Partitioning the projective plane and the dunce hat

Abstract

We show that any finite triangulation of the real projective plane or the dunce hat is partitionable. To prove this, we introduce simple yet useful gluing tools that allow us to reduce partitionability of a given complex to that of smaller constituent relative subcomplexes such as the disk or the open M\"obius strip. The gluing process generates partitioning schemes with a distinctive shelling/constructible flavor. We also give a tool to lift partitionability of relative simplicial complexes to that of the preimages of certain simplicial quotient maps.