coloring_nested_tire_graphs: rigorous proof of cut tire forest proposition (high-side refinement)

Replaces the informal Stage 2 argument with a rigorous one,
achieved by refining the proposition to high-side faces only.

KEY INSIGHT: the original (unrestricted) proposition was problematic
because the LOW-SIDE face of H_{d+1} (= face containing pendants)
also contains all depth ≤ d edges in its interior, including H_d
edges.  Hence low-side H_{d+1} faces span multiple H_d faces.

The fix: restrict to HIGH-SIDE faces only.

For a high-side face f' of H_{d+1}: by Lemma 2 (level-set), f''s
interior contains only depth-> d+1 edges = depth ≥ d+2.  Since
depth-d edges are NOT in this range, no H_d edge sits inside f'.
Therefore f' is contained in a unique H_d face (by partition).
This H_d face is also high-side (contains f', which contains
depth-≥d+2 edges, hence depth->d).

Result: high-side cut tires form a forest, rigorously.  The proof
uses only Lemma 1 (BFS-adj) and Lemma 2 (level-set), no rotation
system case analysis needed.

Low-side cut tires are not relevant for chain pigeonhole; the
single low-side face is identified with the cut C itself as the
forest's "virtual root."

Note grows to 5 pages.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 <noreply@anthropic.com>
This commit is contained in:
2026-05-26 22:32:29 -04:00
parent 0cb0137a75
commit 415c33cfc3
4 changed files with 95 additions and 139 deletions
@@ -2,6 +2,6 @@
\newlabel{prop:tree}{{}{1}}
\newlabel{lem:bfs-adj}{{}{1}}
\newlabel{lem:level-set}{{}{1}}
\@writefile{toc}{\contentsline {paragraph}{Caveat on Stage 2.}{2}{}\protected@file@percent }
\@writefile{toc}{\contentsline {paragraph}{Remark on the proof.}{2}{}\protected@file@percent }
\@writefile{toc}{\contentsline {paragraph}{Reformulated chain half (tree DP form).}{5}{}\protected@file@percent }
\gdef \@abspage@last{5}
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
This is pdfTeX, Version 3.141592653-2.6-1.40.24 (TeX Live 2022) (preloaded format=pdflatex 2022.10.5) 26 MAY 2026 22:24
This is pdfTeX, Version 3.141592653-2.6-1.40.24 (TeX Live 2022) (preloaded format=pdflatex 2022.10.5) 26 MAY 2026 22:32
entering extended mode
restricted \write18 enabled.
%&-line parsing enabled.
@@ -178,20 +178,20 @@ File: l3backend-pdftex.def 2022-02-07 L3 backend support: PDF output (pdfTeX)
(./cut_tire_tree_structure.aux)
\openout1 = `cut_tire_tree_structure.aux'.
LaTeX Font Info: Checking defaults for OML/cmm/m/it on input line 15.
LaTeX Font Info: ... okay on input line 15.
LaTeX Font Info: Checking defaults for OMS/cmsy/m/n on input line 15.
LaTeX Font Info: ... okay on input line 15.
LaTeX Font Info: Checking defaults for OT1/cmr/m/n on input line 15.
LaTeX Font Info: ... okay on input line 15.
LaTeX Font Info: Checking defaults for T1/cmr/m/n on input line 15.
LaTeX Font Info: ... okay on input line 15.
LaTeX Font Info: Checking defaults for TS1/cmr/m/n on input line 15.
LaTeX Font Info: ... okay on input line 15.
LaTeX Font Info: Checking defaults for OMX/cmex/m/n on input line 15.
LaTeX Font Info: ... okay on input line 15.
LaTeX Font Info: Checking defaults for U/cmr/m/n on input line 15.
LaTeX Font Info: ... okay on input line 15.
LaTeX Font Info: Checking defaults for OML/cmm/m/it on input line 16.
LaTeX Font Info: ... okay on input line 16.
LaTeX Font Info: Checking defaults for OMS/cmsy/m/n on input line 16.
LaTeX Font Info: ... okay on input line 16.
LaTeX Font Info: Checking defaults for OT1/cmr/m/n on input line 16.
LaTeX Font Info: ... okay on input line 16.
LaTeX Font Info: Checking defaults for T1/cmr/m/n on input line 16.
LaTeX Font Info: ... okay on input line 16.
LaTeX Font Info: Checking defaults for TS1/cmr/m/n on input line 16.
LaTeX Font Info: ... okay on input line 16.
LaTeX Font Info: Checking defaults for OMX/cmex/m/n on input line 16.
LaTeX Font Info: ... okay on input line 16.
LaTeX Font Info: Checking defaults for U/cmr/m/n on input line 16.
LaTeX Font Info: ... okay on input line 16.
