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Questions tagged [extremal-graph-theory]

Study of graphs satisfying a property that are maximal or minimal with respect to some parameter. A classic example is Turán's Theorem, which exactly characterizes the densest graphs on $n$ vertices without a $K_t$ subgraph.

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Minimal graphs of prescribed girth and chromatic number

The well known result of Erdős, states that Given integers $g > 2$ and $k > 1$ there exist a graph $G$ with $\chi(G) \geq k$ and girth at least $g.$ What I am wondering is When can we ...
Jernej's user avatar
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6 votes
2 answers
317 views

Is there a graph that is Ramsey for $P_{2n}$ but is $C_{2n+1}-$free

Write $F\to G$ to mean that for every two coloring of the edges of $F$, there exists a monochromatic copy of $G$. Nešetřil and Rödl proved that for every graph $G$, there exists a graph $F$ such that ...
Arnav's user avatar
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6 votes
3 answers
4k views

Kovari-Sos-Turan theorem

Let $r \leq s$ be fixed natural numbers. Then by the Kővári–Sós–Turán theorem, any graph on $n$ vertices with at least $cn^{2-\frac{1}{r}}$ edges contains a complete bipartite subgraph $K_{r,s}$ for a ...
Kim's user avatar
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6 votes
5 answers
540 views

Existence of connected set with large edge boundary

Let $\Gamma=(V,E)$ be a finite connected graph. Pretty standard notation. Given a set $S\subset V$, write $\Gamma|_S$ for the restriction of $\Gamma$ to $S$, i.e., the subgraph $(S,\{\{v,w\}\in E: v,w\...
H A Helfgott's user avatar
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6 votes
1 answer
483 views

Average and max. hitting time to a specific vertex

Consider simple random walks that stop when reaching a given node $x$ in an undirected, unweighted and connected graph on $n$ nodes. Let $H(i,x)$ denote the (expected) hitting time from $i$ to $x$, ...
fawadria's user avatar
6 votes
3 answers
443 views

Number of trees with the same matching number

Let $\sigma(n,m)$ be the number of trees with $n$ vertices $\{ v_1, \dots, v_n \}$ such that the matching number (the size of a maximum matching) is $m$. I have been trying to compute the value of $\...
Patt Geffrey's user avatar
6 votes
2 answers
426 views

Snake algorithm that minimizes straight lines

How can I find the non-self-intersecting loop that uses the least amount of straight lines (curves left/right as often as possible every turn) and still loops back on itself? Here's an example we have ...
Tzlil's user avatar
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6 votes
3 answers
1k views

Online Library of Unlabeled Connected Graphs on n Vertices

Does anyone know of the link to an online library of of unlabeled, connected graphs on n vertices? I remember looking at such an archive a few years ago while at a Macaulay 2 workshop, but I've been ...
Gwyn Whieldon's user avatar
6 votes
1 answer
582 views

On Turan's theorem

Turan's theorem provides minimum number of edges of a graph on $n$ vertices to surely contain a clique of a prescribed size. This has been generalized to regular graphs. What additional ...
Turbo's user avatar
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6 votes
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Graphs without short cycles and with linear number of edges

Let $f : \mathbb{N} \rightarrow \mathbb{N}$ be a non-decreasing function and let $X_f$ be the class of graphs where every $n$-vertex graph $G$ is $(C_3, C_4, \ldots, C_{f(n)})$-free, i.e. $G$ contains ...
Victor's user avatar
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6 votes
2 answers
266 views

Lovasz local lemma for the edge model

In order to successfully apply the Lovasz local lemma, one needs the events to be relatively independent. This (sometimes) works well in the $G(n,p)$ model of random graphs, where the presence or ...
Vince Vatter's user avatar
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6 votes
1 answer
243 views

Hamiltonicity criteria for sparse graphs

Given a sparse graph, how can one go about proving that it is Hamiltonian? (Assuming it actually is, of course). There are three main classes of criteria for Hamiltonicity that I am aware of: Dirac-...
Felix Goldberg's user avatar
6 votes
1 answer
796 views

