Empty Rectangles and Graph Dimension

Stefan Felsner

Published 2006-01-31Version 1

We consider rectangle graphs whose edges are defined by pairs of points in diagonally opposite corners of empty axis-aligned rectangles. The maximum number of edges of such a graph on $n$ points is shown to be 1/4 n^2 +n -2. This number also has other interpretations: * It is the maximum number of edges of a graph of dimension $\bbetween{3}{4}$, i.e., of a graph with a realizer of the form $\pi_1,\pi_2,\ol{\pi_1},\ol{\pi_2}$. * It is the number of 1-faces in a special Scarf complex. The last of these interpretations allows to deduce the maximum number of empty axis-aligned rectangles spanned by 4-element subsets of a set of $n$ points. Moreover, it follows that the extremal point sets for the two problems coincide. We investigate the maximum number of of edges of a graph of dimension $\between{3}{4}$, i.e., of a graph with a realizer of the form $\pi_1,\pi_2,\pi_3,\ol{\pi_3}$. This maximum is shown to be $1/4 n^2 + O(n)$. Box graphs are defined as the 3-dimensional analog of rectangle graphs. The maximum number of edges of such a graph on $n$ points is shown to be $7/16 n^2 + o(n^2)$.