The Chromatic Number of the Disjointness Graph of the Double Chain

Abstract

Let $P$ be a set of $n\ge 4$ points in general position in the plane. Consider all the closed straight line segments with both endpoints in $P$. Suppose that these segments are colored with the rule that disjoint segments receive different colors. In this paper we show that if $P$ is the point configuration known as the double chain, with $k$ points in the upper convex chain and $l\ge k$ points in the lower convex chain, then $k+l-\lfloor \sqrt{2l+\frac{1}{4}}-\frac{1}{2}\rfloor$ colors are needed and that this number is sufficient.