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Questions tagged [covering]

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2 votes
0 answers
50 views

Maximum coverage of an orthogonal polygon using $k$ rectangles

I have an orthogonal polygon (all edges are horizontal or vertical) which is convex (no holes in any row of column of the polygon). I would like to cover as much as possible of this orthogonal polygon ...
5 votes
3 answers
962 views

A variant of set cover problem reformulated

Given a universe set $U$ and $n$ sets of sets $A_i$ ($i=1, \cdots, n$). Each set $A_i$ contains $k_i$ subsets of $U$, i.e., $A_i=\{B_{ij}: j=1, \cdots, k_i\}$ where $B_{ij}$ is a subset of $U$. I have ...
1 vote
0 answers
111 views

On finding optimal convex planar shapes to cover a given convex planar shape

Covering a specific convex shape S with n copies of another specified convex shape S' (which may be different from S) is well studied - for example, https://erich-friedman.github.io/packing/index.html....
10 votes
1 answer
262 views

Does every linear cover contain a minimal cover?

This is a follow-up question to an older question. Let $X\neq \emptyset$ be a set. We say that ${\cal C}\subseteq {\cal P}(X)$ is a cover if $\bigcup {\cal C} = X$, and we call ${\cal C}$ linear if $|...
5 votes
1 answer
158 views

(Weakly) minimal subcovers of linear covers

Motivation. The starting point of this question is the trivial observation that if we cover $\mathbb{N}$ with $$\big\{\{0,\ldots n\}: n\in \mathbb{N}\big\},$$ then this cover doesn't have a minimal ...
6 votes
3 answers
236 views

Refinement-minimal intersecting covers

Motivation. Yesterday I was sitting idly in the train, contemplating the train network. I noticed that a lot of lines (not all) intersected, and some pairs of lines intersected in quite a few stations....
0 votes
2 answers
96 views

Isometric path cover number of the 2 dimensional grid graph

I am looking for a proof of the fact that at least $2n/3$ isometric paths (i.e. shortest paths between the end points) are required to cover the vertices of the $n\times n$ grid graph (i.e. Cartesian ...
2 votes
0 answers
130 views

Fundamental group of a quotient by a group action

Suppose I have a quotient $X \to S$ by a finite abelian group $G$ action (I have several cases, but in all of them the group $G$ and the action could be written explicitly), where $X,S$ are surfaces (...
5 votes
2 answers
215 views

Can we calculate the spectral radius of the universal cover for specific graphs?

Background For a finite graph $G$, let $\tilde{G}$ denote the universal cover of $G$. For a vertex $v$, let $p_{2n}(v)$ denote the number of paths of length $2n$ that start and end at $v$. The ...
5 votes
2 answers
388 views

How much do these interval collections cover?

As usual any related references are appreciated. Let $p \lt q$ be distinct primes, and for all such pairs, let $m=pq$ and let $\cal{C}$ be the collection $(m-p,m)$ of open intervals. Does (the union ...
19 votes
3 answers
2k views

Can you cover the Boolean cube $\{0,1\}^n$ with $O(1)$ Hamming-balls each of radius $n/2-c\sqrt{n}$?

(where c>0 and the balls need not be disjoint?) This is an embarrassingly simple question, yet somehow I couldn't find an answer (not even, "this is a well-known open problem") after spending some ...
2 votes
1 answer
194 views

Bound the probability that a point belongs to a set

Let $(a_k)_{k \geq 1}$ be random variables taking values on a finite subset $B$. Assume that $$ (1) \quad \Pr\Big (\lim_{n\rightarrow +\infty}d(\frac{1}{n}\sum_{k=1}^n 1_{[a_k = b]}, [v_\ell(b,\...
1 vote
1 answer
3k views

Covering an arbitrary polygon with minimum number of squares

I have a problem whereby, given an arbitrary polygon with any number of points, I need to cover the whole area by a number of fixed size squares. I can easily find a set of squares which covers the ...
3 votes
1 answer
239 views

Nerve theorem for locally infinite covers by subcomplexes

Let $Y$ be a simplicial complex and let $\{Y_i\}_{i\in I}$ be a set of subcomplexes of $Y$ such that $\bigcup_{i\in I}Y_i=Y$. Let $\mathcal N$ be the nerve of this covering, and assume that for each ...
7 votes
3 answers
492 views

Minimal covering sets in families of sets intersecting in at most $1$ point

Let $X$ be an infinite set, and let ${\cal A}\subseteq{\cal P}(X)$ be a family of non-empty sets. We say $S\subseteq X$ is a cover for ${\cal A}$ if $A\cap S \neq \emptyset$ for all $A\in{\cal A}$. ...
1 vote
0 answers
244 views

Relation between projective representation and the representation of the universal cover of a Lie Group

I am reading this paper, in what says exactly: "Weare dealing with a ray representation os the conformal group AND THEREFORE with a representation of the universal covering group of the conformal ...
1 vote
0 answers
64 views

Admissibility of representations induced from Hecke algebra for covering groups

Assume $G$ is a semisimple algebraic group and $B$ is an Iwahori subgroup. Let $(r,E)$ be a representation of $H(G,B)$ which is an Iwahori-Hecke algebra, then Borel proved that $C_{c}(G/B)\otimes_{H}E$...
3 votes
1 answer
103 views