No big clique minor but a big grid minor

I was wondering if the following result is known (or if there's a nice short proof without treewidth/brenchwidth related theorems): as the title says, suppose you have a graph without a big clique ...
Cosmin Pohoata's user avatar
6 votes
2 answers
349 views

extremal bipartite graph

I'm facing the following question: Given a bipartite graph $G = (L \cup R, E)$. Let $n = |L|$, $m = |R|$, and a parameter $k \in \mathbb{N}$, $n > m > k$. What is a minimal possible number of ...
Gilad's user avatar
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6 votes
0 answers
108 views

What is the smallest number of vertices in a graph whose every orientation contains a directed straight path of length 3

For a graph $\Gamma$ and a digraph $\vec H$ we write $\Gamma\Rightarrow \vec H$ if any orientation of $\Gamma$ contains an isometric and isomorphic copy of the digraph $\vec H$. Since each graph ...
Taras Banakh's user avatar
6 votes
0 answers
76 views

Cage graphs and even cycles

Let $G$ be a $(\nu,g)$-cage graph of degree $\nu$ with girth $g$ and $n=n(\nu,g)$ vertices. Based on the known examples, I am wondering if the following can be proved/disproved: Is it true that ...
Wolfgang's user avatar
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6 votes
0 answers
315 views

Algorithms for computing the Resilience of Graphs

The definition of resilience with a graph $G$ w.r.t to a monotone property $\mathcal{P}$ is well known. (Global resilience) Let $\mathcal{P}$ be an increasing monotone property. The global ...
Pavan Sangha's user avatar
6 votes
0 answers
889 views

Cliques of hyperedges

Suppose we have a graph, with multiple edges allowed. An edge-clique is a set $C$ of edges so that every two edges in $C$ share at least one endpoint. Note that any edge-clique falls into one of two ...
Dave Pritchard's user avatar
5 votes
3 answers
1k views

Erdős–Stone theorem type edge density estimates for bipartite graphs?

The Erdős–Stone theorem theory says that the densest graph not containing a graph H (which has chromatic number r) has number of edges equal to $(r-2)/(r-1) {n \choose 2}$ asymptotically. However, ...
Rune's user avatar
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5 votes
1 answer
185 views

Length minimizing graphs between a finite set of points

Consider a set of $n$ points in the plane. Among all the connected graphs (trees) $T$ in the plane that have these $n$ points among their vertices, I am looking to find one such that the sum of its ...
Mohammad Farajzadeh-Tehrani's user avatar
5 votes
1 answer
171 views

Graph combinatorial optimization problem

Let $G$ be a simple graph with vertex set $V$, such that for any two vertices $u,v\in V$, we have at least $k$ edge-disjoint paths of length $2$ (i.e., formed by $2$ edges) connecting $u$ with $v$. ...
Penelope Benenati's user avatar
5 votes
1 answer
225 views

Cover a graph with small size complete graphs

Given a complete graph with $n$ nodes, if we want to use $n$ complete subgraphs to cover the graph and ask what is the minimum possible size of each complete subgraph, the answer is $\Theta(\sqrt{n})$:...
walydna's user avatar
  • 53
5 votes
2 answers
383 views

Extremal graph theory for directed graphs

In extremal graph theory, there are results such as $$t(C_4,G)\geq t(K_2,G)^4,$$ where $G$ is an undirected graph, $C_4$ is a cycle graph on 4 nodes, $K_2$ is a complete graph of $2$ nodes, and $t(\...
user48339's user avatar
  • 131
5 votes
1 answer
830 views

Connected components of large induced subgraphs of hypercubes

Let $H$ be the $n$-dimensional hypercube, i.e. $\{0,1\}^n$ with edges between two vertices if and only if they differ in exactly one co-ordinate. We say that an edge is in direction $i$ if its ...
Sukhada Fadnavis's user avatar
5 votes
2 answers
516 views

Vertex expansion of the Hamming graph

Let $G$ be a graph, and for every $S \subseteq V$, let $N(S)$ denote the neighborhood of $S$. The vertex expansion of $G$ is $$ \min_{S\subseteq V, |S|\le |V|/2} \left\{ \frac{|N(S)|}{|S|} \right\}.$$...
Or Meir's user avatar
  • 419
5 votes
1 answer
1k views

