6 research outputs found
On the path-avoidance vertex-coloring game
For any graph and any integer , the \emph{online vertex-Ramsey
density of and }, denoted , is a parameter defined via a
deterministic two-player Ramsey-type game (Painter vs.\ Builder). This
parameter was introduced in a recent paper \cite{mrs11}, where it was shown
that the online vertex-Ramsey density determines the threshold of a similar
probabilistic one-player game (Painter vs.\ the binomial random graph
). For a large class of graphs , including cliques, cycles,
complete bipartite graphs, hypercubes, wheels, and stars of arbitrary size, a
simple greedy strategy is optimal for Painter and closed formulas for
are known. In this work we show that for the case where
is a (long) path, the picture is very different. It is not hard to see that
for an appropriately defined integer
, and that the greedy strategy gives a lower bound of
. We construct and analyze Painter strategies that
improve on this greedy lower bound by a factor polynomial in , and we
show that no superpolynomial improvement is possible
Erdos-Szekeres-type theorems for monotone paths and convex bodies
For any sequence of positive integers j_1 < j_2 < ... < j_n, the k-tuples
(j_i,j_{i + 1},...,j_{i + k-1}), i=1, 2,..., n - k+1, are said to form a
monotone path of length n. Given any integers n\ge k\ge 2 and q\ge 2, what is
the smallest integer N with the property that no matter how we color all
k-element subsets of [N]=\{1,2,..., N\} with q colors, we can always find a
monochromatic monotone path of length n? Denoting this minimum by N_k(q,n), it
follows from the seminal 1935 paper of Erd\H os and Szekeres that
N_2(q,n)=(n-1)^q+1 and N_3(2,n) = {2n -4\choose n-2} + 1. Determining the other
values of these functions appears to be a difficult task. Here we show that
2^{(n/q)^{q-1}} \leq N_3(q,n) \leq 2^{n^{q-1}\log n}, for q \geq 2 and n \geq
q+2. Using a stepping-up approach that goes back to Erdos and Hajnal, we prove
analogous bounds on N_k(q,n) for larger values of k, which are towers of height
k-1 in n^{q-1}. As a geometric application, we prove the following extension of
the Happy Ending Theorem. Every family of at least M(n)=2^{n^2 \log n} plane
convex bodies in general position, any pair of which share at most two boundary
points, has n members in convex position, that is, it has n members such that
each of them contributes a point to the boundary of the convex hull of their
union.Comment: 32 page
Coloring random graphs online without creating monochromatic subgraphs
Consider the following random process: The vertices of a binomial random
graph are revealed one by one, and at each step only the edges
induced by the already revealed vertices are visible. Our goal is to assign to
each vertex one from a fixed number of available colors immediately and
irrevocably without creating a monochromatic copy of some fixed graph in
the process. Our first main result is that for any and , the threshold
function for this problem is given by , where
denotes the so-called \emph{online vertex-Ramsey density} of
and . This parameter is defined via a purely deterministic two-player game,
in which the random process is replaced by an adversary that is subject to
certain restrictions inherited from the random setting. Our second main result
states that for any and , the online vertex-Ramsey density
is a computable rational number. Our lower bound proof is algorithmic, i.e., we
obtain polynomial-time online algorithms that succeed in coloring as
desired with probability for any .Comment: some minor addition