Combinatorics (math.CO)

Abstract: We consider the symmetric difference of two graphs on the same vertex set $[n]$, which is the graph on $[n]$ whose edge set consists of all edges that belong to exactly one of the two graphs. Let $\mathcal{F}$ be a class of graphs, and let $M_{\mathcal{F}}(n)$ denote the maximum possible cardinality of a family $\mathcal{G}$ of graphs on $[n]$ such that the symmetric difference of any two members in $\mathcal{G}$ belongs to $\mathcal{F}$. These concepts are recently investigated by Alon, Gujgiczer, K\"{o}rner, Milojevi\'{c}, and Simonyi, with the aim of providing a new graphic approach to coding theory. In particular, $M_{\mathcal{F}}(n)$ denotes the maximum possible size of this code. Existing results show that as the graph class $\mathcal{F}$ changes, $M_{\mathcal{F}}(n)$ can vary from $n$ to $2^{(1+o(1))\binom{n}{2}}$. We study several phase transition problems related to $M_{\mathcal{F}}(n)$ in general settings and present a partial solution to a recent problem posed by Alon et. al.

Abstract: In a region $R$ consisting of unit squares, a (domino) tiling is a collection of dominoes (the union of two adjacent squares) which pave fully the region. The flip graph of $R$ is defined on the set of all tilings of $R$ where two tilings are adjacent if we change one from the other by a flip (a $90^{\circ}$ rotation of a pair of side-by-side dominoes). Let $n\geq 1$ and $m\geq 2$ be integers. In a recent paper it was proved that the flip graph of $(2n+1)\times 2m$ quadriculated torus consists of two isomorphic components. In this paper, we generalize the result to the toroidal grid $T(2n+1,2m,2r)$ which is obtained from an $(2n+1)\times 2m$ chessboard by sticking the left and right sides and then identifying the top and bottom sides with a torsion $2r$ squares for $1\leq r\leq m$. For a tiling $t$, we associate an integer called forcing number as the minimum number of dominoes in $t$ that is contained in no other tiling. As an application, we obtain that the forcing numbers of all tilings of $T(2n+1,2m,2r)$ form an integer-interval. Moreover, we prove that the maximum value of the interval is $\frac{m(2n+1)}{2}$ if $\frac{m}{(r,m)}$ is even, and $\frac{m(2n+1)+(r,m)}{2}$ otherwise.

Abstract: We prove that there exists a constant $C$ so that for all $s,k \in \mathbb{N}$, every $K_{s,s}$-free graph with average degree at least $k^{Cs^3}$ contains an induced subgraph which is $C_4$-free and has average degree at least $k$. It was known that some function of $s$ and $k$ suffices, but this is the first explicit bound. Using this theorem, we give short and streamlined proofs of the following three corollaries. First, we show that there exists a constant $C$ so that for all $k \in \mathbb{N}$, every graph with average degree at least $k^{Ck^6}$ contains a bipartite subgraph (not necessarily induced) which is $C_4$-free and has average degree at least $k$. This almost matches the recent bound of $k^{Ck^2}$ due to Montgomery, Pokrovskiy, and Sudakov. Next, we show that there exists a constant $C$ so that for all $s,k \in \mathbb{N}$, every $K_{s,s}$-free graph with average degree at least $k^{Cs^3}$ contains an induced subdivision of $K_k$. This is the first quantitative improvement on a well-known theorem of K\"uhn and Osthus; their proof gives a bound that is triply exponential in both $k$ and $s$. Finally, we show that for any hereditary degree-bounded class $\mathcal{F}$, there exists a constant $C_\mathcal{F}$ so that $(C_\mathcal{F})^{s^3}$ is a degree-bounding function for $\mathcal{F}$. This is the first bound of any type on the rate of growth of such functions. It is open whether there is always a polynomial degree-bounding function.

