Rainbow matchings in bipartite multigraphs

Suppose that $k$ is a non-negative integer and a bipartite multigraph $G$ is the union of $$N=\left\lfloor \frac{k+2}{k+1}n\right\rfloor -(k+1)$$ matchings $M_1,\dots,M_N$, each of size $n$. We show that $G$ has a rainbow matching of size $n-k$, i.e. a matching of size $n-k$ with all edges coming from different $M_i$'s. Several choices of parameters relate to known results and conjectures

An approximate version of a conjecture of Aharoni and Berger

Aharoni and Berger conjectured that in every proper edge-colouring of a bipartite multigraph by n colours with at least n+1 edges of each colour there is a rainbow matching using every colour. This conjecture generalizes a longstanding problem of Brualdi and Stein about transversals in Latin squares. Here an approximate version of the AharoniBerger Conjecture is proved—it is shown that if there are at least n + o(n) edges of each colour in a proper n-edge-colouring of a bipartite multigraph then there is a rainbow matching using every colour

Multipartite hypergraphs achieving equality in Ryser's conjecture

A famous conjecture of Ryser is that in an $r$-partite hypergraph the covering number is at most $r-1$ times the matching number. If true, this is known to be sharp for $r$ for which there exists a projective plane of order $r-1$. We show that the conjecture, if true, is also sharp for the smallest previously open value, namely $r=7$. For $r\in\{6,7\}$, we find the minimal number $f(r)$ of edges in an intersecting $r$-partite hypergraph that has covering number at least $r-1$. We find that $f(r)$ is achieved only by linear hypergraphs for $r\le5$, but that this is not the case for $r\in\{6,7\}$. We also improve the general lower bound on $f(r)$, showing that $f(r)\ge 3.052r+O(1)$. We show that a stronger form of Ryser's conjecture that was used to prove the $r=3$ case fails for all $r>3$. We also prove a fractional version of the following stronger form of Ryser's conjecture: in an $r$-partite hypergraph there exists a set $S$ of size at most $r-1$, contained either in one side of the hypergraph or in an edge, whose removal reduces the matching number by 1.Comment: Minor revisions after referee feedbac

Matrices of zeros and ones with fixed row and column sum vectors

AbstractLet m and n be positive integers, and let R=(r1,…,rm) and S=(s1,…,sn) be nonnegative integral vectors. We survey the combinational properties of the set of all m × n matrices of 0's and 1's having ri1's in row i andsi 1's in column j. A number of new results are proved. The results can be also be formulated in terms of a set of bipartite graps with bipartition into m and n vertices having degree sequence R and S, respectively. They can also be formulated in terms of the set of hypergraphs with m vertices having degree sequence R and n edges whose cardinalities are given by S