On Minimum Venn Diagrams

Abstract

An n-Venn diagram is a diagram in the plane consisting of n simple closed curves that intersect only finitely many times such that each of the 2ⁿ possible intersections of their interiors is represented by a single connected region. An n-Venn diagram has at most 2ⁿ-2 crossings, and if this maximum number of crossings is attained, then only two curves intersect in every crossing. To complement this, Bultena and Ruskey considered n-Venn diagrams that minimize the number of crossings, which implies that many curves intersect in every crossing. Specifically, they proved that the total number of crossings in any n-Venn diagram is at least L_n≔⌈(2ⁿ-2)/(n-1)⌉, and if this lower bound is attained, then essentially all n curves intersect in every crossing. Diagrams achieving this bound are called minimum Venn diagrams, and are known only for n ≤ 7. Bultena and Ruskey conjectured that they exist for all n ≥ 8. In this work, we establish an asymptotic version of their conjecture. For n = 8 we construct a diagram with 40 crossings, only 3 more than the lower bound L₈ = 37. Furthermore, for every n of the form n = 2^k for some integer k ≥ 4, we construct an n-Venn diagram with at most (1+33/8n)L_n = (1+o(1))L_n many crossings. Via a doubling trick this also gives (n+m)-Venn diagrams for all 0 ≤ m < n with at most 40⋅ 2^m crossings for n = 8 and at most (1+33/8n) (n+m)/n L_{n+m} = (2+o(1))L_{n+m} many crossings for k ≥ 4. In particular, we obtain n-Venn diagrams with the smallest known number of crossings for all n ≥ 8. Our constructions are based on partitions of the hypercube into isometric paths and cycles, using a result of Ramras.