Covering and tiling hypergraphs with tight cycles

Given $3 \leq k \leq s$, we say that a $k$-uniform hypergraph $C^k_s$ is a tight cycle on $s$ vertices if there is a cyclic ordering of the vertices of $C^k_s$ such that every $k$ consecutive vertices under this ordering form an edge. We prove that if $k \ge 3$ and $s \ge 2k^2$, then every $k$-uniform hypergraph on $n$ vertices with minimum codegree at least $(1/2 + o(1))n$ has the property that every vertex is covered by a copy of $C^k_s$. Our result is asymptotically best possible for infinitely many pairs of $s$ and $k$, e.g. when $s$ and $k$ are coprime. A perfect $C^k_s$-tiling is a spanning collection of vertex-disjoint copies of $C^k_s$. When $s$ is divisible by $k$, the problem of determining the minimum codegree that guarantees a perfect $C^k_s$-tiling was solved by a result of Mycroft. We prove that if $k \ge 3$ and $s \ge 5k^2$ is not divisible by $k$ and $s$ divides $n$, then every $k$-uniform hypergraph on $n$ vertices with minimum codegree at least $(1/2 + 1/(2s) + o(1))n$ has a perfect $C^k_s$-tiling. Again our result is asymptotically best possible for infinitely many pairs of $s$ and $k$, e.g. when $s$ and $k$ are coprime with $k$ even.Comment: Revised version, accepted for publication in Combin. Probab. Compu

Perfect Matchings, Tilings and Hamilton Cycles in Hypergraphs

This thesis contains problems in finding spanning subgraphs in graphs, such as, perfect matchings, tilings and Hamilton cycles. First, we consider the tiling problems in graphs, which are natural generalizations of the matching problems. We give new proofs of the multipartite Hajnal-Szemeredi Theorem for the tripartite and quadripartite cases. Second, we consider Hamilton cycles in hypergraphs. In particular, we determine the minimum codegree thresholds for Hamilton l-cycles in large k-uniform hypergraphs for l less than k/2. We also determine the minimum vertex degree threshold for loose Hamilton cycle in large 3-uniform hypergraphs. These results generalize the well-known theorem of Dirac for graphs. Third, we determine the minimum codegree threshold for near perfect matchings in large k-uniform hypergraphs, thereby confirming a conjecture of Rodl, Rucinski and Szemeredi. We also show that the decision problem on whether a k-uniform hypergraph with certain minimum codegree condition contains a perfect matching can be solved in polynomial time, which solves a problem of Karpinski, Rucinski and Szymanska completely. At last, we determine the minimum vertex degree threshold for perfect tilings of C_4^3 in large 3-uniform hypergraphs, where C_4^3 is the unique 3-uniform hypergraph on four vertices with two edges