On max-clique for intersection graphs of sets and the hadwiger-debrunner numbers

Let HDd(p, q) denote the minimal size of a transversal that can always be guaranteed for a family of compact convex sets in Rd which satisfy the (p, q)-property (p ≥ q ≥ d + 1). In a celebrated proof of the Hadwiger-Debrunner conjecture, Alon and Kleitman proved that HDd(p, q) exists for all p ≥ q ≥ d + 1. Specifically, they prove that HDd(p, d + 1) is O(pd2+d). This paper has two parts. In the first part we present several improved bounds on HDd(p, q). In particular, we obtain the first near tight estimate of HDd(p, q) for an extended range of values of (p, q) since the 1957 Hadwiger-Debrunner theorem. In the second part we prove a (p, 2)-theorem for families in R2 with union complexity below a specific quadratic bound. Based on this, we introduce a polynomial time constant factor approximation algorithm for MAX-CLIQUE of intersection graphs of convex sets satisfying this property. It is not likely that our constant factor approximation can be improved to a PTAS as MAX-CLIQUE for intersection graphs of fat ellipses is known to be APX-HARD and fat ellipses have sub-quadratic union complexity. Copyright © by SIAM

Efficiently stabbing convex polygons and variants of the Hadwiger-Debrunner (p,q)(p, q)-theorem

Hadwiger and Debrunner showed that for families of convex sets in $\mathbb{R}^d$ with the property that among any $p$ of them some $q$ have a common point, the whole family can be stabbed with $p-q+1$ points if $p \geq q \geq d+1$ and $(d-1)p < d(q-1)$. This generalizes a classical result by Helly. We show how such a stabbing set can be computed for a family of convex polygons in the plane with a total of $n$ vertices in $O((p-q+1)n^{4/3}\log^{8} n(\log\log n)^{1/3} + np^2)$ expected time. For polyhedra in $\mathbb{R}^3$, we get an algorithm running in $O((p-q+1)n^{5/2}\log^{10} n(\log\log n)^{1/6} + np^3)$ expected time. We also investigate other conditions on convex polygons for which our algorithm can find a fixed number of points stabbing them. Finally, we show that analogous results of the Hadwiger and Debrunner $(p,q)$-theorem hold in other settings, such as convex sets in $\mathbb{R}^d\times\mathbb{Z}^k$ or abstract convex geometries

On a Problem of Danzer

Let C be a bounded convex object in R^d, and P a set of n points lying outside C. Further let c_p, c_q be two integers with 1 <= c_q <= c_p <= n - floor[d/2], such that every c_p + floor[d/2] points of P contains a subset of size c_q + floor[d/2] whose convex-hull is disjoint from C. Then our main theorem states the existence of a partition of P into a small number of subsets, each of whose convex-hull is disjoint from C. Our proof is constructive and implies that such a partition can be computed in polynomial time. In particular, our general theorem implies polynomial bounds for Hadwiger-Debrunner (p, q) numbers for balls in R^d. For example, it follows from our theorem that when p > q >= (1+beta) * d/2 for beta > 0, then any set of balls satisfying the HD(p,q) property can be hit by O(q^2 p^{1+1/(beta)} log p) points. This is the first improvement over a nearly 60-year old exponential bound of roughly O(2^d). Our results also complement the results obtained in a recent work of Keller et al. where, apart from improvements to the bound on HD(p, q) for convex sets in R^d for various ranges of p and q, a polynomial bound is obtained for regions with low union complexity in the plane