József Balogh, Felix Christian Clemen, Emily Heath, Mikhail Lavrov
An ordered graph is a simple graph with an ordering on its vertices. Define the ordered path $P_n$ to be the monotone increasing path with $n$ edges. The ordered size Ramsey number $\tilde{r}(P_r,P_s)$ is the minimum number $m$ for which there exists an ordered graph $H$ with $m$ edges such that every two-coloring of the edges of $H$ contains a red copy of $P_r$ or a blue copy of $P_s$. For $2\leq r\leq s$, we show $\frac{1}{8}r^2s\leq \tilde{r}(P_r,P_s)\leq Cr^2s(\log s)^3$, where $C>0$ is an absolute constant. This problem is motivated by the recent results of Bucić-Letzter-Sudakov and Letzter-Sudakov for oriented graphs.
József Balogh, Alexandr Kostochka, Mikhail Lavrov, Xujun Liu
A graph $G$ arrows a graph $H$ if in every $2$-edge-coloring of $G$ there exists a monochromatic copy of $H$. Schelp had the idea that if the complete graph $K_n$ arrows a small graph $H$, then every "dense" subgraph of $K_n$ also arrows $H$, and he outlined some problems in this direction. Our main result is in this spirit. We prove that for every sufficiently large $n$, if $n = 3t+r$ where $r \in \{0,1,2\}$ and $G$ is an $n$-vertex graph with $δ(G) \ge (3n-1)/4$, then for every $2$-edge-coloring of $G$, either there are cycles of every length $\{3, 4, 5, \dots, 2t+r\}$ of the same color, or there are cycles of every even length $\{4, 6, 8, \dots, 2t+2\}$ of the same color. Our result is tight in the sense that no longer cycles (of length $>2t+r$) can be guaranteed and the minimum degree condition cannot be reduced. It also implies the conjecture of Schelp that for every sufficiently large $n$, every $(3t-1)$-vertex graph $G$ with minimum degree larger than $3|V(G)|/4$ arrows the path $P_{2n}$ with $2n$ vertices. Moreover, it implies for sufficiently large $n$ the conjecture by Benevides, Łuczak, Scott, Skokan and White that for $n=3t+r$ where $r \in \{0,1,2\}$ and every $n$-vertex graph $G$ with $δ(G) \ge 3n/4$, in each $2$-edge-coloring of $G$ there exists a monochromatic cycle of length at least $2t+r$.
Alexandr Kostochka, Mikhail Lavrov, Ruth Luo, Dara Zirlin
In the language of hypergraphs, our main result is a Dirac-type bound: we prove that every $3$-connected hypergraph $H$ with $ δ(H)\geq \max\{|V(H)|, \frac{|E(H)|+10}{4}\}$ has a hamiltonian Berge cycle. This is sharp and refines a conjecture by Jackson from 1981 (in the language of bipartite graphs). Our proofs are in the language of bipartite graphs, since the incidence graph of each hypergraph is bipartite.
József Balogh, Mikhail Lavrov, George Shakan, Adam Zsolt Wagner
The Van der Waerden number $W(k,r)$ denotes the smallest $n$ such that whenever $[n]$ is $r$--colored there exists a monochromatic arithmetic progression of length $k$. Similarly, the Hilbert cube number $h(k,r)$ denotes the smallest $n$ such that whenever $[n]$ is $r$--colored there exists a monochromatic affine $k$--cube, that is, a set of the form$$\left\{x_0 + \sum_{b \in B} b : B \subseteq A\right\}$$ for some $|A|=k$ and $x_0 \in \mathbb{Z}$. We show the following relation between the Hilbert cube number and the Van der Waerden number. Let $k \geq 3$ be an integer. Then for every $ε>0$, there is a $c > 0$ such that $$h(k,4) \ge \min\{W(\lfloor c k^2\rfloor, 2), 2^{k^{2.5-ε}}\}.$$ Thus we improve upon state of the art lower bounds for $h(k,4)$ conditional on $W(k,2)$ being significantly larger than $2^k$. In the other direction, this shows that the if the Hilbert cube number is close its state of the art lower bounds, then $W(k,2)$ is at most doubly exponential in $k$. We also show the optimal result that for any Sidon set $A \subset \mathbb{Z}$, one has $$\left|\left\{\sum_{b \in B} b : B \subseteq A\right\}\right| = Ω( |A|^3) .$$
Mikhail Lavrov, Mitchell Lee, John Mackey
In [5] Graham and Rothschild consider a geometric Ramsey problem: finding the least n such that if all edges of the complete graph on the points {+1,-1}^n are 2-colored, there exist 4 coplanar points such that the 6 edges between them are monochromatic. They give an explicit upper bound: F(F(F(F(F(F(F(12))))))), where F(m) = 2^^(m)^^3, an extremely fast-growing function. By reducing the problem to a variant of the Hales-Jewett problem, we find an upper bound which is between F(4) and F(5).
