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Sergey Avvakumov

Publications and source records attributed to Sergey Avvakumov.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
arXiv2026

The affine Tverberg theorem revisited

We prove the Bárány--Kalai--Tverberg conjecture extending the affine version of Tverberg's theorem to simplicial balls and polytopes other than the simplex: For any affine map $ϕ: P\to \mathbb R^d$ from a convex polytope $P$ of dimension $N=(d+1)(r-1)$ with $r\geq 2$, there exist $r$ pairwise disjoint faces $F_1,\ldots,F_r\subset\partial P$ such that $ϕ(F_1)\cap\dots\capϕ(F_r)\neq\varnothing$. A similar statement holds for a simplicial ball $P$ with $ϕ$ assumed affine on all of its faces.

math.CO↗
arXiv2026

Small separators, upper bounds for $l^\infty$-widths, and systolic geometry

We investigate the dependence on the dimension in the inequalities that relate the Euclidean volume of a closed submanifold $M^n\subset \mathbb{R}^N$ with its $l^\infty$-width $W^{l^\infty}_{n-1}(M^n)$ defined as the infimum over all continuous maps $ϕ:M^n\longrightarrow K^{n-1}\subset\mathbb{R}^N$ of $sup_{x\in M^n}\Vert ϕ(x)-x\Vert_{l^\infty}$. We prove that $W^{l^\infty}_{n-1}(M^n)\leq const\ \sqrt{n}\ vol(M^n)^{\frac{1}{n}}$, and if the codimension $N-n$ is equal to $1$, then $W^{l^\infty}_{n-1}(M^n)\leq \sqrt{3}\ vol(M^n)^{\frac{1}{n}}$. As a corollary, we prove that if $M^n\subset \mathbb{R}^N$ is {\it essential}, then there exists a non-contractible closed curve on $M^n$ contained in a cube in $\mathbb{R}^N$ with side length $const\ \sqrt{n}\ vol^{\frac{1}{n}}(M^n)$ with sides parallel to the coordinate axes. If the codimension is $1$, then the side length of the cube is $4\ vol^{\frac{1}{n}}(M^n)$. To prove these results we introduce a new approach to systolic geometry that can be described as a non-linear version of the classical Federer-Fleming argument, where we push out from a specially constructed non-linear $(N-n)$-dimensional complex in $\mathbb{R}^N$ that does not intersect $M^n$. To construct these complexes we first prove a version of kinematic formula where one averages over isometries of $l^N_\infty$ (Theorem 3.5), and introduce high-codimension analogs of optimal foams recently discovered in [KORW] and [AK].

math.DG↗
arXiv2026

Intersection patterns of set systems on manifolds with slowly growing homological shatter functions

A theorem of Matoušek asserts that for any $k \ge 2$, any set system whose shatter function is $o(n^k)$ enjoys a fractional Helly theorem of order $k$: in the $k$-wise intersection hypergraph, positive density implies a linear-size clique. Kalai and Meshulam conjectured a generalization of that phenomenon to homological shatter functions. It was verified for set systems with bounded homological shatter functions and ground set with a forbidden homological minor (which includes $\mathbb{R}^d$ by a homological analogue of the van Kampen-Flores theorem). We present two contributions to this line of research: - We study homological minors in certain manifolds (possibly with boundary), for which we prove analogues of the van Kampen-Flores theorem and of the Hanani-Tutte theorem. - We introduce graded analogues of the Radon and Helly numbers of set systems and relate their growth rate to the original parameters. This allows to extend the verification of the Kalai-Meshulam conjecture for sufficiently slowly growing homological shatter functions.

cs.CG↗
arXiv2026

Convex fair partitions into an arbitrary number of pieces

We prove that any convex body in the plane can be partitioned into $m$ convex parts of equal areas and perimeters for any integer $m\ge 2$; this result was previously known for prime powers $m=p^k$. We also discuss possible higher-dimensional generalizations and difficulties of extending our technique to equalizing more than one non-additive function.

math.MG↗
arXiv2025

Tensor rank of the determinant and periodic triangulations of $\mathbb{R}^n$

We prove that in any $\mathbb{Z}^n$-periodic triangulation of $\mathbb{R}^n$ the number of $\mathbb{Z}^n$-orbits of $n$-dimensional simplices is at least the tensor rank of the $n$th determinant tensor. The latter is known to be at least $\frac{n^{n-1}}{(n-1)!}$, which is approximately $\frac{e^n}{\sqrt{2πn}}$ for large $n$. The triangulation is not assumed to be geometric, meaning that its simplices can be ``curved''. We also provide lower bounds for general spaces. A simplicial cell complex is a CW-complex glued out of simplices with the attaching maps being simplicial embeddings; this notion generalizes simplicial complexes. We prove that if $X$ is a simplicial cell complex with cohomological classes $α_i\in H^{d_i}(X;\mathbb{Z}_2)$ satisfying \[ α_1 \smile α_2 \smile \ldots \smile α_n \neq 0, \] then $X$ has at least $2^n$ simplices of dimension $d_1+d_2+\ldots+d_n$. In particular, a simplicial cell complex homeomorphic to $\mathbb{R} P^n$, $\mathbb{C} P^n$, or $(S^2)^n$, has at least $2^n$ top-dimensional simplices. A crystallization of a manifold is a simplicial cell complex homeomorphic to this manifold and having the least possible number of vertices. We give a short explicit construction of a crystallization and a triangulation of $\mathbb{R}^n/\mathbb{Z}^n$ with $n+1$ and $2^{n+1}-1$ vertices, resp. Triangulations with this many vertices were described before and no smaller triangulation is known.