Minimal digraph covering with no 2-path edge sets is of size $\left( 1 + o \left( 1 \right) \right) \log_2 \chi(G)$

The last problem in 2022 IMC Day 1 strongly correlates with graph theory. In its official solution, the fundamental approach can be rephrased as follows. Give a digraph $G=(V,E)$. We call a subset of ...
1 vote
1 answer
92 views

Hypergraphs with finite matching / covering balance

Let $H=(V,E)$ be a hypergraph such that $\emptyset\notin E$. We say that $C\subseteq V$ is a (vertex) cover if for all $e \in E$ we have $C\cap e\neq \emptyset$. The minimum size that a cover can have ...
4 votes
1 answer
193 views

Is König's Property for graphs inheritable from finite subgraphs?

Let $G = (V,E)$ be a simple, undirected graph. A set $C \subseteq V$ is said to be a (vertex) cover if $C \cap e \neq \emptyset$ for all $e\in E$. A matching is a set $M\subseteq E$ of pairwise ...
1 vote
1 answer
170 views

"Lamp-switch set-up number" of $n$ [closed]

Motivation. The following has a real-life (!) inspiration from a discussion about how to connect lamps and switches in an efficient way. Question. Let $n\in\mathbb{N}$ be a positive integer and let $\{...
0 votes
0 answers
81 views

Efficiency of covers

Let $X\neq \emptyset$ be a set. We say $C \subseteq {\cal P}(X)$ is a cover of $X$ if $\bigcup C = X$. For covers $C, D$ of $X$ we say that $C$ is more efficient than $D$ if $|C\setminus D| < |D \...
0 votes
0 answers
110 views

Optimal covering trails in 3 and 4 dimensions

A couple of years ago, I constructively solved (inside the $AABB$ $[0,3]$ X $[0,3]$ X ... X $[0,3]$) the $k$-dimensional generalization of the infamous Nine-Dot Problem by S. Loyd (see Cyclopedia of ...
12 votes
2 answers
11k views

Covering a polygon with rectangles

I am trying to cover a simple concave polygon with a minimum rectangles. My rectangles can be any length, but they have maximum widths, and the polygon will never have an acute angle. I thought about ...
1 vote
1 answer
266 views

Constant bound for the 1 dimensional Besicovitch covering theorem on real line

I recently looked through the proof of the Gagliardo–Nirenberg Interpolation Inequality, see proof and it says that for real line $R$, there exists a sequence of open intervals $\{I_k\}$, which covers ...
0 votes
0 answers
120 views

Odd covering system without modulus 3 (mod3)

The existence of odd covering system with distinct moduli is a famous open question proposed by Erdős and Selfridge. I wonder whether a restricted condition for the problem that odd covering system ...
2 votes
1 answer
59 views

Minimal vertex-covering set

If $G=(V,E)$ is a simple, undirected graph, $C\subseteq V$ is said to be a vertex cover if for every $e\in E$ we have $C\cap e \neq \emptyset.$ If $G=(V,E) $ is infinite, is there necessarily a vertex ...
5 votes
1 answer
184 views

Do you know explicit examples of superelliptic curves $y^{\ell} = g(x)$ (for some prime $\ell > 3$) covering some elliptic curves?

For every elliptic curve $E$ Icart in $\S 2$ of the paper explicitly constructs a superelliptic curve $S\!: y^3 = f(x)$ and a cover $\varphi\!: S \to E$. Do you know explicit examples of superelliptic ...
4 votes
0 answers
114 views

Sufficient conditions for the Besicovitch covering theorem to hold on groups of polynomial growth

Let $G$ be a finitely generated group with symmetric generating set $S$. Then $S$ induces a distance $d$ on $G$ by letting $d(a,b) = $ the minimum $n$ such that there are generators $s_1,...,s_n$ with ...
2 votes
1 answer
192 views

On some optimal containers of a set of points on the 2D plane

Given a set of N points in general position on the plane, the problem is to give efficient algorithms to find the smallest semicircular region (semidisk) that contains the points the smallest ...
1 vote
1 answer
158 views

Effect of snowflaking on doubling constants

This question is related to this one. Let $(X,d)$ be a metric space, let $\epsilon\in [0,1)$ and consider the snowflake $(X,d^{1-\epsilon})$. Suppose that $(X,d)$ has a finite doubling constant, ...
15 votes
3 answers
1k views

covering a square with unit squares

Can some square of side length greater than $n$ be covered by $n^2+1$ unit squares? (The unit squares may be rotated. The large square and its interior must be covered.)
2 votes
1 answer
114 views

Smallest size of graph covered by infinite tree

Let $T$ be the universal covering tree of some finite, connected, non-tree graph, and let $n_0(T)$ be the smallest positive integer such that there exists a graph $G$ (loops and multiple edges allowed)...
4 votes
2 answers
257 views

Relationship between minimum vertex cover and matching width

Let $H$ be a 3-partite 3-uniform hypergraph with minimum vertex cover number $\tau(H)$ (i.e. $\tau(H)=\min\{|Q|: Q\subseteq V(H), e\cap Q\neq \emptyset \text{ for all } e\in E(H)\}$). Question: Is $\...
2 votes
0 answers
86 views

How many ways to cover a N×N chessboard with white and black boxes by some restrictions?

