Set families with a forbidden subposet

We asymptotically determine the size of the largest family F of subsets of {1,...,n} not containing a given poset P if the Hasse diagram of P is a tree. This is a qualitative generalization of several known results including Sperner's theorem.Comment: 10 pages, 1 figure, motivation and details expanded, final versio

Forbidden subposet problems for traces of set families

In this paper we introduce a problem that bridges forbidden subposet and forbidden subconfiguration problems. The sets $F_1,F_2, \dots,F_{|P|}$ form a copy of a poset $P$, if there exists a bijection $i:P\rightarrow \{F_1,F_2, \dots,F_{|P|}\}$ such that for any $p,p'\in P$ the relation $p<_P p'$ implies $i(p)\subsetneq i(p')$. A family $\mathcal{F}$ of sets is \textit{$P$-free} if it does not contain any copy of $P$. The trace of a family $\mathcal{F}$ on a set $X$ is $\mathcal{F}|_X:=\{F\cap X: F\in \mathcal{F}\}$. We introduce the following notions: $\mathcal{F}\subseteq 2^{[n]}$ is $l$-trace $P$-free if for any $l$-subset $L\subseteq [n]$, the family $\mathcal{F}|_L$ is $P$-free and $\mathcal{F}$ is trace $P$-free if it is $l$-trace $P$-free for all $l\le n$. As the first instances of these problems we determine the maximum size of trace $B$-free families, where $B$ is the butterfly poset on four elements $a,b,c,d$ with $a,b<c,d$ and determine the asymptotics of the maximum size of $(n-i)$-trace $K_{r,s}$-free families for $i=1,2$. We also propose a generalization of the main conjecture of the area of forbidden subposet problems

Diamond-free Families

Given a finite poset P, we consider the largest size La(n,P) of a family of subsets of $[n]:=\{1,...,n\}$ that contains no subposet P. This problem has been studied intensively in recent years, and it is conjectured that $\pi(P):= \lim_{n\rightarrow\infty} La(n,P)/{n choose n/2}$ exists for general posets P, and, moreover, it is an integer. For $k\ge2$ let \D_k denote the $k$-diamond poset $\{A< B_1,...,B_k < C\}$. We study the average number of times a random full chain meets a $P$-free family, called the Lubell function, and use it for P=\D_k to determine \pi(\D_k) for infinitely many values $k$. A stubborn open problem is to show that \pi(\D_2)=2; here we make progress by proving \pi(\D_2)\le 2 3/11 (if it exists).Comment: 16 page