Packing k-partite k-uniform hypergraphs

Let $G$ and $H$ be $k$-graphs ($k$-uniform hypergraphs); then a perfect $H$-packing in $G$ is a collection of vertex-disjoint copies of $H$ in $G$ which together cover every vertex of $G$. For any fixed $H$ let $\delta(H, n)$ be the minimum $\delta$ such that any $k$-graph $G$ on $n$ vertices with minimum codegree $\delta(G) \geq \delta$ contains a perfect $H$-packing. The problem of determining $\delta(H, n)$ has been widely studied for graphs (i.e. $2$-graphs), but little is known for $k \geq 3$. Here we determine the asymptotic value of $\delta(H, n)$ for all complete $k$-partite $k$-graphs $H$, as well as a wide class of other $k$-partite $k$-graphs. In particular, these results provide an asymptotic solution to a question of R\"odl and Ruci\'nski on the value of $\delta(H, n)$ when $H$ is a loose cycle. We also determine asymptotically the codegree threshold needed to guarantee an $H$-packing covering all but a constant number of vertices of $G$ for any complete $k$-partite $k$-graph $H$.Comment: v2: Updated with minor corrections. Accepted for publication in Journal of Combinatorial Theory, Series

A Geometric Theory for Hypergraph Matching

We develop a theory for the existence of perfect matchings in hypergraphs under quite general conditions. Informally speaking, the obstructions to perfect matchings are geometric, and are of two distinct types: 'space barriers' from convex geometry, and 'divisibility barriers' from arithmetic lattice-based constructions. To formulate precise results, we introduce the setting of simplicial complexes with minimum degree sequences, which is a generalisation of the usual minimum degree condition. We determine the essentially best possible minimum degree sequence for finding an almost perfect matching. Furthermore, our main result establishes the stability property: under the same degree assumption, if there is no perfect matching then there must be a space or divisibility barrier. This allows the use of the stability method in proving exact results. Besides recovering previous results, we apply our theory to the solution of two open problems on hypergraph packings: the minimum degree threshold for packing tetrahedra in 3-graphs, and Fischer's conjecture on a multipartite form of the Hajnal-Szemer\'edi Theorem. Here we prove the exact result for tetrahedra and the asymptotic result for Fischer's conjecture; since the exact result for the latter is technical we defer it to a subsequent paper.Comment: Accepted for publication in Memoirs of the American Mathematical Society. 101 pages. v2: minor changes including some additional diagrams and passages of expository tex

The minimum vertex degree for an almost-spanning tight cycle in a 33-uniform hypergraph

We prove that any $3$-uniform hypergraph whose minimum vertex degree is at least $\left(\frac{5}{9} + o(1) \right)\binom{n}{2}$ admits an almost-spanning tight cycle, that is, a tight cycle leaving $o(n)$ vertices uncovered. The bound on the vertex degree is asymptotically best possible. Our proof uses the hypergraph regularity method, and in particular a recent version of the hypergraph regularity lemma proved by Allen, B\"ottcher, Cooley and Mycroft.Comment: 10 pages. arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:1411.495

Classification of maximum hittings by large families

For integers $r$ and $n$, where $n$ is sufficiently large, and for every set $X \subseteq [n]$ we determine the maximal left-compressed intersecting families $\mathcal{A}\subseteq \binom{[n]}{r}$ which achieve maximum hitting with $X$ (i.e. have the most members which intersect $X$). This answers a question of Barber, who extended previous results by Borg to characterise those sets $X$ for which maximum hitting is achieved by the star.Comment: v2: minor corrections in response to reviewer comments. To appear in Graphs and Combinatoric

Hamilton cycles in hypergraphs below the Dirac threshold

We establish a precise characterisation of $4$-uniform hypergraphs with minimum codegree close to $n/2$ which contain a Hamilton $2$-cycle. As an immediate corollary we identify the exact Dirac threshold for Hamilton $2$-cycles in $4$-uniform hypergraphs. Moreover, by derandomising the proof of our characterisation we provide a polynomial-time algorithm which, given a $4$-uniform hypergraph $H$ with minimum codegree close to $n/2$, either finds a Hamilton $2$-cycle in $H$ or provides a certificate that no such cycle exists. This surprising result stands in contrast to the graph setting, in which below the Dirac threshold it is NP-hard to determine if a graph is Hamiltonian. We also consider tight Hamilton cycles in $k$-uniform hypergraphs $H$ for $k \geq 3$, giving a series of reductions to show that it is NP-hard to determine whether a $k$-uniform hypergraph $H$ with minimum degree $\delta(H) \geq \frac{1}{2}|V(H)| - O(1)$ contains a tight Hamilton cycle. It is therefore unlikely that a similar characterisation can be obtained for tight Hamilton cycles.Comment: v2: minor revisions in response to reviewer comments, most pseudocode and details of the polynomial time reduction moved to the appendix which will not appear in the printed version of the paper. To appear in Journal of Combinatorial Theory, Series

Polynomial-time perfect matchings in dense hypergraphs

Let $H$ be a $k$-graph on $n$ vertices, with minimum codegree at least $n/k + cn$ for some fixed $c > 0$. In this paper we construct a polynomial-time algorithm which finds either a perfect matching in $H$ or a certificate that none exists. This essentially solves a problem of Karpi\'nski, Ruci\'nski and Szyma\'nska; Szyma\'nska previously showed that this problem is NP-hard for a minimum codegree of $n/k - cn$. Our algorithm relies on a theoretical result of independent interest, in which we characterise any such hypergraph with no perfect matching using a family of lattice-based constructions.Comment: 64 pages. Update includes minor revisions. To appear in Advances in Mathematic

A random version of Sperner's theorem

Let $\mathcal{P}(n)$ denote the power set of $[n]$, ordered by inclusion, and let $\mathcal{P}(n,p)$ be obtained from $\mathcal{P}(n)$ by selecting elements from $\mathcal{P}(n)$ independently at random with probability $p$. A classical result of Sperner asserts that every antichain in $\mathcal{P}(n)$ has size at most that of the middle layer, $\binom{n}{\lfloor n/2 \rfloor}$. In this note we prove an analogous result for $\mathcal{P} (n,p)$: If $pn \rightarrow \infty$ then, with high probability, the size of the largest antichain in $\mathcal{P}(n,p)$ is at most $(1+o(1)) p \binom{n}{\lfloor n/2 \rfloor}$. This solves a conjecture of Osthus who proved the result in the case when $pn/\log n \rightarrow \infty$. Our condition on $p$ is best-possible. In fact, we prove a more general result giving an upper bound on the size of the largest antichain for a wider range of values of $p$.Comment: 7 pages. Updated to include minor revisions and publication dat

Hamilton cycles in quasirandom hypergraphs

We show that, for a natural notion of quasirandomness in $k$-uniform hypergraphs, any quasirandom $k$-uniform hypergraph on $n$ vertices with constant edge density and minimum vertex degree $\Omega(n^{k-1})$ contains a loose Hamilton cycle. We also give a construction to show that a $k$-uniform hypergraph satisfying these conditions need not contain a Hamilton $\ell$-cycle if $k-\ell$ divides $k$. The remaining values of $\ell$ form an interesting open question.Comment: 18 pages. Accepted for publication in Random Structures & Algorithm