Defines level cycles, edge switches, surface switches, and facial depth
on level components of plane triangulations. Proves outerplanarity of
level components and a depth-descent lemma. Introduces balanced surface
switches and proves they remove a depth-d level cycle while creating
1-2 new depth-(d-1) cycles. Documents the 9-vertex counterexample where
no balanced switch exists and sketches preprocessing toward
balancedness, leaving general termination open.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 <noreply@anthropic.com>
didericis
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