Topological transversals to a family of convex sets

DOI10.1007/S00454-010-9282-ZMaRDI QIDQ635748zbMATH OpenOpenAlexFDO

Authors L. Montejano, Roman Karasev

Publication date 23 August 2011

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

Full work available at URL https://arxiv.org/abs/1006.0104

zbMATH Keywords

common transversalconvex setHelly theoremSchubert calculus

Mathematics Subject Classification ID

Convex sets in (n) dimensions (including convex hypersurfaces) (52A20) Helly-type theorems and geometric transversal theory (52A35)

Abstract: Let $mathcalF$ be a family of compact convex sets in $mathbb{R}^d$. We say that $mathcalF$ has a emph{topological $ho$-transversal of index $(m,k)$} ($ho<m$, $0<kleqd-m$) if there are, homologically, as many transversal $m$-planes to $mathcalF$ as $m$-planes containing a fixed $ho$-plane in $mathbb{R}^{m+k}$. Clearly, if $mathcalF$ has a $ho$-transversal plane, then $mathcalF$ has a topological $ho$-transversal of index $(m,k),$ for $ho<m$ and $kleqd-m$. The converse is not true in general. We prove that for a family $mathcalF$ of $ho+k+1$ compact convex sets in $mathbb{R}^d$ a topological $ho$-transversal of index $(m,k)$ implies an ordinary $ho$-transversal. We use this result, together with the multiplication formulas for Schubert cocycles, the Lusternik-Schnirelmann category of the Grassmannian, and different versions of the colorful Helly theorem by B'ar'any and Lov'asz, to obtain some geometric consequences.

Review text

For a family \(\mathcal{F}\) of compact convex sets in \(\mathbb{R}^d\) and an integer number \(m\), an \(0<m<d\), \(m\)-transversal, \(\mathcal{T}_m(\mathcal{F})\), is defined as the set of all \(m\)-planes intersecting every \(A\in\mathcal{F}\). It is defined that a family \(\mathcal{F}\) has a topological \(\varrho\)-transversal of index \((m,k)\), \(\varrho<m\), \(0<k<d-m\), if there are homologically as many transversal \(m\)-planes as \(m\)-planes containing a fixed \(\varrho\)-plane in \(\mathbb{R}^{m+k}\). The authors obtain that if a family \(\mathcal{F}\) of \(\varrho+k+1\) compact convex sets in \(\mathbb{R}^{d}\) has a topological \(\varrho\)-transversal of index \((m,k)\), then the family \(\mathcal{F}\) also has an ordinary \(\varrho\)-transversal. This result and its generalization imply transversal analogues of the colorful Helly theorem and some other geometric applications.

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Cites work

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Cited in

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