6,448 research outputs found
On two problems in graph Ramsey theory
We study two classical problems in graph Ramsey theory, that of determining
the Ramsey number of bounded-degree graphs and that of estimating the induced
Ramsey number for a graph with a given number of vertices.
The Ramsey number r(H) of a graph H is the least positive integer N such that
every two-coloring of the edges of the complete graph contains a
monochromatic copy of H. A famous result of Chv\'atal, R\"{o}dl, Szemer\'edi
and Trotter states that there exists a constant c(\Delta) such that r(H) \leq
c(\Delta) n for every graph H with n vertices and maximum degree \Delta. The
important open question is to determine the constant c(\Delta). The best
results, both due to Graham, R\"{o}dl and Ruci\'nski, state that there are
constants c and c' such that 2^{c' \Delta} \leq c(\Delta) \leq 2^{c \Delta
\log^2 \Delta}. We improve this upper bound, showing that there is a constant c
for which c(\Delta) \leq 2^{c \Delta \log \Delta}.
The induced Ramsey number r_{ind}(H) of a graph H is the least positive
integer N for which there exists a graph G on N vertices such that every
two-coloring of the edges of G contains an induced monochromatic copy of H.
Erd\H{o}s conjectured the existence of a constant c such that, for any graph H
on n vertices, r_{ind}(H) \leq 2^{c n}. We move a step closer to proving this
conjecture, showing that r_{ind} (H) \leq 2^{c n \log n}. This improves upon an
earlier result of Kohayakawa, Pr\"{o}mel and R\"{o}dl by a factor of \log n in
the exponent.Comment: 18 page
Finding combinatorial structures
In this thesis we answer questions in two related areas of combinatorics:
Ramsey theory and asymptotic enumeration.
In Ramsey theory we introduce a new method for finding desired structures.
We find a new upper bound on the Ramsey number of a path against a kth
power of a path.
Using our new method and this result we obtain a new upper bound on the
Ramsey number of the kth power of a long cycle.
As a corollary we show that, while graphs on n vertices with maximum
degree k may in general have Ramsey numbers as large as ckn, if the stronger
restriction that the bandwidth should be at most k is given, then the Ramsey
numbers are bounded by the much smaller value.
We go on to attack an old conjecture of Lehel: by using our new method
we can improve on a result of Luczak, Rodl and Szemeredi [60]. Our new
method replaces their use of the Regularity Lemma, and allows us to prove
that for any n > 218000, whenever the edges of the complete graph on n
vertices are two-coloured there exist disjoint monochromatic cycles covering
all n vertices.
In asymptotic enumeration we examine first the class of bipartite graphs
with some forbidden induced subgraph H. We obtain some results for every
H, with special focus on the cases where the growth speed of the class is
factorial, and make some comments on a connection to clique-width. We
then move on to a detailed discussion of 2-SAT functions. We find the correct
asymptotic formula for the number of 2-SAT functions
on n variables (an improvement on a result of Bollob´as, Brightwell and
Leader [13], who found the dominant term in the exponent), the first error
term for this formula, and some bounds on smaller error terms. Finally
we obtain various expected values in the uniform model of random 2-SAT
functions
A Collection of Problems in Extremal Combinatorics
PhDExtremal combinatorics is concerned with how large or small a combinatorial
structure can be if we insist it satis es certain properties. In this thesis we
investigate four different problems in extremal combinatorics, each with its
own unique
flavour.
We begin by examining a graph saturation problem. We say a graph G
is H-saturated if G contains no copy of H as a subgraph, but the addition
of any new edge to G creates a copy of H. We look at how few edges a Kp-
saturated graph can have when we place certain conditions on its minimum
degree.
We look at a problem in Ramsey Theory. The k-colour Ramsey number
Rk(H) of a graph H is de ned as the least integer n such that every k-
colouring of Kn contains a monochromatic copy of H. For an integer r > 3
let Cr denote the cycle on r vertices. By studying a problem related to
colourings without short odd cycles, we prove new lower bounds for Rk(Cr)
when r is odd.
Bootstrap percolation is a process in graphs that can be used to model
how infection spreads through a community. We say a set of vertices in a
graph percolates if, when this set of vertices start off as infected, the whole
graph ends up infected. We study minimal percolating sets, that is, percolating
sets with no proper percolating subsets. In particular, we investigate
if there is any relation between the smallest and the largest minimal percolating
sets in bounded degree graph sequences.
A tournament is a complete graph where every edge has been given
an orientation. We look at the maximum number of directed k-cycles a
tournament can have and investigate when there exist tournaments with
many more k-cycles than expected in a random tournament.Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, grant number EP/K50290X/1
Density theorems for bipartite graphs and related Ramsey-type results
In this paper, we present several density-type theorems which show how to
find a copy of a sparse bipartite graph in a graph of positive density. Our
results imply several new bounds for classical problems in graph Ramsey theory
and improve and generalize earlier results of various researchers. The proofs
combine probabilistic arguments with some combinatorial ideas. In addition,
these techniques can be used to study properties of graphs with a forbidden
induced subgraph, edge intersection patterns in topological graphs, and to
obtain several other Ramsey-type statements
On-line Ramsey numbers
Consider the following game between two players, Builder and Painter. Builder
draws edges one at a time and Painter colours them, in either red or blue, as
each appears. Builder's aim is to force Painter to draw a monochromatic copy of
a fixed graph G. The minimum number of edges which Builder must draw,
regardless of Painter's strategy, in order to guarantee that this happens is
known as the on-line Ramsey number \tilde{r}(G) of G. Our main result, relating
to the conjecture that \tilde{r}(K_t) = o(\binom{r(t)}{2}), is that there
exists a constant c > 1 such that \tilde{r}(K_t) \leq c^{-t} \binom{r(t)}{2}
for infinitely many values of t. We also prove a more specific upper bound for
this number, showing that there exists a constant c such that \tilde{r}(K_t)
\leq t^{-c \frac{\log t}{\log \log t}} 4^t. Finally, we prove a new upper bound
for the on-line Ramsey number of the complete bipartite graph K_{t,t}.Comment: 11 page
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