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Alexandr Kostochka

Publications and source records attributed to Alexandr Kostochka.

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arXiv2017

On differences between DP-coloring and list coloring

DP-coloring (also known as correspondence coloring) is a generalization of list coloring introduced recently by Dvořák and Postle. Many known upper bounds for the list-chromatic number extend to the DP-chromatic number, but not all of them do. In this note we describe some unusual properties of DP-coloring that set it aside from list coloring. In particular, we give an example of a planar bipartite graph with DP-chromatic number $4$ and prove that the edge-DP-chromatic number of a $d$-regular graph with $d\geq 2$ is always at least $d+1$.

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arXiv2017

DP-colorings of graphs with high chromatic number

DP-coloring is a generalization of list coloring introduced recently by Dvořák and Postle. We prove that for every $n$-vertex graph $G$ whose chromatic number $χ(G)$ is "close" to $n$, the DP-chromatic number of $G$ equals $χ(G)$. "Close" here means $χ(G)\geq n-O(\sqrt{n})$, and we also show that this lower bound is best possible (up to the constant factor in front of $\sqrt{n}$), in contrast to the case of list coloring.

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arXiv2017

Stability in the Erdős--Gallai Theorem on cycles and paths, II

The Erdős--Gallai Theorem states that for $k \geq 3$, any $n$-vertex graph with no cycle of length at least $k$ has at most $\frac{1}{2}(k-1)(n-1)$ edges. A stronger version of the Erdős--Gallai Theorem was given by Kopylov: If $G$ is a 2-connected $n$-vertex graph with no cycle of length at least $k$, then $e(G) \leq \max\{h(n,k,2),h(n,k,\lfloor \frac{k-1}{2}\rfloor)\}$, where $h(n,k,a) := {k - a \choose 2} + a(n - k + a)$. Furthermore, Kopylov presented the two possible extremal graphs, one with $h(n,k,2)$ edges and one with $h(n,k,\lfloor \frac{k-1}{2}\rfloor)$ edges. In this paper, we complete a stability theorem which strengthens Kopylov's result. In particular, we show that for $k \geq 3$ odd and all $n \geq k$, every $n$-vertex $2$-connected graph $G$ with no cycle of length at least $k$ is a subgraph of one of the two extremal graphs or $e(G) \leq \max\{h(n,k,3),h(n,k,\frac{k-3}{2})\}$. The upper bound for $e(G)$ here is tight.

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arXiv2017

A stability version for a theorem of Erdős on nonhamiltonian graphs

Let $n, d$ be integers with $1 \leq d \leq \left \lfloor \frac{n-1}{2} \right \rfloor$, and set $h(n,d):={n-d \choose 2} + d^2$ and $e(n,d):= \max\{h(n,d),h(n, \left \lfloor \frac{n-1}{2} \right \rfloor)\}$. Because $h(n,d)$ is quadratic in $d$, there exists a $d_0(n)=(n/6)+O(1)$ such that $e(n,1)> e(n, 2)> \dots >e(n,d_0)=e(n, d_0+1)=\dots = e(n,\left \lfloor \frac{n-1}{2} \right \rfloor)$. A theorem by Erdős states that for $d\leq \left \lfloor \frac{n-1}{2} \right \rfloor$, any $n$-vertex nonhamiltonian graph $G$ with minimum degree $δ(G) \geq d$ has at most $e(n,d)$ edges, and for $d > d_0(n)$ the unique sharpness example is simply the graph $K_n-E(K_{\lceil (n+1)/2\rceil})$. Erdős also presented a sharpness example $H_{n,d}$ for each $1\leq d \leq d_0(n)$. We show that if $d< d_0(n)$ and a $2$-connected, nonhamiltonian $n$-vertex graph $G$ with $δ(G) \geq d$ has more than $e(n,d+1)$ edges, then $G$ is a subgraph of $H_{n,d}$. Note that $e(n,d) - e(n, d+1) = n - 3d - 2 \geq n/2$ whenever $d< d_0(n)-1$.

