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Related wikipage: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gr%C3%B6tzsch_graph

Is the crossing number of the Grötzsch graph known? I have heard it conjectured to be 5 (certainly it is no greater), but came up empty-handed in my search of the literature.

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    $\begingroup$ For what it's worth (as crossing numbers are notoriously hard to compute), I think it is still open. I also added the graph theory tag. $\endgroup$
    – Tony Huynh
    Apr 17, 2012 at 12:57

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The crossing number of the Grötzsch graph is 5.

Crossing numbers are believed to be difficult to compute in general. (The corresponding decision problem is NP-hard.) However, for small graphs and small crossing numbers, it is possible to find an optimal planar drawing. For example, see Markus Chimani's thesis "Computing Crossing Numbers" for more information.

The Open Graph Drawing Framework (OGDF) can compute crossing numbers. After compiling the program on the linked page and entering the Grötzsch graph, my computer computed that the optimal planar drawing has 5 crossings. Let me emphasize that this technique is exact, not heuristic.

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    $\begingroup$ Nice! I see OGDF has been updated as well (2022/02). I have not known what is the code function of OGDF to calculate the crossing number. $\endgroup$
    – L.C. Zhang
    Aug 30, 2022 at 12:41

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