math.CO↗
arXiv2025

Boxing inequalities in Banach spaces and Riemannian manifolds

We prove the following result: For each closed $n$-dimensional manifold $M$ in a (finite or infinite-dimensional) Banach space $B$, and each positive real $m\leq n$ there exists a pseudomanifold $W^{n+1}\subset B$ such that $\partial W^{n+1}=M^n$ and ${\rm HC}_m(W^{n+1})\leq c(m){\rm HC}_m(M^n)$. Here ${\rm HC}_m(X)$ denotes the $m$-dimensional Hausdorff content, i.e the infimum of $Σ_i r_i^m$, where the infimum is taken over all coverings of $X$ by a finite collection of open metric balls, and $r_i$ denote the radii of these balls. In the classical case, when $B=\mathbb{R}^{n+1}$, this result implies that if $Ω\subset R^{n+1}$ is a bounded domain, then for all $m\in (0,n]$ ${\rm HC}_m(Ω)\leq c(m){\rm HC}_m(\partial Ω)$. This inequality seems to be new despite being well-known and widely used in the case, when $m=n$ (Gustin's boxing inequality, [G]). The result is a corollary of the following more general theorem that strengthens a theorem in [LLNR]: For each compact subset $X$ in a Banach space $B$ and positive real number $m$ such that ${\rm HC}_m(X)\not= 0$ there exists a finite $(\lceil m\rceil-1)$-dimensional simplicial complex $K\subset B$, a continuous map $ϕ:X\longrightarrow K$, and a homotopy $H:X\times [0,1]\longrightarrow B$ between the inclusion of $X$ and $ϕ$ (regarded as a map into $B$) such that: (1) For each $x\in X$ $\Vert x-ϕ(x)\Vert_B\leq c_1(m){\rm HC}_m^{\frac{1}{m}}(X)$; (2) ${\rm HC}_m(H(X\times [0,1]))\leq c_2(m){\rm HC}_m(X)$. A similar theorem can also be proven in the case when $B$ is a metric space with a linear contractibility function and applies to all compact sets $X$ with a controllably small ${\rm HC}_m$ in Riemannian manifolds $M^n$ with the sectional curvature bounded below, the volume bounded below by a positive number, and the diameter bounded above.

math.MG↗
arXiv2025

Hardness of 4-Colourings G-Colourable Graphs

We study the complexity of a class of promise graph homomorphism problems. For a fixed graph H, the H-colouring problem is to decide whether a given graph has a homomorphism to H. By a result of Hell and Nešetřil, this problem is NP-hard for any non-bipartite loop-less graph H. Brakensiek and Guruswami [SODA 2018] conjectured the hardness extends to promise graph homomorphism problems as follows: fix a pair of non-bipartite loop-less graphs G, H such that there is a homomorphism from G to H, it is NP-hard to distinguish between graphs that are G-colourable and those that are not H-colourable. We confirm this conjecture in the cases when both G and H are 4-colourable. This is a common generalisation of previous results of Khanna, Linial, and Safra [Comb. 20(3): 393-415 (2000)] and of Krokhin and Opršal [FOCS 2019]. The result is obtained by combining the algebraic approach to promise constraint satisfaction with methods of topological combinatorics and equivariant obstruction theory.

cs.CC↗
arXiv2025

Cubulating the sphere with many facets

For each $d\geq 3$ we construct cube complexes homeomorphic to the $d$-sphere with $n$ vertices in which the number of facets (assuming $d$ constant) is $Ω(n^{5/4})$. This disproves a conjecture of Kalai's stating that the number of faces (of all dimensions) of cubical spheres is maximized by the boundaries of neighbourly cubical polytopes. The conjecture was already known to be false for $d=3$, $n=64$. Our construction disproves it for all $d\geq 3$ and $n$ sufficiently large. Moreover, since neighborly cubical polytopes have roughly $n (\log n)^{d/2}$ facets, we show that even the order of growth (at least for the number of facets) in the conjecture is wrong.