József Balogh, Felix Christian Clemen, Mikhail Lavrov, Bernard Lidický, Florian Pfender
The Erdős-Simonovits stability theorem states that for all ε>0 there exists α>0 such that if G is a K_{r+1}-free graph on n vertices with e(G) > ex(n,K_{r+1}) - αn^2, then one can remove εn^2 edges from G to obtain an r-partite graph. Füredi gave a short proof that one can choose α=ε. We give a bound for the relationship of αand \varepsilon which is asymptotically sharp as ε\to 0.
Guantao Chen, Mikhail Lavrov, Yuying Ma, Jennifer Vandenbussche, Hein van der Holst
Let $G$ be a simple graph. The $k$-th neighborhood of a vertex subset $S \subseteq V(G)$, denoted $Λ^k(S)$, is the set of vertices that are adjacent to at least $k$ vertices in $S$. The $k$-th binding number $β^k(G)$ is defined as the minimum ratio $|Λ^k(S)|/|S|$ over all subsets $S \subseteq V(G)$ with $|S| \ge k$ and $Λ^k(S) \ne V(G)$. This parameter generalizes the classical binding number introduced by Woodall. Andersen showed that the condition $β^1(G) \ge 1$ does not guarantee the existence of a $1$-factor in $G$, while Barát et al. proved that $β^2(G) \ge 1$ suffices for the existence of a $2$-factor. In this paper, we extend this result to general $k \ge 2$ by showing that any graph $G$ with even $k|V(G)|$ and $β^k(G) \ge 1$ contains a $k$-factor. Moreover, if $G$ is additionally a split graph of even order, then it admits a $(k+1)$-factor. We also prove that any graph $G$ with $β^k(G) \ge 1$ contains at least $k-1$ disjoint perfect or near-perfect matchings. Finally, for any bipartite graph $G$ with bipartition $(X, Y)$, we introduce an analogue of the $k$-th binding number and show that, under the condition $β^k(G, X) \ge 1$, the graph admits $k$ disjoint matchings, each covering $X$.
Mikhail Lavrov, Jennifer Vandenbussche
Let $G$ be a bipartite graph with bipartition $(X,Y)$. Inspired by a hypergraph problem, we seek an upper bound on the number of disjoint paths needed to cover all the vertices of $X$. We conjecture that a Hall-type sufficient condition holds based on the maximum value of $|S|-|\mathsfΛ(S)|$, where $S\subseteq X$ and $\mathsfΛ(S)$ is the set of all vertices in $Y$ with at least two neighbors in $S$. This condition is also a necessary one for a hereditary version of the problem, where we delete vertices from $X$ and try to cover the remaining vertices by disjoint paths. The conjecture holds when $G$ is a forest, has maximum degree $3$, or is regular with high girth, and we prove those results in this paper.
Mikhail Lavrov, Dan Rutherford
In \cite{GZ}, Gilmer and Zhong established the existence of an invariant for links in $S^1\times S^2$ which is a rational function in variables $a$ and $s$ and satisfies the HOMFLY-PT skein relations. We give formulas for evaluating this invariant in terms of a standard, geometrically simple basis for the HOMFLY-PT skein module of the solid torus. This allows computation of the invariant for arbitrary links in $S^1\times S^2$ and shows that the invariant is in fact a Laurent polynomial in $a$ and $z= s -s^{-1}$. Our proof uses connections between HOMFLY-PT skein modules and invariants of Legendrian links. As a corollary, we extend HOMFLY-PT polynomial estimates for the Thurston-Bennequin number to Legendrian links in $S^1\times S^2$ with its tight contact structure.
