Lovasz's lemma for the three-dimensional K-level of concave surfaces and its applications

Abstract

We show that for any line l in space, there are at most k(k+1) tangent planes through l to the k-level of an arrangement of concave surfaces. This is a generalization of L. Lovasz's (1971) lemma, which is a key constituent in the analysis of the complexity of k-level of planes. Our proof is constructive, and finds a family of concave surfaces covering the "laminated at-most-k level". As consequences, (1): we have an O((n-k)/sup 2/3/n/sup 2/) upper bound for the complexity of the k-level of n triangle of space, and (2): we can extend the k-set result in space to the k-set of a system of subsets of n points.