Minimum Degrees of Minimal Ramsey Graphs for Almost-Cliques

For graphs $F$ and $H$, we say $F$ is Ramsey for $H$ if every $2$-coloring of the edges of $F$ contains a monochromatic copy of $H$. The graph $F$ is Ramsey $H$-minimal if $F$ is Ramsey for $H$ and there is no proper subgraph $F'$ of $F$ so that $F'$ is Ramsey for $H$. Burr, Erdos, and Lovasz defined $s(H)$ to be the minimum degree of $F$ over all Ramsey $H$-minimal graphs $F$. Define $H_{t,d}$ to be a graph on $t+1$ vertices consisting of a complete graph on $t$ vertices and one additional vertex of degree $d$. We show that $s(H_{t,d})=d^2$ for all values $1<d\le t$; it was previously known that $s(H_{t,1})=t-1$, so it is surprising that $s(H_{t,2})=4$ is much smaller. We also make some further progress on some sparser graphs. Fox and Lin observed that $s(H)\ge 2\delta(H)-1$ for all graphs $H$, where $\delta(H)$ is the minimum degree of $H$; Szabo, Zumstein, and Zurcher investigated which graphs have this property and conjectured that all bipartite graphs $H$ without isolated vertices satisfy $s(H)=2\delta(H)-1$. Fox, Grinshpun, Liebenau, Person, and Szabo further conjectured that all triangle-free graphs without isolated vertices satisfy this property. We show that $d$-regular $3$-connected triangle-free graphs $H$, with one extra technical constraint, satisfy $s(H) = 2\delta(H)-1$; the extra constraint is that $H$ has a vertex $v$ so that if one removes $v$ and its neighborhood from $H$, the remainder is connected.Comment: 10 pages; 3 figure

What is Ramsey-equivalent to a clique?

A graph G is Ramsey for H if every two-colouring of the edges of G contains a monochromatic copy of H. Two graphs H and H' are Ramsey-equivalent if every graph G is Ramsey for H if and only if it is Ramsey for H'. In this paper, we study the problem of determining which graphs are Ramsey-equivalent to the complete graph K_k. A famous theorem of Nesetril and Rodl implies that any graph H which is Ramsey-equivalent to K_k must contain K_k. We prove that the only connected graph which is Ramsey-equivalent to K_k is itself. This gives a negative answer to the question of Szabo, Zumstein, and Zurcher on whether K_k is Ramsey-equivalent to K_k.K_2, the graph on k+1 vertices consisting of K_k with a pendent edge. In fact, we prove a stronger result. A graph G is Ramsey minimal for a graph H if it is Ramsey for H but no proper subgraph of G is Ramsey for H. Let s(H) be the smallest minimum degree over all Ramsey minimal graphs for H. The study of s(H) was introduced by Burr, Erdos, and Lovasz, where they show that s(K_k)=(k-1)^2. We prove that s(K_k.K_2)=k-1, and hence K_k and K_k.K_2 are not Ramsey-equivalent. We also address the question of which non-connected graphs are Ramsey-equivalent to K_k. Let f(k,t) be the maximum f such that the graph H=K_k+fK_t, consisting of K_k and f disjoint copies of K_t, is Ramsey-equivalent to K_k. Szabo, Zumstein, and Zurcher gave a lower bound on f(k,t). We prove an upper bound on f(k,t) which is roughly within a factor 2 of the lower bound

On the minimum degree of minimal Ramsey graphs for multiple colours

A graph G is r-Ramsey for a graph H, denoted by G\rightarrow (H)_r, if every r-colouring of the edges of G contains a monochromatic copy of H. The graph G is called r-Ramsey-minimal for H if it is r-Ramsey for H but no proper subgraph of G possesses this property. Let s_r(H) denote the smallest minimum degree of G over all graphs G that are r-Ramsey-minimal for H. The study of the parameter s_2 was initiated by Burr, Erd\H{o}s, and Lov\'{a}sz in 1976 when they showed that for the clique s_2(K_k)=(k-1)^2. In this paper, we study the dependency of s_r(K_k) on r and show that, under the condition that k is constant, s_r(K_k) = r^2 polylog r. We also give an upper bound on s_r(K_k) which is polynomial in both r and k, and we determine s_r(K_3) up to a factor of log r

Online Ramsey Numbers and the Subgraph Query Problem

The $(m,n)$-online Ramsey game is a combinatorial game between two players, Builder and Painter. Starting from an infinite set of isolated vertices, Builder draws an edge on each turn and Painter immediately paints it red or blue. Builder's goal is to force Painter to create either a red $K_m$ or a blue $K_n$ using as few turns as possible. The online Ramsey number $\tilde{r}(m,n)$ is the minimum number of edges Builder needs to guarantee a win in the $(m,n)$-online Ramsey game. By analyzing the special case where Painter plays randomly, we obtain an exponential improvement $$\tilde{r}(n,n) \ge 2^{(2-\sqrt{2})n + O(1)}$$ for the lower bound on the diagonal online Ramsey number, as well as a corresponding improvement $$\tilde{r}(m,n) \ge n^{(2-\sqrt{2})m + O(1)}$$ for the off-diagonal case, where $m\ge 3$ is fixed and $n\rightarrow\infty$. Using a different randomized Painter strategy, we prove that $\tilde{r}(3,n)=\tilde{\Theta}(n^3)$, determining this function up to a polylogarithmic factor. We also improve the upper bound in the off-diagonal case for $m \geq 4$. In connection with the online Ramsey game with a random Painter, we study the problem of finding a copy of a target graph $H$ in a sufficiently large unknown Erd\H{o}s--R\'{e}nyi random graph $G(N,p)$ using as few queries as possible, where each query reveals whether or not a particular pair of vertices are adjacent. We call this problem the Subgraph Query Problem. We determine the order of the number of queries needed for complete graphs up to five vertices and prove general bounds for this problem.Comment: Corrected substantial error in the proof of Theorem

