An old open problem in graph drawing asks for the size of a universal point set, a set of points that can be used as vertices for straight-line drawings of all n-vertex planar graphs. We connect this problem to the theory of permutation patterns, where another open problem concerns the size of superpatterns, permutations that contain all patterns of a given size. We generalize superpatterns to classes of permutations determined by forbidden patterns, and we construct superpatterns of size n 2 /4 + Θ(n) for the 213-avoiding permutations, half the size of known superpatterns for unconstrained permutations. We use our superpatterns to construct universal point sets of size n 2 /4−Θ(n), smaller than the previous bound by a 9/16 factor. We prove that every proper subclass of the 213-avoiding permutations has superpatterns of size O(n log O(1) n), which we use to prove that the planar graphs of bounded pathwidth have near-linear universal point sets.

Abstract. An old open problem in graph drawing asks for the size of a universal point set, a set of points that can be used as vertices for straight-line drawings of all n-vertex planar graphs. We connect this problem to the theory of permutation patterns, where another open problem concerns the size of superpatterns, permutations that contain all patterns of a given size. We generalize superpatterns to classes of permutations determined by forbidden patterns, and we construct superpatterns of size n 2 /4 + Θ(n) for the 213-avoiding permutations, half the size of known superpatterns for unconstrained permutations. We use our superpatterns to construct universal point sets of size n 2 /4 − Θ(n), smaller than the previous bound by a 9/16 factor. We prove that every proper subclass of the 213-avoiding permutations has superpatterns of size O(n log O(1) n), which we use to prove that the planar graphs of bounded pathwidth have near-linear universal point sets.

Abstract. The apportionment problem deals with the fair distribution of a discrete set of k indivisible resources (such as legislative seats) to n entities (such as parties or geographic subdivisions). Highest averages methods are a frequently used class of methods for solving this problem. We present an O(n)-time algorithm for performing apportionment under a large class of highest averages methods. Our algorithm works for all highest averages methods used in practice.

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