Radon numbers and the fractional Helly theorem

Abstract

A basic measure of the combinatorial complexity of a convexity space is its Radon number. In this paper we answer a question of Kalai, by showing a fractional Helly theorem for convexity spaces with bounded Radon number. As a consequence we also get a weak epsilon-net theorem for convexity spaces with bounded Radon number. This answers a question of Bukh and extends a recent result of Moran and Yehudayoff.