Mikhail Lavrov, Po-Shen Loh, Arnau Messegué
An $ε$-distance-uniform graph is one in which from every vertex, all but an $ε$-fraction of the remaining vertices are at some fixed distance $d$, called the critical distance. We consider the maximum possible value of $d$ in an $ε$-distance-uniform graph with $n$ vertices. We show that for $\frac1n \le ε\le \frac1{\log n}$, there exist $ε$-distance-uniform graphs with critical distance $2^{Ω(\frac{\log n}{\log ε^{-1}})}$, disproving a conjecture of Alon et al. that $d$ can be at most logarithmic in $n$. We also show that our construction is best possible, in the sense that an upper bound on $d$ of the form $2^{O(\frac{\log n}{\log ε^{-1}})}$ holds for all $ε$ and $n$.
Felix Christian Clemen, Emily Heath, Mikhail Lavrov
An ordered graph is a graph with a linear ordering on its vertices. The online Ramsey game for ordered graphs $G$ and $H$ is played on an infinite sequence of vertices; on each turn, Builder draws an edge between two vertices, and Painter colors it red or blue. Builder tries to create a red $G$ or a blue $H$ as quickly as possible, while Painter wants the opposite. The online ordered Ramsey number $r_o(G,H)$ is the number of turns the game lasts with optimal play. In this paper, we consider the behavior of $r_o(G,P_n)$ for fixed $G$, where $P_n$ is the monotone ordered path. We prove an $O(n \log_2n)$ bound on $r_o(G,P_n)$ for all $G$ and an $O(n)$ bound when $G$ is $3$-ichromatic; we partially classify graphs $G$ with $r_o(G,P_n) = n + O(1)$. Many of these results extend to $r_o(G,C_n)$, where $C_n$ is an ordered cycle obtained from $P_n$ by adding one edge.
József Balogh, Alexandr Kostochka, Mikhail Lavrov, Xujun Liu
A matching $M$ in a graph $G$ is connected if all the edges of $M$ are in the same component of $G$. Following Łuczak,there have been many results using the existence of large connected matchings in cluster graphs with respect to regular partitions of large graphs to show the existence of long paths and other structures in these graphs. We prove exact Ramsey-type bounds on the sizes of monochromatic connected matchings in $2$-edge-colored multipartite graphs. In addition, we prove a stability theorem for such matchings.
Mikhail Lavrov, Po-Shen Loh
If the edges of the complete graph $K_n$ are totally ordered, a simple path whose edges are in ascending order is called increasing. The worst-case length of the longest increasing path has remained an open problem for several decades, with asymptotic bounds between $\sqrt{n}$ (Graham and Kleitman, 1973) and $n/2$ (Calderbank, Chung, and Sturtevant, 1984). We consider the average case, when the ordering is chosen uniformly at random. We discover the surprising result that in the random setting, an increasing path of the maximum possible length of $n-1$ exists with probability at least about $1/e$. We also prove that with probability $1-o(1)$, there is an increasing path of length at least $0.85n$, suggesting that this Hamiltonian (or near-Hamiltonian) phenomenon may hold asymptotically almost surely.
Mikhail Lavrov
We show that for $n$ at least $10^{11}$, any 2-coloring of the $n$-dimensional grid $[4]^n$ contains a monochromatic combinatorial line. This is a special case of the Hales-Jewett Theorem, to which the best known general upper bound is due to Shelah; Shelah's recursion gives an upper bound between $2 \uparrow \uparrow 7$ and $2 \uparrow \uparrow 8$ for the case we consider, and no better value was previously known.
Mikhail Lavrov, Dan Rutherford
For Legendrian links in the 1-jet space of $S^1$ we show that the 1-graded ruling polynomial may be recovered from the Kauffman skein module. For such links a generalization of the notion of normal ruling is introduced. We show that the existence of such a generalized normal ruling is equivalent to sharpness of the Kauffman polynomial estimate for the Thurston-Bennequin number as well as to the existence of an ungraded augmentation of the Chekanov-Eliashberg DGA. Parallel results involving the HOMFLY-PT polynomial and 2-graded generalized normal rulings are established.
