The colourful simplicial depth conjecture

Given $d+1$ sets of points, or colours, $\S_1,\ldots,\S_{d+1}$ in $\R^d$, a {\em colourful simplex} is a set $T\subseteq\bigcup_{i=1}^{d+1}\S_i$ such that $|T\cap \S_i|\leq 1$, for $i=1,\ldots,d+1$. The colourful \cara{} theorem states that, if $\zero$ is in the convex hull of each $\S_i$, then there exists a colourful simplex $T$ containing $\zero$ in its convex hull. In 2006, Deza, Huang, Stephen, and Terlaky ({\em Colourful simplicial depth}, Discrete Comput. Geom., {\bf 35}, 597--604 (2006)) conjectured that, actually, when $|\S_i|=d+1$ for all $i=1,\ldots,d+1$, there are always at least $d^2+1$ colourful simplices containing $\zero$ in their convex hulls. We prove this conjecture with the help of combinatorial objects called octahedral systems.

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Source https://hal.science/hal-00943550
Author Sarrabezolles, Pauline
Maintainer CCSD
Last Updated May 6, 2026, 03:36 (UTC)
Created May 6, 2026, 03:36 (UTC)
Identifier hal-00943550
Language en
Rights https://about.hal.science/hal-authorisation-v1/
contributor Centre d'Enseignement et de Recherche en Mathématiques et Calcul Scientifique (CERMICS) ; École nationale des ponts et chaussées (ENPC)
creator Sarrabezolles, Pauline
date 2014-03-04T00:00:00
harvest_object_id 53c66a20-3291-4b40-b333-e9626106155b
harvest_source_id 3374d638-d20b-4672-ba96-a23232d55657
harvest_source_title test moissonnage SELUNE
metadata_modified 2026-02-07T00:00:00
set_spec type:UNDEFINED