The number of point-splitting circles

Let S be a set of 2n+1 points in the plane such that no three are collinear and no four are concyclic. A circle will be called point-splitting if it has 3 points of S on its circumference, n-1 points in its interior and n-1 in its exterior. We show the surprising property that S always has exactly n^2 point- splitting circles, and prove a more general result.Comment: 12 pages, 4 figure

The Bergman complex of a matroid and phylogenetic trees

We study the Bergman complex B(M) of a matroid M: a polyhedral complex which arises in algebraic geometry, but which we describe purely combinatorially. We prove that a natural subdivision of the Bergman complex of M is a geometric realization of the order complex of its lattice of flats. In addition, we show that the Bergman fan B'(K_n) of the graphical matroid of the complete graph K_n is homeomorphic to the space of phylogenetic trees T_n.Comment: 15 pages, 6 figures. Reorganized paper and updated references. To appear in J. Combin. Theory Ser.