Improved bounds and new techniques for Davenport-Schinzel sequences and their generalizations

Let lambda_s(n) denote the maximum length of a Davenport-Schinzel sequence of order s on n symbols. For s=3 it is known that lambda_3(n) = Theta(n alpha(n)) (Hart and Sharir, 1986). For general s>=4 there are almost-tight upper and lower bounds, both of the form n * 2^poly(alpha(n)) (Agarwal, Sharir, and Shor, 1989). Our first result is an improvement of the upper-bound technique of Agarwal et al. We obtain improved upper bounds for s>=6, which are tight for even s up to lower-order terms in the exponent. More importantly, we also present a new technique for deriving upper bounds for lambda_s(n). With this new technique we: (1) re-derive the upper bound of lambda_3(n) <= 2n alpha(n) + O(n sqrt alpha(n)) (first shown by Klazar, 1999); (2) re-derive our own new upper bounds for general s; and (3) obtain improved upper bounds for the generalized Davenport-Schinzel sequences considered by Adamec, Klazar, and Valtr (1992). Regarding lower bounds, we show that lambda_3(n) >= 2n alpha(n) - O(n), and therefore, the coefficient 2 is tight. We also present a simpler version of the construction of Agarwal, Sharir, and Shor that achieves the known lower bounds for even s>=4.Comment: To appear in Journal of the ACM. 48 pages, 3 figure

On an extremal problem for poset dimension

Let $f(n)$ be the largest integer such that every poset on $n$ elements has a $2$-dimensional subposet on $f(n)$ elements. What is the asymptotics of $f(n)$? It is easy to see that $f(n)\geqslant n^{1/2}$. We improve the best known upper bound and show $f(n)=\mathcal{O}(n^{2/3})$. For higher dimensions, we show $f_d(n)=\mathcal{O}\left(n^\frac{d}{d+1}\right)$, where $f_d(n)$ is the largest integer such that every poset on $n$ elements has a $d$-dimensional subposet on $f_d(n)$ elements.Comment: removed proof of Theorem 3 duplicating previous work; fixed typos and reference

Pattern Avoidance in Poset Permutations

We extend the concept of pattern avoidance in permutations on a totally ordered set to pattern avoidance in permutations on partially ordered sets. The number of permutations on $P$ that avoid the pattern $\pi$ is denoted $Av_P(\pi)$. We extend a proof of Simion and Schmidt to show that $Av_P(132) \leq Av_P(123)$ for any poset $P$, and we exactly classify the posets for which equality holds.Comment: 13 pages, 1 figure; v2: corrected typos; v3: corrected typos and improved formatting; v4: to appear in Order; v5: corrected typos; v6: updated author email addresse

Integrability as a consequence of discrete holomorphicity: the Z_N model

It has recently been established that imposing the condition of discrete holomorphicity on a lattice parafermionic observable leads to the critical Boltzmann weights in a number of lattice models. Remarkably, the solutions of these linear equations also solve the Yang-Baxter equations. We extend this analysis for the Z_N model by explicitly considering the condition of discrete holomorphicity on two and three adjacent rhombi. For two rhombi this leads to a quadratic equation in the Boltzmann weights and for three rhombi a cubic equation. The two-rhombus equation implies the inversion relations. The star-triangle relation follows from the three-rhombus equation. We also show that these weights are self-dual as a consequence of discrete holomorphicity.Comment: 11 pages, 7 figures, some clarifications and a reference adde

Transfer Matrices and Partition-Function Zeros for Antiferromagnetic Potts Models. V. Further Results for the Square-Lattice Chromatic Polynomial

We derive some new structural results for the transfer matrix of square-lattice Potts models with free and cylindrical boundary conditions. In particular, we obtain explicit closed-form expressions for the dominant (at large |q|) diagonal entry in the transfer matrix, for arbitrary widths m, as the solution of a special one-dimensional polymer model. We also obtain the large-q expansion of the bulk and surface (resp. corner) free energies for the zero-temperature antiferromagnet (= chromatic polynomial) through order q^{-47} (resp. q^{-46}). Finally, we compute chromatic roots for strips of widths 9 <= m <= 12 with free boundary conditions and locate roughly the limiting curves.Comment: 111 pages (LaTeX2e). Includes tex file, three sty files, and 19 Postscript figures. Also included are Mathematica files data_CYL.m and data_FREE.m. Many changes from version 1: new material on series expansions and their analysis, and several proofs of previously conjectured results. Final version to be published in J. Stat. Phy

The history of degenerate (bipartite) extremal graph problems

This paper is a survey on Extremal Graph Theory, primarily focusing on the case when one of the excluded graphs is bipartite. On one hand we give an introduction to this field and also describe many important results, methods, problems, and constructions.Comment: 97 pages, 11 figures, many problems. This is the preliminary version of our survey presented in Erdos 100. In this version 2 only a citation was complete

Transfer matrices and partition-function zeros for antiferromagnetic Potts models. VI. Square lattice with special boundary conditions

We study, using transfer-matrix methods, the partition-function zeros of the square-lattice q-state Potts antiferromagnet at zero temperature (= square-lattice chromatic polynomial) for the special boundary conditions that are obtained from an m x n grid with free boundary conditions by adjoining one new vertex adjacent to all the sites in the leftmost column and a second new vertex adjacent to all the sites in the rightmost column. We provide numerical evidence that the partition-function zeros are becoming dense everywhere in the complex q-plane outside the limiting curve B_\infty(sq) for this model with ordinary (e.g. free or cylindrical) boundary conditions. Despite this, the infinite-volume free energy is perfectly analytic in this region.Comment: 114 pages (LaTeX2e). Includes tex file, three sty files, and 23 Postscript figures. Also included are Mathematica files data_Eq.m, data_Neq.m,and data_Diff.m. Many changes from version 1, including several proofs of previously conjectured results. Final version to be published in J. Stat. Phy