Robertson’s Conjecture in Algebraic Topology

Ben Knudsen, Eric Ramos

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

One of the most famous results in graph theory is that of Kuratowski’s theorem, which states that a graph G is non-planar if and only if it contains one of K3,3 or K5 as a topological minor. That is, if some subdivision of either K3,3 or K5 appears as a subgraph of G. In this case we say that the question of planarity is determined by a finite set of forbidden (topological) minors. A conjecture of Robertson, whose proof was recently announced by Liu and Thomas, characterizes the kinds of graph theoretic properties that can be determined by finitely many forbidden minors. In this extended abstract we will present a categorical version of Robertson’s conjecture, which we have proven in certain cases. We will then illustrate how this categorification, if proven in all cases, would imply many non-trivial statements in the topology of graph configuration spaces.

Original languageEnglish
Article number#49
JournalSeminaire Lotharingien de Combinatoire
Issue number89
StatePublished - 2023

Keywords

  • Configuration Spaces
  • Graph Well-Quasi-Orders
  • Representation Stability
  • Representations of Categories

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Robertson’s Conjecture in Algebraic Topology'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this