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arXiv2017

Extensions of a theorem of Erdős on nonhamiltonian graphs

Let $n, d$ be integers with $1 \leq d \leq \left \lfloor \frac{n-1}{2} \right \rfloor$, and set $h(n,d):={n-d \choose 2} + d^2$. Erdős proved that when $n \geq 6d$, each nonhamiltonian graph $G$ on $n$ vertices with minimum degree $δ(G) \geq d$ has at most $h(n,d)$ edges. He also provides a sharpness example $H_{n,d}$ for all such pairs $n,d$. Previously, we showed a stability version of this result: for $n$ large enough, every nonhamiltonian graph $G$ on $n$ vertices with $δ(G) \geq d$ and more than $h(n,d+1)$ edges is a subgraph of $H_{n,d}$. In this paper, we show that not only does the graph $H_{n,d}$ maximize the number of edges among nonhamiltonian graphs with $n$ vertices and minimum degree at least $d$, but in fact it maximizes the number of copies of any fixed graph $F$ when $n$ is sufficiently large in comparison with $d$ and $|F|$. We also show a stronger stability theorem, that is, we classify all nonhamiltonian $n$-graphs with $δ(G) \geq d$ and more than $h(n,d+2)$ edges. We show this by proving a more general theorem: we describe all such graphs with more than ${n-(d+2) \choose k} + (d+2){d+2 \choose k-1}$ copies of $K_k$ for any $k$.

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arXiv2017

A Brooks-type result for sparse critical graphs

A graph $G$ is $k$-{\em critical} if it has chromatic number $k$, but every proper subgraph of $G$ is $(k-1)$--colorable. Let $f_k(n)$ denote the minimum number of edges in an $n$-vertex $k$-critical graph. Recently the authors gave a lower bound, $f_k(n) \geq \left\lceil \frac{(k+1)(k-2)|V(G)|-k(k-3)}{2(k-1)}\right\rceil$, that solves a conjecture by Gallai from 1963 and is sharp for every $n\equiv 1\,({\rm mod }\, k-1)$. It is also sharp for $k=4$ and every $n\geq 6$. In this paper we refine the result by describing all $n$-vertex $k$-critical graphs $G$ with $|E(G)|= \frac{(k+1)(k-2)|V(G)|-k(k-3)}{2(k-1)}$. In particular, this result implies exact values of $f_5(n)$ when $n\geq 7$.

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arXiv2017

Packing chromatic number of subcubic graphs

A packing $k$-coloring of a graph $G$ is a partition of $V(G)$ into sets $V_1,\ldots,V_k$ such that for each $1\leq i\leq k$ the distance between any two distinct $x,y\in V_i$ is at least $i+1$. The packing chromatic number, $χ_p(G)$, of a graph $G$ is the minimum $k$ such that $G$ has a packing $k$-coloring. Sloper showed that there are $4$-regular graphs with arbitrarily large packing chromatic number. The question whether the packing chromatic number of subcubic graphs is bounded appears in several papers. We answer this question in the negative. Moreover, we show that for every fixed $k$ and $g\geq 2k+2$, almost every $n$-vertex cubic graph of girth at least $g$ has the packing chromatic number greater than $k$.

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arXiv2016

On DP-coloring of graphs and multigraphs

While solving a question on list coloring of planar graphs, Dvořák and Postle introduced the new notion of DP-coloring (they called it correspondence coloring). A DP-coloring of a graph $G$ reduces the problem of finding a coloring of $G$ from a given list $L$ to the problem of finding a "large" independent set in an auxiliary graph $H(G,L)$ with vertex set $\{(v,c)\,: \, v\in V(G) \text{ and } {c\in L(v)} \}$. It is similar to the old reduction by Plesnevič and Vizing of the $k$-coloring problem to the problem of finding an independent set of size $|V(G)|$ in the Cartesian product $G\square K_k$. Some properties of the DP-chromatic number $χ_{DP}(G)$ resemble the properties of the list chromatic number $χ_{\ell}(G)$ but some differ quite a lot. It is always the case that $χ_{DP}(G)\geq χ_{\ell}(G)$. The goal of this note is to introduce DP-colorings for multigraphs and to prove for them an analog of the result of Borodin and Erdős, Rubin, and Taylor characterizing the multigraphs that do not admit DP-colorings from some DP-degree-lists. This characterization yields an analog of Gallai's Theorem on the minimum number of edges in $n$-vertex graphs critical with respect to DP-coloring.

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arXiv2016

Stability in the Erdos--Gallai Theorem on cycles and paths

The Erdős-Gallai Theorem states that for $k \geq 2$, every graph of average degree more than $k - 2$ contains a $k$-vertex path. This result is a consequence of a stronger result of Kopylov: if $k$ is odd, $k=2t+1\geq 5$, $n \geq (5t-3)/2$, and $G$ is an $n$-vertex $2$-connected graph with at least $h(n,k,t) := {k-t \choose 2} + t(n -k+ t)$ edges, then $G$ contains a cycle of length at least $k$ unless $G = H_{n,k,t} := K_n - E(K_{n - t})$. In this paper we prove a stability version of the Erdős-Gallai Theorem: we show that for all $n \geq 3t > 3$, and $k \in \{2t+1,2t + 2\}$, every $n$-vertex 2-connected graph $G$ with $e(G) > h(n,k,t-1)$ either contains a cycle of length at least $k$ or contains a set of $t$ vertices whose removal gives a star forest. In particular, if $k = 2t + 1 \neq 7$, we show $G \subseteq H_{n,k,t}$. The lower bound $e(G) > h(n,k,t-1)$ in these results is tight and is smaller than Kopylov's bound $h(n,k,t)$ by a term of $n-t-O(1)$.

