Entropy methods for sumset inequalities

In this thesis we present several analogies betweeen sumset inequalities and entropy inequalities. We offer an overview of the different results and techniques that have been developed during the last ten years, starting with a seminal paper by Ruzsa, and also studied by authors such as Bollobás, Madiman, or Tao. After an introduction to the tools from sumset theory and entropy theory, we present and prove many sumset inequalities and their entropy analogues, with a particular emphasis on Plünnecke-type results. Functional submodularity is used to prove many of these, as well as an analogue of the Balog-Szemerédi-Gowers theorem. Partition-determined functions are used to obtain many sumset inequalities analogous to some new entropic results. Their use is generalized to other contexts, such as that of projections or polynomial compound sets. Furthermore, we present a generalization of a tool introduced by Ruzsa by extending it to a much more general setting than that of sumsets. We show how it can be used to obtain many entropy inequalities in a direct and unified way, and we extend its use to more general compound sets. Finally, we show how this device may help in finding new expanders

Classical and modern approaches for Plünnecke-type inequalities

The main objective of this thesis is to present and prove Plünnecke's Inequality, a theorem that gives bounds for sumsets in commutative groups. An introduction to the theory of set addition is presented. Three different proofs of Plünnecke's Inequality are presented, two of them relying strongly on graph theory, the third being more elementary. Some other tools and techniques are introduced to obtain generalizations of Plünnecke's Inequality. The most important are the Plünnecke-Ruzsa Inequality, that gives bounds to general sum-and-difference sets in commutative groups, and some generalizations to the non-commutative case, related to Tao's Theorem. Some other generalizations involve the sum of different sets. The results are used to prove an important structural result

Hamiltonicity problems in random graphs

In this thesis, we present some of the main results proved by the author while fulfilling his PhD. While we present all the relevant results in the introduction of the thesis, we have chosen to focus on two of the main ones. First, we show a very recent development about Hamiltonicity in random subgraphs of the hypercube, where we have resolved a long standing conjecture dating back to the 1980s. Second, we present some original results about correlations between the appearance of edges in random regular hypergraphs, which have many applications in the study of subgraphs of random regular hypergraphs. In particular, these applications include subgraph counts and property testing

Dirac's theorem for random regular graphs

We prove a `resilience' version of Dirac's theorem in the setting of random regular graphs. More precisely, we show that, whenever $d$ is sufficiently large compared to $\varepsilon>0$, a.a.s. the following holds: let $G'$ be any subgraph of the random $n$-vertex $d$-regular graph $G_{n,d}$ with minimum degree at least $(1/2+\varepsilon)d$. Then $G'$ is Hamiltonian. This proves a conjecture of Ben-Shimon, Krivelevich and Sudakov. Our result is best possible: firstly, the condition that $d$ is large cannot be omitted, and secondly, the minimum degree bound cannot be improved.Comment: Final accepted version, to appear in Combinatorics, Probability & Computin

Resilient degree sequences with respect to Hamilton cycles and matchings in random graphs

P\'osa's theorem states that any graph $G$ whose degree sequence $d_1 \le \ldots \le d_n$ satisfies $d_i \ge i+1$ for all $i < n/2$ has a Hamilton cycle. This degree condition is best possible. We show that a similar result holds for suitable subgraphs $G$ of random graphs, i.e. we prove a `resilience version' of P\'osa's theorem: if $pn \ge C \log n$ and the $i$-th vertex degree (ordered increasingly) of $G \subseteq G_{n,p}$ is at least $(i+o(n))p$ for all $i<n/2$, then $G$ has a Hamilton cycle. This is essentially best possible and strengthens a resilience version of Dirac's theorem obtained by Lee and Sudakov. Chv\'atal's theorem generalises P\'osa's theorem and characterises all degree sequences which ensure the existence of a Hamilton cycle. We show that a natural guess for a resilience version of Chv\'atal's theorem fails to be true. We formulate a conjecture which would repair this guess, and show that the corresponding degree conditions ensure the existence of a perfect matching in any subgraph of $G_{n,p}$ which satisfies these conditions. This provides an asymptotic characterisation of all degree sequences which resiliently guarantee the existence of a perfect matching.Comment: To appear in the Electronic Journal of Combinatorics. This version corrects a couple of typo

Long running times for hypergraph bootstrap percolation

Consider the hypergraph bootstrap percolation process in which, given a fixed r-uniform hypergraph H and starting with a given hypergraph G0, at each step we add to G0 all edges that create a new copy of H. We are interested in maximising the number of steps that this process takes before it stabilises. For the case where H=Kr+1(r) with r≥3, we provide a new construction for G0 that shows that the number of steps of this process can be of order Θ(nr). This answers a recent question of Noel and Ranganathan. To demonstrate that different running times can occur, we also prove that, if H is K4(3) minus an edge, then the maximum possible running time is 2n−⌊log2(n−2)⌋−6. However, if H is K5(3) minus an edge, then the process can run for Θ(n3) steps

Edge correlations in random regular hypergraphs and applications to subgraph testing

Compared to the classical binomial random (hyper)graph model, the study of random regular hypergraphs is made more challenging due to correlations between the occurrence of different edges. We develop an edge-switching technique for hypergraphs which allows us to show that these correlations are limited for a large range of densities. This extends some previous results of Kim, Sudakov and Vu for graphs. From our results we deduce several corollaries on subgraph counts in random $d$-regular hypergraphs. We also prove a conjecture of Dudek, Frieze, Ruci\'nski and \v{S}ileikis on the threshold for the existence of an $\ell$-overlapping Hamilton cycle in a random $d$-regular $r$-graph. Moreover, we apply our results to prove bounds on the query complexity of testing subgraph-freeness. The problem of testing subgraph-freeness in the general graphs model was first studied by Alon, Kaufman, Krivelevich and Ron, who obtained several bounds on the query complexity of testing triangle-freeness. We extend some of these previous results beyond the triangle setting and to the hypergraph setting.Comment: Final version. To appear in SIAM J. Discrete Mat

Entropy methods for sumset inequalities

In this thesis we present several analogies betweeen sumset inequalities and entropy inequalities. We offer an overview of the different results and techniques that have been developed during the last ten years, starting with a seminal paper by Ruzsa, and also studied by authors such as Bollobás, Madiman, or Tao. After an introduction to the tools from sumset theory and entropy theory, we present and prove many sumset inequalities and their entropy analogues, with a particular emphasis on Plünnecke-type results. Functional submodularity is used to prove many of these, as well as an analogue of the Balog-Szemerédi-Gowers theorem. Partition-determined functions are used to obtain many sumset inequalities analogous to some new entropic results. Their use is generalized to other contexts, such as that of projections or polynomial compound sets. Furthermore, we present a generalization of a tool introduced by Ruzsa by extending it to a much more general setting than that of sumsets. We show how it can be used to obtain many entropy inequalities in a direct and unified way, and we extend its use to more general compound sets. Finally, we show how this device may help in finding new expanders