(/usr/local/texlive/2022/texmf-dist/tex/context/base/mkii/supp-pdf.mkii
[Loading MPS to PDF converter (version 2006.09.02).]
@@ -249,81 +249,28 @@ e
* \@reversemarginfalse
* (1in=72.27pt=25.4mm, 1cm=28.453pt)
LaTeX Font Info: Trying to load font information for U+msa on input line 16.
LaTeX Font Info: Trying to load font information for U+msa on input line 17.
(/usr/local/texlive/2022/texmf-dist/tex/latex/amsfonts/umsa.fd
File: umsa.fd 2013/01/14 v3.01 AMS symbols A
)
LaTeX Font Info: Trying to load font information for U+msb on input line 16.
LaTeX Font Info: Trying to load font information for U+msb on input line 17.
(/usr/local/texlive/2022/texmf-dist/tex/latex/amsfonts/umsb.fd
File: umsb.fd 2013/01/14 v3.01 AMS symbols B
)
) [1
! LaTeX Error: Environment lem undefined.
See the LaTeX manual or LaTeX Companion for explanation.
Type H <return> for immediate help.
...
l.41 \begin{lem}
[BFS depth differs by at most 1 between adjacent edges]
Your command was ignored.
Type I <command> <return> to replace it with another command,
or <return> to continue without it.
! LaTeX Error: \begin{proof} on input line 35 ended by \end{lem}.
See the LaTeX manual or LaTeX Companion for explanation.
Type H <return> for immediate help.
...
l.46 \end{lem}
Your command was ignored.
Type I <command> <return> to replace it with another command,
or <return> to continue without it.
! LaTeX Error: Environment lem undefined.
See the LaTeX manual or LaTeX Companion for explanation.
Type H <return> for immediate help.
...
l.57 \begin{lem}
[Level-set property of $H_d$]
Your command was ignored.
Type I <command> <return> to replace it with another command,
or <return> to continue without it.
! LaTeX Error: \begin{proof} on input line 35 ended by \end{lem}.
See the LaTeX manual or LaTeX Companion for explanation.
Type H <return> for immediate help.
...
l.67 \end{lem}
Your command was ignored.
Type I <command> <return> to replace it with another command,
or <return> to continue without it.
[1
{/usr/local/texlive/2022/texmf-var/fonts/map/pdftex/updmap/pdftex.map}]
Overfull \hbox (83.47609pt too wide) in paragraph at lines 175--179
{/usr/local/texlive/2022/texmf-var/fonts/map/pdftex/updmap/pdftex.map}] [2]
Overfull \hbox (83.47609pt too wide) in paragraph at lines 185--189
[]\OT1/cmr/m/n/10.95 Compatibility with each child $\OML/cmm/m/it/10.95 T[]$ \O
T1/cmr/m/n/10.95 via the bi-jec-tion $\OMS/cmsy/m/n/10.95 f[]\OML/cmm/m/it/10.9
5 T[]\OMS/cmsy/m/n/10.95 g $ f[]\OML/cmm/m/it/10.95 T[]\OMS/cmsy/m/n/10.95 g$\O
T1/cmr/m/n/10.95 .
[]
[2]
Overfull \hbox (0.17146pt too wide) in paragraph at lines 196--198
Overfull \hbox (0.17146pt too wide) in paragraph at lines 206--208
\OT1/cmr/m/n/10.95 Run on $7$ test graphs (script: \OT1/cmtt/m/n/10.95 tree[]st
ructure[]sweep.py\OT1/cmr/m/n/10.95 ; data: \OT1/cmtt/m/n/10.95 tree[]structure
[]sweep[]data.txt\OT1/cmr/m/n/10.95 ):
@@ -331,13 +278,13 @@ ructure[]sweep.py\OT1/cmr/m/n/10.95 ; data: \OT1/cmtt/m/n/10.95 tree[]structure
[3] [4] [5] (./cut_tire_tree_structure.aux) )
Here is how much of TeX's memory you used:
3256 strings out of 478268
48520 string characters out of 5846347
352585 words of memory out of 5000000
21443 multiletter control sequences out of 15000+600000
3257 strings out of 478268
48523 string characters out of 5846347
351600 words of memory out of 5000000
21444 multiletter control sequences out of 15000+600000
479833 words of font info for 69 fonts, out of 8000000 for 9000
1141 hyphenation exceptions out of 8191
55i,7n,62p,240b,242s stack positions out of 10000i,1000n,20000p,200000b,200000s
55i,7n,62p,240b,243s stack positions out of 10000i,1000n,20000p,200000b,200000s
{/usr/local/texlive/2022/texmf-dis
t/fonts/enc/dvips/cm-super/cm-super-ts1.enc}</usr/local/texlive/2022/texmf-dist
/fonts/type1/public/amsfonts/cm/cmbx10.pfb></usr/local/texlive/2022/texmf-dist/
@@ -357,7 +304,7 @@ msfonts/cm/cmti10.pfb></usr/local/texlive/2022/texmf-dist/fonts/type1/public/am
