Separation with restricted families of sets

Given a finite $n$-element set $X$, a family of subsets ${\mathcal F}\subset 2^X$ is said to separate $X$ if any two elements of $X$ are separated by at least one member of $\mathcal F$. It is shown that if $|\mathcal F|>2^{n-1}$, then one can select $\lceil\log n\rceil+1$ members of $\mathcal F$ that separate $X$. If $|\mathcal F|\ge \alpha 2^n$ for some $0<\alpha<1/2$, then $\log n+O(\log\frac1{\alpha}\log\log\frac1{\alpha})$ members of $\mathcal F$ are always sufficient to separate all pairs of elements of $X$ that are separated by some member of $\mathcal F$. This result is generalized to simultaneous separation in several sets. Analogous questions on separation by families of bounded Vapnik-Chervonenkis dimension and separation of point sets in ${\mathbb{R}}^d$ by convex sets are also considered.Comment: 13 page

Fixed points for actions of Aut(Fn) on CAT(0) spaces

For n greater or equal 4 we discuss questions concerning global fixed points for isometric actions of Aut(Fn), the automorphism group of a free group of rank n, on complete CAT(0) spaces. We prove that whenever Aut(Fn) acts by isometries on complete d-dimensional CAT(0) space with d is less than 2 times the integer function of n over 4 and minus 1, then it must fix a point. This property has implications for irreducible representations of Aut(Fn), which are also presented here. For SAut(Fn), the unique subgroup of index two in Aut(Fn), we obtain similar results