Improvement on the Crossing Number of Crossing-Critical Graphs
AbstractThe crossing number of a graph G is the minimum number of edge crossings over all drawings of G in the plane. A graph G is k-crossing-critical if its crossing number is at least k, but if we remove any edge of G, its crossing number drops below k. There are examples of k-crossing-critical graphs that do not have drawings with exactly k crossings. Richter and Thomassen proved in 1993 that if G is k-crossing-critical, then its crossing number is at most $$2.5\, k+16$$ 2.5 k + 16 . We improve this bound to $$2k+8\sqrt{k}+47$$ 2 k + 8 k + 47 .