Characterization of infinite paths in graphs

First an introduction. A directed graph we all know what is, and a graph is serial whenever every vertex has a successor. I do not consider the empty graph. A pair $(\mathcal{G},s)$ is called a ...
Pål GD's user avatar
  • 126
5 votes
1 answer
107 views

Maximal graphs with a property that is invariant w.r.t. vertex removal

Let $P$ be a property of graphs such that if a graph $G$ has $P$, then any graph obtained from $G$ by removal of a vertex also has $P$. Let $g(n)$ be the maximum size of a graph of order $n$ having $P$...
Max Alekseyev's user avatar
5 votes
0 answers
156 views

$K_4$ or n vertices without triangles

For which minimal $m(n)$ any graph on $m$ vertices contains either a complete subgraph on 4 vertices $K_4$ or $n$-vertices subgraph without triangles? I know a quadratic upper bound $2n^2$, but I am ...
Alexei Fedotov's user avatar
4 votes
2 answers
239 views

Population of P people, where each person knows K others, how many people mutually know each other

If you have a population of $P$ people, where each person knows $K$ others within the population (does not have to be mutual, i.e., if I know you, you don't necessarily know me), and $1<K<P$, ...
curiousgeorge's user avatar
4 votes
1 answer
887 views

Existence of triangle-free graphs for regular graphs of degree at most n/2

It is known that for triangle-free graphs, if they are $d$-regular, then $2d\leq n$, where $n$ is the number of vertices. In words, the degree is less than or equal to half the number of vertices (...
Gizem's user avatar
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4 votes
2 answers
1k views

Maximum number of edges $f(n,k)$ in a graph on $n$ vertices with no $k$-core?

The $k$-core of a finite graph is defined as follows. Delete all vertices of degree $< k$ and repeat until there are no such vertices left. If there is a nonempty subgraph remaining, necessarily ...
Matthew Kahle's user avatar
4 votes
3 answers
241 views

Almost all graphs have a subgraph from a large class of graphs with constant order

I will pose the question in relation to trees but the more general question that can be deduced from the title of this post is also very interesting. I suspect the question might have a very trivial ...
Jernej's user avatar
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4 votes
1 answer
230 views

Independence number of $C_4$-free graphs

It's well known that a $C_4$-free graph of order $n$ has average degree $O(\sqrt{n})$, and it follows that the independence number is $\Omega(\sqrt{n})$. This bound cannot be improved over $\Theta(n^{\...
LeechLattice's user avatar
  • 9,501
4 votes
1 answer
357 views

A question related to "Locally Sidorenko" type problem

Let $F$ be a bipartite graph and $\delta_F=\delta(F)$ be a constant. Let $p\geq 0$ be a given constant. Let $W$ be a graphon with $\int W=p$ and for any $A,B\subseteq \left[0,1\right]$ with $|A|,|B|\...
tom jerry's user avatar
  • 359
4 votes
1 answer
245 views

Sizes of triangle-free graphs with independence number $k$

A triangle-free graph is an undirected graph in which no three vertices form a triangle of edges. The independence number $α = α(G)$ of a graph $G$ is the cardinality of a maximum in dependent set of ...
Licheng Zhang's user avatar
4 votes
1 answer
437 views

Extremal functions for tournaments

We are looking at directed graphs with no loops or parallel edges, but given two vertices $x$ and $y$, we allow the presence of both the edge $(x, y)$ and $(y, x)$. Thus, if $G$ is a directed graph ...
Paul Wollan's user avatar
4 votes
1 answer
1k views

Complete Bipartite Subgraph of Dense Bipartite Subgraph

Q1: Consider a $2^n$ by $2^n$ bipartite graph with at least $(1-\epsilon)2^{2n}$ edges. For any $\epsilon > 0$ and $n$ large enough, is it always possible to find a $2^{(1-f(\epsilon))n}$ by $2^{(1-...
Patrick's user avatar
  • 41
4 votes
1 answer
136 views

Longest paths and cycles in Steiner triple systems

A Steiner triple system is a 3-uniform hypergraph in which every pair of vertices is contained in exactly one edge. A linear cycle (also called loose cycle) length $t$ consists of $2t$ cyclically ...
X. Li's user avatar
  • 373
4 votes
2 answers
2k views