Online Ramsey Numbers and the Subgraph Query Problem

The (m,n)-online Ramsey game is a combinatorial game between two players, Builder and Painter. Starting from an infinite set of isolated vertices, Builder draws an edge on each turn and Painter immediately paints it red or blue. Builder's goal is to force Painter to create either a red K_m or a blue K_n using as few turns as possible. The online Ramsey number [equation; see abstract in PDF for details] is the minimum number of edges Builder needs to guarantee a win in the (m,n)-online Ramsey game. By analyzing the special case where Painter plays randomly, we obtain an exponential improvement [equation; see abstract in PDF for details] for the lower bound on the diagonal online Ramsey number, as well as a corresponding improvement [equation; see abstract in PDF for details] for the off-diagonal case, where m ≥ 3 is fixed and n → ∞. Using a different randomized Painter strategy, we prove that [equation; see abstract in PDF for details], determining this function up to a polylogarithmic factor. We also improve the upper bound in the off-diagonal case for m ≥ 4. In connection with the online Ramsey game with a random Painter, we study the problem of finding a copy of a target graph H in a sufficiently large unknown Erdős-Rényi random graph G(N,p) using as few queries as possible, where each query reveals whether or not a particular pair of vertices are adjacent. We call this problem the Subgraph Query Problem. We determine the order of the number of queries needed for complete graphs up to five vertices and prove general bounds for this problem

Some problems in Graph Ramsey Theory

Thesis: Ph. D., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Mathematics, 2015.This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections.Cataloged from student-submitted PDF version of thesis.Includes bibliographical references (pages 149-156).A graph G is r-Ramsey minimal with respect to a graph H if every r-coloring of the edges of G yields a monochromatic copy of H, but the same is not true for any proper subgraph of G. The study of the properties of graphs that are Ramsey minimal with respect to some H and similar problems is known as graph Ramsey theory; we study several problems in this area. Burr, Erdös, and Lovász introduced s(H), the minimum over all G that are 2- Ramsey minimal for H of [delta](G), the minimum degree of G. We find the values of s(H) for several classes of graphs H, most notably for all 3-connected bipartite graphs which proves many cases of a conjecture due to Szabó, Zumstein, and Zürcher. One natural question when studying graph Ramsey theory is what happens when, rather than considering all 2-colorings of a graph G, we restrict to a subset of the possible 2-colorings. Erdös and Hajnal conjectured that, for any fixed color pattern C, there is some [epsilon] > 0 so that every 2-coloring of the edges of a Kn, the complete graph on n vertices, which doesn't contain a copy of C contains a monochromatic clique on n[epsilon] vertices. Hajnal generalized this conjecture to more than 2 colors and asked in particular about the case when the number of colors is 3 and C is a rainbow triangle (a K3 where each edge is a different color); we prove Hajnal's conjecture for rainbow triangles. One may also wonder what would happen if we wish to cover all of the vertices with monochromatic copies of graphs. Let F = {F₁, F₂, . . .} be a sequence of graphs such that Fn is a graph on n vertices with maximum degree at most [delta]. If each Fn is bipartite, then the vertices of any 2-edge-colored complete graph can be partitioned into at most 2C[delta] vertex disjoint monochromatic copies of graphs from F, where C is an absolute constant. This result is best possible, up to the constant C.by Andrey Vadim Grinshpun.Ph. D

The Erdos-Hajnal conjecture for rainbow triangles

We prove that every 3-coloring of the edges of the complete graph on n vertices without a rainbow triangle contains a set of order ohm(n(1/3) log(2) n) which uses at most two colors, and this bound is tight up to a constant factor. This verifies a conjecture of Hajnal which is a case of the multicolor generalization of the well-known Erdos-Hajnal conjecture. We further establish a generalization of this result. For fixed positive integers s and r with s <= r, we determine a constant c(r,s) such that the following holds. Every r-coloring of the edges of the complete graph on n vertices without a rainbow triangle contains a set of order ohm(n(s(s-1)/r(r-1))(log n)(cr,s)) which uses at most s colors, and this bound is tight apart from the implied constant factor. The proof of the lower bound utilizes Gallai's classification of rainbow-triangle free edge-colorings of the complete graph, a new weighted extension of Ramsey's theorem, and a discrepancy inequality in edge-weighted graphs. The proof of the upper bound uses Erdos' lower bound on Ramsey numbers by considering lexicographic products of 2-edge-colorings of complete graphs without large monochromatic cliques. (C) 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved