Realizability of hypergraphs and Ramsey link theory
Arkadiy Borisovich Skopenkov · arXiv (Cornell University) · 2014
We present short simple proofs of Conway-Gordon-Sachs' theorem on graphs in 3-dimensional space, as well as van Kampen-Flores' and Ummel's theorems on nonrealizability of certain hypergraphs (or simplicial complexes) in 4-dimensional space. The proofs use a reduction to lower dimensions which allows to exhibit relation between these results. We present a simplified exposition accessible to non-specialists in the area and to students who know basic geometry of 3-dimensional space and who are ready to learn straightforward 4-dimensional generalizations. We use elementary language (e.g. collections of points) which allows to present the main ideas without technicalities (e.g. without using the formal definition of a hypergraph).