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arXiv2016

The structure of large intersecting families

A collection of sets is {\em intersecting} if every two members have nonempty intersection. We describe the structure of intersecting families of $r$-sets of an $n$-set whose size is quite a bit smaller than the maximum ${n-1 \choose r-1}$ given by the Erd\H os-Ko-Rado Theorem. In particular, this extends the Hilton-Milner theorem on nontrivial intersecting families and answers a recent question of Han and Kohayakawa for large $n$. In the case $r=3$ we describe the structure of all intersecting families with more than 10 edges. We also prove a stability result for the Erdos matching problem. Our short proofs are simple applications of the Delta-system method introduced and extensively used by Frankl since 1977.

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arXiv2015

Toward Żak's conjecture on graph packing

Two graphs $G_{1} = (V_{1}, E_{1})$ and $G_{2} = (V_{2}, E_{2})$, each of order $n$, pack if there exists a bijection $f$ from $V_{1}$ onto $V_{2}$ such that $uv \in E_{1}$ implies $f(u)f(v) \notin E_{2}$. In 2014, Żak proved that if $Δ(G_{1}), Δ(G_{2}) \leq n-2$ and $|E_{1}| + |E_{2}| + \max \{ Δ(G_{1}), Δ(G_{2}) \} \leq 3n - 96n^{3/4} - 65$, then $G_{1}$ and $G_{2}$ pack. In the same paper, he conjectured that if $Δ(G_{1}), Δ(G_{2}) \leq n-2$, then $|E_{1}| + |E_{2}| + \max \{ Δ(G_{1}), Δ(G_{2}) \} \leq 3n - 7$ is sufficient for $G_{1}$ and $G_{2}$ to pack. We prove that, up to an additive constant, Żak's conjecture is correct. Namely, there is a constant $C$ such that if $Δ(G_1),Δ(G_2) \leq n-2$ and $|E_{1}| + |E_{2}| + \max \{ Δ(G_{1}), Δ(G_{2}) \} \leq 3n - C$, then $G_{1}$ and $G_{2}$ pack. In order to facilitate induction, we prove a stronger result on list packing.

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arXiv2015

Coloring, sparseness, and girth

An $r$-augmented tree is a rooted tree plus $r$ edges added from each leaf to ancestors. For $d,g,r\in\mathbb{N}$, we construct a bipartite $r$-augmented complete $d$-ary tree having girth at least $g$. The height of such trees must grow extremely rapidly in terms of the girth. Using the resulting graphs, we construct sparse non-$k$-choosable bipartite graphs, showing that maximum average degree at most $2(k-1)$ is a sharp sufficient condition for $k$-choosability in bipartite graphs, even when requiring large girth. We also give a new simple construction of non-$k$-colorable graphs and hypergraphs with any girth $g$.

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arXiv2015

On the number of edges in a graph with no $(k+1)$-connected subgraphs

Mader proved that for $k\geq 2$ and $n\geq 2k$, every $n$-vertex graph with no $(k+1)$-connected subgraphs has at most $(1+\frac{1}{\sqrt{2}})k(n-k)$ edges. He also conjectured that for $n$ large with respect to $k$, every such graph has at most $\frac{3}{2}\left(k - \frac{1}{3}\right)(n-k)$ edges. Yuster improved Mader's upper bound to $\frac{193}{120}k(n-k)$ for $n\geq\frac{9k}{4}$. In this note, we make the next step towards Mader's Conjecture: we improve Yuster's bound to $\frac{19}{12}k(n-k)$ for $n\geq\frac{5k}{2}$.

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arXiv2015

Decomposition of Sparse Graphs into Forests: The Nine Dragon Tree Conjecture for $k \le 2$

For a loopless multigraph $G$, the fractional arboricity $Arb(G)$ is the maximum of $\frac{|E(H)|}{|V(H)|-1}$ over all subgraphs $H$ with at least two vertices. Generalizing the Nash-Williams Arboricity Theorem, the Nine Dragon Tree Conjecture asserts that if $Arb(G)\le k+\frac{d}{k+d+1}$, then $G$ decomposes into $k+1$ forests with one having maximum degree at most $d$. The conjecture was previously proved for $d=k+1$ and for $k=1$ when $d \le 6$. We prove it for all $d$ when $k \le 2$, except for $(k,d)=(2,1)$.

