Skip to main content

The Rectilinear Crossing Number of K n : Closing in (or Are We?)

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Thirty Essays on Geometric Graph Theory

Abstract

The calculation of the rectilinear crossing number of complete graphs is an important open problem in combinatorial geometry, with important and fruitful connections to other classical problems. Our aim in this chapter is to survey the body of knowledge around this parameter.

Mathematics Subject Classification (2010): 52C30, 52C10, 52C45, 05C62, 68R10, 60D05, 52A22

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

eBook
USD 16.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Notes

  1. 1.

    Aichholzer, personal communication.

References

  1. B.M. Ábrego, J. Balogh, S. Fernández-Merchant, J. Leaños, G. Salazar, An extended lower bound on the number of ( ≤ ​ k)-edges to generalized configurations of points and the pseudolinear crossing number of K n . J. Comb. Theor. Ser. A 115, 1257–1264 (2008)

    Article  MATH  Google Scholar 

  2. B.M. Ábrego, M. Cetina, S. Fernández-Merchant, J. Leaños, G. Salazar, 3-Symmetric and 3-decomposable drawings of K n . Discr. Appl. Math. 158, 1240–1258 (2010)

    Article  MATH  Google Scholar 

  3. B.M. Ábrego, M. Cetina, S. Fernández-Merchant, J. Leaños, G. Salazar, On ( ≤ ​ k)-edges, crossings, and halving lines of geometric drawings of K n . Discrete Comput. Geom. 48, 192–215 (2012)

    Article  MathSciNet  MATH  Google Scholar 

  4. B.M. Ábrego, S. Fernández-Merchant, A lower bound for the rectilinear crossing number. Graphs Comb. 21, 293–300 (2005)

    Article  MATH  Google Scholar 

  5. B.M. Ábrego, S. Fernández-Merchant, Geometric drawings of K n with few crossings. J. Comb. Theor. Ser. A 114, 373–379 (2007)

    Article  MATH  Google Scholar 

  6. B.M. Ábrego, S. Fernández-Merchant, J. Leaños, G. Salazar, The maximum number of halving lines and the rectilinear crossing number of K n for n ≤ 27. Electron. Notes Discr. Math. 30, 261–266 (2008)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. B.M. Ábrego, S. Fernández-Merchant, J. Leaños, G. Salazar, A central approach to bound the number of crossings in a generalized configuration. Electron. Notes Discr. Math. 30, 273–278 (2008)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. O. Aichholzer, F. Aurehnammer, H. Krasser, Enumerating order types for small point sets with applications. Order 19, 265–281 (2002)

    Article  MathSciNet  MATH  Google Scholar 

  9. O. Aichholzer, F. Aurenhammer, H. Krasser, On the crossing number of complete graphs. Computing 76, 165–176 (2006)

    Article  MathSciNet  MATH  Google Scholar 

  10. O. Aichholzer, J. García, D. Orden, P. Ramos, New lower bounds for the number of ( ≤ k)-edges and the rectilinear crossing number of K n . Discr. Comput. Geom. 38, 1–14 (2007)

    Article  MATH  Google Scholar 

  11. O. Aichholzer, J. García, D. Orden, P. Ramos, New results on lower bounds for the number of ( ≤ ​ k)-facets. Eur. J. Comb. 30, 1568–1574 (2009)

    Article  MATH  Google Scholar 

  12. O. Aichholzer, H. Krasser, The point set order type data base: a collection of applications and results. in Proceedings of the 13th Annual Canadian Conference on Computational Geometry CCCG 2001, Waterloo, Ontario, 2001, pp. 17–20

    Google Scholar 

  13. O. Aichholzer, H. Krasser, Abstract order type extension and new results on the rectilinear crossing number. Comput. Geom. Theor. Appl. 36, 2–15 (2006)

    Article  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  14. J. Balogh, G. Salazar, k-Sets, convex quadrilaterals, and the rectilinear crossing number of K n . Discr. Comput. Geom. 35, 671–690 (2006)

    Article  MathSciNet  MATH  Google Scholar 

  15. W. Blaschke, Über Affine Geometrie XI: Lösung des “Vierpunktproblems” von Sylvester aus der Theorie der geometrischen Wahrscheinlichkeiten. Leipziger Berichte 69, 436–453 (1917)