The number of monochromatic triangles

It is well known that the minimum number of monochromatic triangles in a red/blue coloring of the edges of the complete graph $K_n$ is given by Goodman's formula $$M(n)=\binom n3-\left\lfloor\frac n2\...
bof's user avatar
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4 votes
3 answers
432 views

How to show that random graphs cannot be embedded with short edges

For each (not necessarily planar) embedding of a graph in $\mathbb{R}^k$ one can calculate the ratio $$\gamma = \frac{\textsf{mean Euclidean length of edges}}{\textsf{mean Euclidean distance between ...
Hans-Peter Stricker's user avatar
4 votes
1 answer
220 views

Maximal number of perfect matchings that pairwise form a Hamiltonian cycle

Definition: Let $MH(n)$ be the maximal number of perfect matchings (1-regular graphs) on $n$ vertices where the union of any two perfect matchings is a Hamiltonian cycle. Question: Is it true that $MH(...
Daniel Soltész's user avatar
4 votes
1 answer
219 views

Quasi-random vs pseudo-random graphs

My question is somehow concerning terminology on extremal graph theory. Is there any difference concerning the notion of quasi-random graph and the notion of pseudo-random graph? My feeling is that ...
Johnny Cage's user avatar
  • 1,561
4 votes
2 answers
269 views

Intuition on inequality in proving a bound on the sum of squares of degrees of a graph

Given a simple connected graph $G$ with $n$ vertices and $m$ edges, let $d_1, ..., d_n$ denote the degrees of the vertices of the graph. In this very short paper, the author prove the inequality $$\...
AspiringMat's user avatar
4 votes
1 answer
376 views

Looking for a counterexample to a strengthening of the union-closed sets conjecture

[Now crossposted at math.stackexchange] Let $\mathcal{F} = \{\{x_1, x_2\} : 1 \le x_1 \lt x_2 \le n \}$, $n \ge 8$, and let $\mathcal{G} = \{G_1, \ldots, G_n\}$ be a partition of $\mathcal{F}$ in $n$ ...
Fabius Wiesner's user avatar
4 votes
1 answer
205 views

Is there any study on the bounds on the number of even cycles for planar bipartite graphs?

In 1979, Hakimi and Schmeichel [1] initiated such a study by determining the maximum number of triangles and 4-cycles possible in an $n$-vertex planar graph (see also [2] for a small correction). [1] ...
Licheng Zhang's user avatar
4 votes
1 answer
976 views

What is the minimum number of independent sets for a graph with fixed numbers of vertices and edges?

Fix integers $V$ and $E_{\text{max}}$, and consider graphs $G$ with $V$ vertices and at most $E_{\text{max}}$ edges. What is the best lower bound that one can give on the number of distinct ...
blt's user avatar
  • 1,233
4 votes
1 answer
111 views

Are there decompositions of $K_{16}$ by certain 3-regular graphs?

This is inspired by the problem of the Hoffman-Singleton Decomposition of $K_{50}$. I wanted to look at smaller variants of this kind of problem, and so naturally I started wondering: Can the (edges ...
Wolfgang's user avatar
  • 13.4k
4 votes
1 answer
137 views

On the number of disjoint subsets of a large set families

Let $[n] := \{1,\dots,n\}$, for some large integer $n$, and let $\mathcal{F}$ be a family of 2-element subsets of $[n]$. The famous Erdös-Ko-Rado (EKR) theorem says that if $|\mathcal{F}| > {n - 1 ...
John Hans's user avatar
4 votes
1 answer
366 views

The upper bound of edges of the generalized cactus graphs

In graph theory, a cactus is a connected graph in which any two simple cycles have at most one vertex in common. Equivalently, it is a connected graph in which every edge belongs to at most one simple ...
Licheng Zhang's user avatar
4 votes
1 answer
195 views

Explicit constructions of regular graphs with very sparse induced subgraphs

Let $d\ge 3$ be a constant. Is there an explicit construction of an infinite family of $d$-regular graphs such that for $G$ in this family with $n$ vertices, every subgraph $H$ of on at most $\alpha n$...
Sidhanth Mohanty's user avatar