On the topology of no $k$-equal spaces

Abstract

We consider the topology of real no $k$-equal spaces via the theory of cellular spanning trees. Our main theorem proves that the rank of the $(k-2)$-dimensional homology of the no $k$-equal subspace of $\mathbb{R}$ is equal to the number of facets in a $k$-dimensional spanning tree of the $k$-skeleton of the $n$-dimensional hypercube.