    Google Scholar 

  16. P. Brass, W. Moser, J. Pach, Research Problems in Discrete Geometry (Springer, New York, 2005)

    MATH  Google Scholar 

  17. A. Brodsky, S. Durocher, E. Gethner, The rectilinear crossing number of K 10 is 62. Electron. J. Comb. 8, R23 (2001)

    MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  18. A. Brodsky, S. Durocher, E. Gethner, Toward the rectilinear crossing number of K n : new drawings, upper bounds, and asymptotics. Discr. Math. 262, 59–77 (2003)

    Article  MathSciNet  MATH  Google Scholar 

  19. M. Cetina, C. Hernández-Vélez, J. Leaños, C. Villalobos, Point sets that minimize ( ≤ ​ k)-edges, 3-decomposable drawings, and the rectilinear crossing number of K 30. Discr. Math. 311, 1646–1657 (2011)

    Article  MATH  Google Scholar 

  20. M.W. Crofton, Probability, in Encyclopedia Britannica, 9th edn. Philadelphia, PA: J. M. Stoddart 19, 768–788 (1885)

    Google Scholar 

  21. R.B. Eggleton, Ph.D. thesis, University of Calgary, 1973

    Google Scholar 

  22. R.K. Guy, Crossing numbers of graphs. Graph theory and applications, in Proceeding Conference, Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, Mich., dedicated to the memory of J. W. T. Youngs), Lecture Notes in Math., Springer, Berlin, 303, 111–124 (1972)

    Google Scholar 

  23. H.F. Jensen, An upper bound for the rectilinear crossing number of the complete graph. J. Combin. Theor. Ser B 10, 212–216 (1971)

    Article  MATH  Google Scholar 

  24. H. Krasser, Order Types of Point Sets in the Plane. Ph.D. thesis, Institute for Theoretical Computer Science, Graz University of Technology, Austria, October 2003

    Google Scholar 

  25. L. Lovász, K. Vesztergombi, U. Wagner, E. Welzl, Convex quadrilaterals and k-sets. Towards a theory of geometric graphs. Contemp. Math. (Amer. Math. Soc., Providence) 342, 139–148 (2004)

    Google Scholar 

  26. S. Pan, R.B. Richter, The crossing number of K 11 is 100. J. Graph Theor. 56, 128–134 (2007)

    Article  MathSciNet  MATH  Google Scholar 

  27. E. Scheinerman, H.S. Wilf, The rectilinear crossing number of a complete graph and Sylvester’s “four point” problem of geometric probability. Am. Math. Mon. 101, 939–943 (1994)

    Article  MathSciNet  MATH  Google Scholar 

  28. D. Singer, Rectilinear crossing numbers. Manuscript (1971)

    Google Scholar 

  29. J.J. Sylvester, Question 1491, in The Educational Times (London, April 1864)

    Google Scholar 

  30. J.J. Sylvester, Rep. Br. Assoc. 35, 8–9 (1865)

    Google Scholar 

  31. U. Wagner, On the rectilinear crossing number of complete graphs, in Proceedings of the 14th Annual Symposium on Discrete Algorithms (Baltimore, MD, 2003), ACM, New York, 583–588 (2003)

    Google Scholar 

  32. U. Wagner, E. Welzl, A continuous analogue of the upper bound theorem. Discr. Comput. Geom. 26, 205–219 (2001)

    Article  MathSciNet  MATH  Google Scholar 

  33. E. Welzl, More on k-sets of finite sets in the plane. Discr. Comput. Geom. 1, 95–100 (1986)

    Article  MathSciNet  MATH  Google Scholar 

  34. E. Welzl, Entering and leaving j-facets. Discr. Comput. Geom. 25, 351–364 (2001)

    Article  MathSciNet  MATH  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Bernardo M. Ábrego .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2013 Springer Science+Business Media New York

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Ábrego, B.M., Fernández-Merchant, S., Salazar, G. (2013). The Rectilinear Crossing Number of K n : Closing in (or Are We?). In: Pach, J. (eds) Thirty Essays on Geometric Graph Theory. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-0110-0_2

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics