A user's guide to the topological Tverberg conjecture

The topological Tverberg conjecture was considered a central unsolved problem of topological combinatorics. The conjecture asserts that for any integers $r,d>1$ and any continuous map $f:Δ\to\mathbb R^d$ of the $(d+1)(r-1)$-dimensional simplex there are pairwise disjoint faces $σ_1,\ldots,σ_r\subsetΔ$ such that $f(σ_1)\cap \ldots \cap f(σ_r)\ne\emptyset$. The conjecture was proved for a prime power $r$. Recently counterexamples for other $r$ were found. Analogously, the $r$-fold van Kampen-Flores conjecture holds for a prime power $r$ but does not hold for other $r$. The arguments form a beautiful and fruitful interplay between combinatorics, algebra and topology. We present a simplified exposition accessible to non-specialists in the area. We also mention some recent developments and open problems.

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