots,a_{k-1}\} \subseteq \mathbb{R}^n : | \{a_0,a_1,\ldots,a_{k-1}\}| =k\) and \(p(a_0,a_1, \ldots,a_{k-1})=0\}\). A hypergraph is algebraic if it is the zero hypergraph of some polynomial over \(\mathbb{R}\). A function \(\phi: V \to C\) is a \(\kappa\)-coloring of \(H\) if \(| C| \leq \kappa\) and it is a proper coloring of \(H\) provided that \(\phi\) is not constant on any edge of \(H\). The chromatic number \(\chi(H)\) of \(H\) is the least (possibly infinite) cardinal \(\kappa\) such that \(H\) has a proper \(\kappa\)-coloring. If \(1 \leq d < \omega\) and \(2 \leq k < \omega\), then \(P\) is a \(d\)-dimensional \(k\)-template if \(P\) is a set of \(d\)-tuples and \(| P| = k\). If \(X=X_0 \times X_1 \times \dots \times X_{d-1}\) and \(P\) is a \(d\)-dimensional \(k\)-template, then its template hypergraph \(L(X,P)\) on \(X\) is the \(k\)-hypergraph whose set of vertices is \(X\) and whose edges are those \(k\)-templates \(Q \subseteq X\) that are homomorphic images of \(P\). The chromatic numbers of the various \(L(\mathbb{R}^d;P)\) are determined and the following main theorem is established. Suppose that \(H\) is an algebraic \(k\)-hypergraph and \(\kappa\) is an infinite cardinal. Then the following are equivalent: \begin{itemize} \item[(1)] \(\chi(H) \leq \kappa\); \item[(2)] whenever \(P\) is a \(d\)-dimensional \(k\)-template and \(H\) contains an \(L(\mathbb{R}^d;P)\). then \(\chi(L(\mathbb{R}^d;P)) \leq \kappa\); \item[(3)] whenever \(P\) is a \(d\)-dimensional \(k\)-template and \(L(\mathbb{R}^d;P)\) is immersible in \(H\), then \(L(\mathbb{R}^d;P) \leq \kappa\). \end{itemize}











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