sfonts/cm/cmtt10.pfb></usr/local/texlive/2022/texmf-dist/fonts/type1/public/ams
fonts/symbols/msbm10.pfb></usr/local/texlive/2022/texmf-dist/fonts/type1/public
/cm-super/sfrm1095.pfb>
Output written on cut_tire_tree_structure.pdf (5 pages, 210419 bytes).
Output written on cut_tire_tree_structure.pdf (5 pages, 211700 bytes).
PDF statistics:
106 PDF objects out of 1000 (max. 8388607)
64 compressed objects within 1 object stream
@@ -18,19 +18,37 @@
\section*{The claim}
\begin{prop}[Cut tires form a forest]
Let $f$ be a face of $H_d$ in the inherited embedding. By the BFS
level-set property (Lemma~\ref{lem:level-set} below), the open
interior of $f$ contains only edges of $G'_i$ of depth $< d$ or only
edges of depth $> d$. We call $f$ a \emph{high-side} face if its
interior contains only depth-$>d$ edges, and a \emph{low-side} face
otherwise. The low-side face is the unique face of $H_d$ that
contains the pendants (depth $0$ edges).
\begin{prop}[Cut tires form a forest, refined]
\label{prop:tree}
For each side $i$ of a $6$-edge cut of $G'$, the cut tires of $G'_i$,
parameterised by pairs $(d, f)$ with $d \ge 1$ and $f$ a face of
$H_d$, form a \emph{forest} under the parent--child relation
For each side $i$ of a $6$-edge cut of $G'$, the high-side cut tires
of $G'_i$, parameterised by pairs $(d, f)$ with $d \ge 1$ and $f$ a
\emph{high-side} face of $H_d$, form a \emph{forest} under the
parent--child relation
\[
\mathrm{parent}\bigl(T_{d+1}^{(f')}\bigr) := T_d^{(f)}
\]
where $f$ is the unique face of $H_d$ in whose planar interior $f'$
lies in the inherited embedding of $G'_i$.
where $f$ is the unique high-side face of $H_d$ in whose planar
interior $f'$ lies in the inherited embedding of $G'_i$.
The forest's roots are the cut tires at depth $1$ (one per face of
$H_1$); their ``virtual parent'' is the cut $C$ itself.
The forest's roots are the high-side cut tires at depth $1$ (one per
high-side face of $H_1$); their ``virtual parent'' is the cut $C$
itself.
\emph{Remark.} The restriction to high-side faces is what makes the
geometric containment clean. A low-side face of $H_{d+1}$ contains
$H_d$ edges in its interior, so the literal ``face-contained-in-face''
relation is not well-defined for low-side faces. In the cut-tire
framework, only the high-side faces give the ``concentric'' cut
tires we care about for chain pigeonhole; the low-side face is the
``outside pendant region'' identified with the cut.
\end{prop}
\begin{proof}
@@ -93,51 +111,31 @@ interior).
\end{proof}
\medskip
\noindent\textbf{Stage 2: faces of $H_{d+1}$ embed in faces of $H_d$.}
\noindent\textbf{Stage 2: high-side faces of $H_{d+1}$ embed in
high-side faces of $H_d$.}
Pendants (depth $0$ edges) lie in some specific face of $H_d$; that
face is low-side. All other faces of $H_d$ are high-side and
contain depth-$> d$ edges, which includes all of $H_{d+1}$'s edges.
Let $f'$ be a high-side face of $H_{d+1}$. By definition, every edge
of $G'_i$ in the open interior of $f'$ has depth $> d + 1$.
Let $f'$ be a face of $H_{d+1}$. We claim $f'$ is contained in
exactly one face of $H_d$.
In particular, no edge of depth $d$ lies in the open interior of
$f'$: every depth-$d$ edge of $G'_i$ has depth $d \neq > d+1$, so
depth-$d$ edges are not in $f'$'s open interior.
\emph{Containment in at least one face:} $f'$ is an open connected
region of $\mathbb{R}^2 \setminus H_{d+1}$. In particular it is
connected. By Lemma~\ref{lem:level-set}, each face of $H_d$ is
either entirely low-side or entirely high-side, and the two types
are separated topologically by $H_d$. Suppose for contradiction
$f'$ intersects two distinct faces $g_1, g_2$ of $H_d$. Then a
path in $f'$ from a point in $g_1$ to a point in $g_2$ crosses some
edge of $H_d$ (since faces of $H_d$ are separated by $H_d$ edges).
But $H_d \subset E(G'_i) \setminus E(H_{d+1})$, so $H_d$ edges are
in $\mathbb{R}^2 \setminus E(H_{d+1})$; they could in principle lie
within $f'$ \emph{except} that $f'$ is a maximal connected open
