login
A230281
The least possible number of intersection points of the diagonals in the interior of a convex n-gon with all diagonals drawn.
3
0, 1, 5, 13, 29, 49
OFFSET
3,3
COMMENTS
Perhaps a(9) = 94.
After removing two points from the regular 12-gon, that is, removing the corresponding points at 12 o'clock and 2 o'clock, there will be only 157 intersection points of the diagonals, it is less than 161, which is the number of intersections of diagonals in the interior of regular 10-gon. So, a(10) <= 157 < 161 = A006561(10). - Guang Zhou, Jul 27 2018
The greatest possible number of intersection points occurs when each set of four vertices gives diagonals with a unique intersection point. Thus, a(n) <= binomial(n,4) = A000332(n). - Michael B. Porter, Jul 30 2018
LINKS
Vladimir Letsko, Mathematical Marathon at VSPU, Problem 102 (in Russian)
Vladimir Letsko, Illustration of a(8) = 49 (the regular octagon provides another example)
V. A. Letsko and M. A. Voronina, Classification of convex polygons, Grani Poznaniya, 1(11), 2011 (in Russian).
V. A. Letsko and M. A. Voronina, Illustration of a(7) = 29
B. Poonen and M. Rubinstein, The number of intersection points made by the diagonals of a regular polygon, SIAM J. on Discrete Mathematics, Vol. 11, No. 1, 135-156 (1998).
B. Poonen and M. Rubinstein, The number of intersection points made by the diagonals of a regular polygon, arXiv:math/9508209 [math.MG], 1995-2006, arXiv version, which has fewer typos than the SIAM version.
EXAMPLE
a(6) = 13 because the number of intersection points of the diagonals in the interior of convex hexagon is equal to 13 if 3 diagonals meet in one point, and this number cannot be less than 13 for any hexagon.
CROSSREFS
KEYWORD
nonn,more,nice
AUTHOR
Vladimir Letsko, Oct 15 2013
STATUS
approved