math.CO↗
arXiv2022

Homotopic curve shortening and the affine curve-shortening flow

We define and study a discrete process that generalizes the convex-layer decomposition of a planar point set. Our process, which we call "homotopic curve shortening" (HCS), starts with a closed curve (which might self-intersect) in the presence of a set $P\subset \mathbb R^2$ of point obstacles, and evolves in discrete steps, where each step consists of (1) taking shortcuts around the obstacles, and (2) reducing the curve to its shortest homotopic equivalent. We find experimentally that, if the initial curve is held fixed and $P$ is chosen to be either a very fine regular grid or a uniformly random point set, then HCS behaves at the limit like the affine curve-shortening flow (ACSF). This connection between ACSF and HCS generalizes the link between ACSF and convex-layer decomposition (Eppstein et al., 2017; Calder and Smart, 2020), which is restricted to convex curves. We prove that HCS satisfies some properties analogous to those of ACSF: HCS is invariant under affine transformations, preserves convexity, and does not increase the total absolute curvature. Furthermore, the number of self-intersections of a curve, or intersections between two curves (appropriately defined), does not increase. Finally, if the initial curve is simple, then the number of inflection points (appropriately defined) does not increase.

cs.CG↗
arXiv2022

Systolic inequalities for the number of vertices

Inspired by the classical Riemannian systolic inequality of Gromov we present a combinatorial analogue providing a lower bound on the number of vertices of a simplicial complex in terms of its edge-path systole. Similarly to the Riemannian case, where the inequality holds under a topological assumption of "essentiality", our proofs rely on a combinatorial analogue of that assumption. Under a stronger assumption, expressed in terms of cohomology cup-length, we improve our results quantitatively. We also illustrate our methods in the continuous setting, generalizing and improving quantitatively the Minkowski principle of Balacheff and Karam; a corollary of this result is the extension of the Guth--Nakamura cup-length systolic bound from manifolds to complexes.

math.MG↗
arXiv2022

Equipartition of a segment

We prove that, for any positive integer $m$, a segment may be partitioned into $m$ possibly degenerate or empty segments with equal values of a continuous function $f$ of a segment, assuming that $f$ may take positive and negative values, but its value on degenerate or empty segments is zero.

math.MG↗
arXiv2021

A subexponential size triangulation of $\mathbb{R}P^n$

We address a long-standing and long-investigated problem in combinatorial topology, and break the exponential barrier for triangulations of real projective space, constructing a trianglation of $\mathbb{RP}^n$ of size $e^{(\frac{1}{2}+o(1))\sqrt{n}{\log n}}$.

math.CO↗
arXiv2021

Envy-free division using mapping degree

In this paper we study envy-free division problems. The classical approach to such problems, used by David Gale, reduces to considering continuous maps of a simplex to itself and finding sufficient conditions for this map to hit the center of the simplex. The mere continuity of the map is not sufficient for reaching such a conclusion. Classically, one makes additional assumptions on the behavior of the map on the boundary of the simplex (for example, in the Knaster--Kuratowski--Mazurkiewicz and the Gale theorem). We follow Erel Segal-Halevi, Frédéric Meunier, and Shira Zerbib, and replace the boundary condition by another assumption, which has the meaning in economy as the possibility for a player to prefer an empty part in the segment partition problem. We solve the problem positively when $n$, the number of players that divide the segment, is a prime power, and we provide counterexamples for every $n$ which is not a prime power. We also provide counterexamples relevant to a wider class of fair or envy-free division problems when $n$ is odd and not a prime power. In this arxiv version that appears after the official publication we have corrected the statement and the proof of Lemma 3.4.

math.AT↗
arXiv2021

Vanishing of all equivariant obstructions and the mapping degree

Suppose that $n\neq p^k$ and $n\neq 2p^k$ for all $k$ and all primes $p$. We prove that for any Hausdorff compactum $X$ with a free action of the symmetric group $\mathfrak S_n$ there exists an $\mathfrak S_n$-equivariant map $X \to {\mathbb R}^n$ whose image avoids the diagonal $\{(x,x\dots,x)\in {\mathbb R}^n|x\in {\mathbb R}\}$. Previously, the special cases of this statement for certain $X$ were usually proved using the equivartiant obstruction theory. Such calculations are difficult and may become infeasible past the first (primary) obstruction. We take a different approach which allows us to prove the vanishing of all obstructions simultaneously. The essential step in the proof is classifying the possible degrees of $\mathfrak S_n$-equivariant maps from the boundary $\partialΔ^{n-1}$ of $(n-1)$-simplex to itself. Existence of equivariant maps between spaces is important for many questions arising from discrete mathematics and geometry, such as Kneser's conjecture, the Square Peg conjecture, the Splitting Necklace problem, and the Topological Tverberg conjecture, etc. We demonstrate the utility of our result applying it to one such question, a specific instance of envy-free division problem.

math.GT↗
arXiv2018

A Note on a Picture-Hanging Puzzle

In the picture-hanging puzzle we are to hang a picture so that the string loops around $n$ nails and the removal of any nail results in a fall of the picture. We show that the length of a sequence representing an element in the free group with $n$ generators that corresponds to a solution of the picture-hanging puzzle must be at least $n2^{\sqrt{\log_2 n}}$. In other words, this is a lower bound on the length of a sequence representing a non-trivial element in the free group with $n$ generators such that if we replace any of the generators by the identity the sequence becomes trivial.

math.CO↗