Catalog.VC.ShortEdgeLemma

Verification

Lemma

Let \((X, \mathcal{S})\) be a set system on an \(n\)-point set \(X\) with dual shatter function (Definition DualShatterFunction) \(\pi_{\mathcal{S}}^*(m) \le C m^d\) for all \(m\), where \(C\) and \(d > 1\) are constants. A set \(S \in \mathcal{S}\) crosses an edge \(\{u,v\}\) of a graph on \(X\) if \(|S \cap \{u,v\}| = 1\).

Then for any multiset \(Q\) of sets from \(\mathcal{S}\), there exist distinct points \(x, y \in X\) such that the number of sets of \(Q\) crossing \(\{x, y\}\) is at most \[C_2 \, \frac{|Q|}{n^{1/d}},\] where \(C_2\) depends only on \(C\) and \(d\).

Review notes

Matoušek Lemma 5.18.

crossingNumber counts the sets in \(Q\) that contain exactly one of \(x, y\). The source allows \(Q\) to be a multiset; we use a Finset (no duplicate sets). This is a slight weakening but suffices for all downstream applications in the catalog.

The constant \(C_2\) depends only on \(C\) and \(d\) (quantified before \(\alpha\)). The hypothesis \(2 \le |\alpha|\) ensures two distinct points exist.

Proof outline. Form the dual set system \(\mathcal{D} = \{D_x : x \in X\}\) on ground set \(Q\), where \(D_x = \{S \in Q : x \in S\}\). Then \(|D_x \triangle D_y|\) equals the crossing number of \(\{x, y\}\). The dual shatter function bound implies \(\pi_{\mathcal{D}}(m) \le C m^d\). Apply Catalog.VC.PackingLemma: if all pairwise symmetric differences are \(\ge \delta\), then \(n = O((|Q|/\delta)^d)\), giving \(\delta = O(|Q| / n^{1/d})\). The minimum pairwise distance is at most \(\delta\).

Catalog/VC/ShortEdgeLemma/Contract.lean (full)

1import Catalog.VC.DualShatterFunction.Contract
2import Mathlib.Analysis.SpecialFunctions.Pow.Real
3
4namespace Catalog.VC.ShortEdgeLemma
5
6universe u
7
8variable {α : Type*} [DecidableEq α]
9
10/-- The crossing number of an edge `{x, y}` by a subfamily `Q`: the number
11 of sets in `Q` that contain exactly one of `x, y`. -/
12abbrev crossingNumber (Q : Finset (Finset α)) (x y : α) : ℕ :=
13 (Q.filter (fun S => (x ∈ S ∧ y ∉ S) ∨ (x ∉ S ∧ y ∈ S))).card
14
15/-- Short edge lemma: if the dual shatter function satisfies
16 `π*_𝒜(m) ≤ C · m^d` with `d > 1`, then for any subfamily `Q ⊆ 𝒜`
17 there exist distinct points `x, y` with crossing number at most
18 `C₂ · |Q| / n^{1/d}`. (Lemma 5.18) -/
19axiom shortEdgeLemma (d : ℕ) (C : ℝ) (hd : 1 < d) (hC : 0 < C) :
20 ∃ C₂ : ℝ, 0 < C₂ ∧
21 ∀ (α : Type u) [DecidableEq α] [Fintype α] (𝒜 : Finset (Finset α)),
22 (∀ m : ℕ, (Catalog.VC.DualShatterFunction.dualShatterFun 𝒜 m : ℝ) ≤ C * (m : ℝ) ^ d) →
23 2 ≤ Fintype.card α →
24 ∀ (Q : Finset (Finset α)), Q ⊆ 𝒜 →
25 ∃ x y : α, x ≠ y ∧
26 ((Q.filter (fun S => (x ∈ S ∧ y ∉ S) ∨ (x ∉ S ∧ y ∈ S))).card : ℝ) ≤
27 C₂ * (Q.card : ℝ) /
28 (Fintype.card α : ℝ) ^ ((1 : ℝ) / d)
29
30end Catalog.VC.ShortEdgeLemma
31