Search arXiv⌕ Search
Home/Archive/arXiv

arXiv · math/0408396

Collinear Points in Permutations

J. Cooper·J. Solymosi
View original source ↗Read source document ↗Export metadata ↓

Abstract

Consider the following problem: how many collinear triples of points must a transversal of (Z/nZ)^2 have? This question is connected with venerable issues in discrete geometry. We show that the answer, for n prime, is between (n-1)/4 and (n-1)/2, and consider an analogous question for collinear quadruples. We conjecture that the upper bound is the truth and suggest several other interesting problems in this area.

Explore related subjects

math.COmath.NT

Keep this discovery

Explore connections, maps & timelines

BibTeXRIS

J. Cooper, J. Solymosi. 2004-08-29. Collinear Points in Permutations. https://arxiv.org/abs/math/0408396

Cite the original work for its findings. Save a collection to share your selection of sources.

KEEP EXPLORING

Related papers

arXiv2026

Small doublings in abelian groups of prime power torsion

Let $A$ be a subset of $G$, where $G$ is a finite abelian group of torsion $r$. It was conjectured by Ruzsa that if $|A+A|\leq K|A|$, then $A$ is contained in a coset of $G$ of size at most $r^{CK}|A|$ for some constant $C$. The case $r=2$ received considerable attention in a sequence of papers, and was resolved by Green and Tao. Recently, Even-Zohar and Lovett settled the case when $r$ is a prime. In this paper, we confirm the conjecture when $r$ is a power of prime. In particular, the bound we obtain is tight.

math.CO↗
arXiv2026

Graph Polynomial for Colored Embedded Graphs: A Topological Approach

We study finite graphs embedded in oriented surfaces by associating a polynomial to it. The tools used in developing a theory of such graph polynomials are algebraic topological while the polynomial itself is inspired from ideas arising in physics. We also analyze a variant of these polynomials for colored embedded graphs. This is used to describe the change in the polynomial under basic graph theoretic operations. We conclude with several applications of this polynomial including detection of certain classes of graphs and the connection of this polynomial with topological entanglement entropy.

math.CO↗
arXiv2026

Schur positivity of the spiders $S(a,2,1)$ and $S(a,4,1)$ via noncommutative symmetric functions

We prove that the spider graphs $S(a,2,1)$ and $S(a,4,1)$ are Schur positive for all integers $a\ge1$. Together with the known $e$-positivity results, this completes the $e$- and Schur-positivity classification of both families. Our approach uses noncommutative symmetric functions, including a particularly simple ribbon expansion for the path lift with coefficients given by powers of two. We give a new proof of the Shareshian--Wachs path formula at $t=1$ and construct corresponding lifts for spiders. The Littlewood--Richardson rule converts their ribbon expansions into a general Schur-coefficient formula in terms of weighted Yamanouchi words. Mass-preserving multi-injections and a reduction to finitely many inequalities in degree $10$ then prove the required positivity; exact computer verification of these inequalities completes the proof in full generality.

math.CO↗