component of that complement, which already includes the $H_d$
edges. This is where the elementary topological argument is
subtle: we need the additional constraint that no $H_d$ edge
sits strictly inside $f'$.
Therefore $f' \cap H_d = \emptyset$ (where $H_d$ is treated as the
topological union of its vertices and edges in $|\Pi|$).
Equivalently, $f' \subseteq \mathbb{R}^2 \setminus H_d$.
\emph{No $H_d$ edge sits strictly inside $f'$:} suppose an $H_d$ edge
$e$ is strictly inside $f'$. Then $e$'s endpoints are inside $f'$
(or on $\partial f'$). An endpoint $v$ of $e$ is also incident to
$H_{d+1}$ edges (since $V(H_d) \cap V(H_{d+1})$ contains vertices
where depth-$d$ and depth-$(d+1)$ edges meet; in cubic $G'_i$, $v$
has $3$ edges with various depths). The $H_{d+1}$ edges incident
to $v$ are on $\partial f'$ (the boundary walk of $f'$), so $v \in
\partial f'$. Then $e$'s other endpoint $w$ is also on or inside
$f'$. But moving from $v$ along $e$ into $w$: this curve segment
is inside $f'$ until it reaches $w$. If $w$ is on $\partial f'$,
the entire edge $e$ lies on the boundary closure $\overline{f'}$,
not strictly inside. If $w$ is strictly inside $f'$, then $w$'s
incident edges (including $e$) project into $f'$ in a way that
should appear on $\partial f'$ --- but $e$ is not in $H_{d+1}$,
contradiction.
Since $f'$ is an open connected region (= face of $H_{d+1}$), and
$\mathbb{R}^2 \setminus H_d$ partitions into the disjoint open
faces of $H_d$, the connected $f'$ is contained in exactly one
face of $H_d$. Call this face $f$. Then $f' \subseteq f$.
\medskip
The careful case analysis shows: no $H_d$ edge sits strictly inside
$f'$, hence $f'$ is contained in a single face of $H_d$ (the unique
face whose interior contains $f'$).
Furthermore, $f$ is high-side: it contains $f'$, which contains
depth-$\ge d + 2$ edges, which are $> d$ depth. So $f$ is in the
``high-side'' classification of Lemma~\ref{lem:level-set}.
Hence $\mathrm{parent}(T_{d+1}^{(f')}) := T_d^{(f)}$ is well-defined
and unique among high-side cut tires.
\medskip
\noindent\textbf{Conclusion: forest structure.}
@@ -150,15 +148,26 @@ at the ``cut'' for the depth-$1$ roots' virtual parent). No cycles
can form. Hence the parent relation defines a forest. \qed
\end{proof}
\paragraph{Caveat on Stage 2.} The argument that ``no $H_d$ edge sits
strictly inside $f'$'' uses an informal topological case analysis on
how an $H_d$ edge inside $f'$ would have to interact with $f'$'s
boundary. A fully rigorous proof would set up the topological
framework more carefully (e.g.\ via the rotation system of the
planar embedding, tracing the boundary walk of $f'$ around an
``intruder'' $H_d$ edge to show it must already lie in
$\partial f'$). Empirically, the conclusion holds across
\textbf{$1486$ tested cases, $0$ failures} (see broader sweep below).
\paragraph{Remark on the proof.} Stage 2 is now fully rigorous,
thanks to the refinement to \emph{high-side} faces of $H_{d+1}$.
The key step is: a high-side face of $H_{d+1}$ contains, by
definition, only depth-$\ge d + 2$ edges in its interior. Depth-$d$
edges (= $H_d$ edges) are not in this depth range, so they cannot
sit inside $f'$. No rotation-system case analysis is needed for the
high-side case; the level-set lemma does all the work.
The original (unrestricted) proposition was problematic for the
\emph{low-side} face of $H_{d+1}$, which contains the pendants
(depth $0$) plus all edges of depth $\le d$ in $G'_i$'s ``outside''
region. This low-side face can contain $H_d$ edges in its interior
and therefore spans multiple $H_d$ faces. By restricting to
high-side faces, this difficulty is avoided.
For the cut-tire chain pigeonhole framework, only the high-side
cut tires are relevant: they form the ``concentric layers'' going
inward from the cut. The low-side face is the unique outside face
containing the pendants and is identified with the cut $C$ itself
(playing the ``virtual root'' role in the forest).
\section*{Why this matters for the chain half}