Abstract: Let ${\rm sk}({\mathcal P})$ denote the $1$-skeleton of an convex polytope ${\mathcal P}$. Let $C$ be a clique (=complete subgraph) of ${\rm sk}({\mathcal P})$ and ${\rm conv}(C)$ the convex hull of the vertices of ${\mathcal P}$ belonging to $C$. In general, ${\rm conv}(C)$ may not be a face of ${\mathcal P}$. It will be proved that ${\rm conv}(C)$ is a face of ${\mathcal P}$ if ${\mathcal P}$ is either the order polytope ${\mathcal O}(P)$ of a finite partially ordered set $P$ or the stable set polytope ${\rm Stab}(G)$ of a finite simple graph $G$. In other words, when ${\mathcal P}$ is either ${\mathcal O}(P)$ or ${\rm Stab}(G)$, the simplicial complex consisting of simplices which are faces of ${\mathcal P}$ is the clique complex of ${\rm sk}({\mathcal P})$.

Abstract: Given an arbitrary class $\mathcal{H}$ of graphs, we investigate which graphs admit a decomposition modelled on a graph in $\mathcal{H}$ into parts of small radius. The $\mathcal{H}$-decompositions that we consider here generalise the notion of tree-decompositions. We identify obstructions to such $\mathcal{H}$-decompositions of small radial width, and we prove that these obstructions occur in every graph of sufficiently large radial $\mathcal{H}$-width for the classes $\mathcal{H}$ of paths, of cycles and of subdivided stars.

Abstract: Interval-closed sets of a poset are a natural superset of order ideals. We initiate the study of interval-closed sets of finite posets from enumerative and dynamical perspectives. Following [Striker, 2018], we study the generalized toggle group of interval-closed sets. In particular, we define rowmotion on interval-closed sets as a product of these toggles. Our main general theorem is an intricate global characterization of rowmotion on interval-closed sets, which we show is equivalent to the toggling definition. We also study specific posets; we enumerate interval-closed sets of ordinal sums of antichains, completely describe their rowmotion orbits, and prove a homomesy result involving the signed cardinality statistic. Finally, we study interval-closed sets of product of chains posets, proving further results about enumeration and homomesy.

Abstract: The aim of this thesis is to investigate how the structure of a digraph affects its dichromatic number and to extend various results on undirected colouring to digraphs. In the first part of this thesis, we examine how the dichromatic number interacts with other metrics. First, we consider the degree, which is the maximum number of neighbours of a vertex. In the undirected case, this corresponds to Brooks' theorem, a celebrated theorem with multiple variations and generalizations. In the directed case, there is no natural metric corresponding to the maximum degree, so we explore how different notions of maximum directed degree lead to either Brooks-like theorems or impossibility results. We also investigate the maximum local-arc connectivity, a metric that encompasses several degree-like metrics. The second part of this manuscript focuses on a directed analogue of the Gy\'arf\'as-Sumner conjecture. The Gy\'arf\'as-Sumner conjecture tries to characterize sets S of undirected graphs such that graphs with large enough chromatic number must contain a graph of S. This conjecture is still largely open. On digraphs, a corresponding conjecture was proposed by Aboulker, Charbit, and Naserasr. We prove several subcases of this conjecture, mainly demonstrating that certain classes of digraphs have bounded dichromatic number. In the last part of this thesis, we address the d-edge-defective-colouring problem, which involves colouring edges of a multigraph such that, for any vertex, no colour appears on more than d of its incident edges. When d equals one, this corresponds to the infamous edge-colouring problem. Shannon established a tight bound on the number of colours needed relative to the maximum degree when d equals one, and we extend this result to any value of d. We also explore this problem on simple graphs and prove results that extend Vizing's theorem to any value of d.

Abstract: Building on recent work of Mattheus and Verstra\"ete, we establish a general connection between Ramsey numbers of the form $r(F,t)$ for $F$ a fixed graph and a variant of the Zarankiewicz problem asking for the maximum number of 1s in an $m$ by $n$ $0/1$-matrix that does not have any matrix from a fixed finite family $\mathcal{L}(F)$ derived from $F$ as a submatrix. As an application, we give new lower bounds for the Ramsey numbers $r(C_5,t)$ and $r(C_7,t)$, namely, $r(C_5,t) = \tilde\Omega(t^{\frac{10}{7}})$ and $r(C_7,t) = \tilde\Omega(t^{\frac{5}{4}})$. We also show how the truth of a plausible conjecture about Zarankiewicz numbers would allow an approximate determination of $r(C_{2\ell+1}, t)$ for any fixed integer $\ell \geq 2$.