Suppose we have a N×N chessboard and the boxes ■, □. We should cover the chessboard with those boxes but there can not have the 2×2 square $\scriptstyle{\begin{array}{cc}\square&\square\\ \...
2 votes
0 answers
301 views

Covering number for the unit ball in a reproducing kernel Hilbert space

I am looking for a reference for an upper bound on the covering number for the unit ball $\{ f \in \mathcal{H}: ||f||_{\mathcal{H}} || \leq 1\} $, where $\mathcal{H}$ is a reproducing kernel Hilbert ...
1 vote
0 answers
41 views

Separation of balls in the torus

Let $X_1, \dots, X_N$ be $N$ balls of radius $R<<1$ in $[0,1]^d$ such that $N R^d \leqslant R^{\alpha}$ for some $\alpha > 0$ and $d(x_i,x_j)\geqslant 2R$ for any $i\not=j$. The assumption ...
14 votes
1 answer
1k views

Minimal good cover of the torus

Recall that an open cover $\mathfrak{U} = \{ U_\alpha \}$ of a manifold $M$ is called a good cover if all possible finite intersections $U_{\alpha_1} \cap ... \cap U_{\alpha_n}$ are contractible. ...
-1 votes
1 answer
80 views

Minimal covering sets of continuous endomorphisms

For any topological space $(X,\tau)$, let $\text{End}(X)$ denote the set of continuous functions $f:X\to X$. We say that ${\cal C}\subseteq \text{End}(X)$ covers $\text{End}(X)$ if for every $f\in \...
3 votes
2 answers
125 views

Avoiding multiply covered vertices in graph edge coverings

Let $G=(V,E)$ be a simple, undirected graph with $\bigcup = E$ (that is, there are no isolated vertices). We say that $C\subseteq E$ is an edge cover of $G$ if $\bigcup C = V$. For any edge cover $C$ ...
10 votes
1 answer
484 views

Stochastic Covering Number of a Convex Set

Consider a convex set, say $S = [0,1]^d$. Let $X_1, X_2,\ldots,X_n, \ldots$ be i.i.d. random variables that are uniformly distributed on $S$. Denote the Euclidean ball centered at $x \in \mathbb{R}^d$ ...
1 vote
0 answers
50 views

Minimizing the set of multiply covered elements in a linear hypergraph

We say that a hypergraph $H=(V,E)$ is a linear hypergraph if it has the following properties: if $e_1\neq e_2\in E$ then $|e_1\cap e_2|\leq 1$, and $\bigcup E = V$. We say that $C\subseteq E$ is a ...
1 vote
1 answer
466 views

Homology of universal abelian cover of a manifold

If one define the universal abelian covering $M_0$ of a manifold $M$ as the abelian covering (i.e. normal covering with abelian group of deck transformations) that covers any other abelian covering, ...
1 vote
1 answer
154 views

On a combinatorial set covering property

Let $\kappa < \lambda < \mu$ be infinite cardinals. Is there a collection ${\cal U}\subseteq {\cal P}(\mu)$ of subsets of $\mu$ with the following properties? for all $U\in {\cal U}$ we have $|...
1 vote
1 answer
430 views

Growth rate of bounded Lipschitz functions on compact finite-dimensional space

Let $\mathcal X$ be a metric space of diameter $D$ and "dimension" (e.g doubling dimension) $d$. Let $L \in [0, \infty]$ and $M \in [0, \infty)$ and consider the class $\mathcal H_{M,L}$ of $L$-...
4 votes
1 answer
74 views

Optimal pseudotransversals

A hypergraph $H=(V,E)$ consists of an non-empty set $V$ and a collection $E\subseteq {\cal P}(V)\setminus \{\emptyset\}$ of non-empty subsets of $V$. A transversal of $H$ is a set $T\subseteq V$ such ...
1 vote
1 answer
260 views

Understanding equivalent condition for covering dimension

Let dim $X$ denote the Lebesgue covering dimension for a topological space $X$. Now a result in common books concerning dimension theory states the following: If $X$ is a normal topological space, ...
16 votes
1 answer
4k views

what is the cyclic cover trick?

What do people mean by the "cyclic cover trick"? I have found this expression a couple of times with no complete explanation, both talking about curves and surfaces...
2 votes
2 answers
350 views

Image of curve along a finite etale Galois map

Let $f:X\to Y$ be a finite etale Galois morphism of varieties over $\mathbb{C}$. Let $C$ be a smooth quasi-projective connected curve in $X$. Is $f(C)$ a smooth curve?
2 votes
1 answer
227 views

Brownian motion and random walk

Let $M_{\Gamma}$ a Riemannian covering of a closed compact manifold $(M,g)$ with deck transformation $\Gamma$ (its neutral element will be denoted by $e$). If we denote by $p_t^{\Gamma}(x,y)$ the heat ...