Guantao Chen, Mikhail Lavrov, Yuying Ma, Yimo Su, Jennifer Vandenbussche
The super-neighborhood of a vertex set $A$ in a graph $G$, denoted by $Λ^2(A)$, is the set of vertices adjacent to at least two vertices in $A$. We say that a bipartite graph $G=(X, Y)$ with $|X| \geq 2$ satisfies the double Hall property (with respect to $X$) if $|Λ^2(A)| \geq |A|$ for any subset $A \subseteq X$ with $|A| \geq 2$. Kostochka et al. first conjectured that if a bipartite graph $G=(X, Y)$ satisfies a slightly weaker version of the double Hall property, then $G$ contains a cycle that covers all vertices of $X$. They verified their conjecture for $|X| \leq 6$. In this paper, we extend their result to $|X| = 7$. Later, Salia conjectured that every bipartite graph satisfying the double Hall property has a cycle covering all vertices of $X$. We show that Salia's conjecture is almost equivalent to a much weaker conjecture requiring vertices in $Y$ to have high degrees. By extending a result of Barát et al., we also show that Salia's conjecture holds for some graphs where the vertices of $Y$ have degree either $2$ or very high. Finally, we establish a lower bound for the maximum degree of graphs satisfying the double Hall property and present deterministic and probabilistic constructions of such graphs that approach this bound.
Alexandr Kostochka, Mikhail Lavrov, Ruth Luo, Dara Zirlin
A hypergraph $\mathcal H$ is super-pancyclic if for each $A \subseteq V(\mathcal H)$ with $|A| \geq 3$, $\mathcal H$ contains a Berge cycle with base vertex set $A$. We present two natural necessary conditions for a hypergraph to be super-pancyclic, and show that in several classes of hypergraphs these necessary conditions are also sufficient for this. In particular, they are sufficient for every hypergraph $\mathcal H$ with $ δ(\mathcal H)\geq \max\{|V(\mathcal H)|, \frac{|E(\mathcal H)|+10}{4}\}$. We also consider super-cyclic bipartite graphs: those are $(X,Y)$-bigraphs $G$ such that for each $A \subseteq X$ with $|A| \geq 3$, $G$ has a cycle $C_A$ such that $V(C_A)\cap X=A$. Such graphs are incidence graphs of super-pancyclic hypergraphs, and our proofs use the language of such graphs.
József Balogh, Felix Christian Clemen, Emily Heath, Mikhail Lavrov
The Erdős-Szekeres Theorem stated in terms of graphs says that any red-blue coloring of the edges of the ordered complete graph $K_{rs+1}$ contains a red copy of the monotone increasing path with $r$ edges or a blue copy of the monotone increasing path with $s$ edges. Although $rs + 1$ is the minimum number of vertices needed for this result, not all edges of $K_{rs+1}$ are necessary. We characterize the subgraphs of $K_{rs+1}$ with this coloring property as follows: they are exactly the subgraphs that contain all the edges of a graph we call the circus tent graph $CT(r,s)$. Additionally, we use similar proof techniques to improve upon some of the bounds on the online ordered size Ramsey number of a path given by Pérez-Giménez, Pralat, and West.
József Balogh, Alexandr Kostochka, Mikhail Lavrov, Xujun Liu
We solve four similar problems: For every fixed $s$ and large $n$, we describe all values of $n_1,\ldots,n_s$ such that for every $2$-edge-coloring of the complete $s$-partite graph $K_{n_1,\ldots,n_s}$ there exists a monochromatic (i) cycle $C_{2n}$ with $2n$ vertices, (ii) cycle $C_{\geq 2n}$ with at least $2n$ vertices, (iii) path $P_{2n}$ with $2n$ vertices, and (iv) path $P_{2n+1}$ with $2n+1$ vertices. This implies a generalization for large $n$ of the conjecture by Gyárfás, Ruszinkó, Sárkőzy and Szemerédi that for every $2$-edge-coloring of the complete $3$-partite graph $K_{n,n,n}$ there is a monochromatic path $P_{2n+1}$. An important tool is our recent stability theorem on monochromatic connected matchings.
Alan Frieze, Simi Haber, Mikhail Lavrov
Given a graph G and an integer k, two players take turns coloring the vertices of G one by one using k colors so that neighboring vertices get different colors. The first player wins iff at the end of the game all the vertices of $G$ are colored. The game chromatic number χ_g(G) is the minimum k for which the first player has a winning strategy. The paper \cite{BFS} began the analysis of the asymptotic behavior of this parameter for a random graph G_{n,p}. This paper provides some further analysis for graphs with constant average degree i.e. np=O(1) and for random regular graphs.