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arXiv2015

A list version of graph packing

We consider the following generalization of graph packing. Let $G_{1} = (V_{1}, E_{1})$ and $G_{2} = (V_{2}, E_{2})$ be graphs of order $n$ and $G_{3} = (V_{1} \cup V_{2}, E_{3})$ a bipartite graph. A bijection $f$ from $V_{1}$ onto $V_{2}$ is a list packing of the triple $(G_{1}, G_{2}, G_{3})$ if $uv \in E_{2}$ implies $f(u)f(v) \notin E_{2}$ and $vf(v) \notin E_{3}$ for all $v \in V_{1}$. We extend the classical results of Sauer and Spencer and Bollobás and Eldridge on packing of graphs with small sizes or maximum degrees to the setting of list packing. In particular, we extend the well-known Bollobás--Eldridge Theorem, proving that if $Δ(G_{1}) \leq n-2, Δ(G_{2}) \leq n-2, Δ(G_{3}) \leq n-1$, and $|E_1| + |E_2| + |E_3| \leq 2n-3$, then either $(G_{1}, G_{2}, G_{3})$ packs or is one of 7 possible exceptions. Hopefully, the concept of list packing will help to solve some problems on ordinary graph packing, as the concept of list coloring did for ordinary coloring.

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arXiv2014

Turan Problems and Shadows III: expansions of graphs

The expansion $G^+$ of a graph $G$ is the $3$-uniform hypergraph obtained from $G$ by enlarging each edge of $G$ with a new vertex disjoint from $V(G)$ such that distinct edges are enlarged by distinct vertices. Let $ex_3(n,F)$ denote the maximum number of edges in a $3$-uniform hypergraph with $n$ vertices not containing any copy of a $3$-uniform hypergraph $F$. The study of $ex_3(n,G^+)$ includes some well-researched problems, including the case that $F$ consists of $k$ disjoint edges, $G$ is a triangle, $G$ is a path or cycle, and $G$ is a tree. In this paper we initiate a broader study of the behavior of $ex_3(n,G^+)$. Specifically, we show \[ ex_3(n,K_{s,t}^+) = Θ(n^{3 - 3/s})\] whenever $t > (s - 1)!$ and $s \geq 3$. One of the main open problems is to determine for which graphs $G$ the quantity $ex_3(n,G^+)$ is quadratic in $n$. We show that this occurs when $G$ is any bipartite graph with Turán number $o(n^φ)$ where $φ= \frac{1 + \sqrt{5}}{2}$, and in particular, this shows $ex_3(n,Q^+) = Θ(n^2)$ where $Q$ is the three-dimensional cube graph.

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arXiv2014

Cycles in triangle-free graphs of large chromatic number

More than twenty years ago Erdős conjectured~\cite{E1} that a triangle-free graph $G$ of chromatic number $k \geq k_0(\varepsilon)$ contains cycles of at least $k^{2 - \varepsilon}$ different lengths as $k \rightarrow \infty$. In this paper, we prove the stronger fact that every triangle-free graph $G$ of chromatic number $k \geq k_0(\varepsilon)$ contains cycles of $(\frac{1}{64} - \varepsilon)k^2 \log k$ consecutive lengths, and a cycle of length at least $(\tfrac{1}{4} - \varepsilon)k^2 \log k$. As there exist triangle-free graphs of chromatic number $k$ with at most roughly $4k^2 \log k$ vertices for large $k$, theses results are tight up to a constant factor. We also give new lower bounds on the circumference and the number of different cycle lengths for $k$-chromatic graphs in other monotone classes, in particular, for $K_r$-free graphs and graphs without odd cycles $C_{2s+1}$.

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arXiv2014

Turan Problems and Shadows II: Trees

The expansion $G^+$ of a graph $G$ is the 3-uniform hypergraph obtained from $G$ by enlarging each edge of $G$ with a vertex disjoint from $V(G)$ such that distinct edges are enlarged by distinct vertices. Let ex$_r(n,F)$ denote the maximum number of edges in an $r$-uniform hypergraph with $n$ vertices not containing any copy of $F$. The authors \cite{KMV} recently determined ex$_3(n,G^+)$ more generally, namely when $G$ is a path or cycle, thus settling conjectures of Füredi-Jiang \cite{FJ} (for cycles) and Füredi-Jiang-Seiver \cite{FJS} (for paths). Here we continue this project by determining the asymptotics for ex$_3(n,G^+)$ when $G$ is any fixed forest. This settles a conjecture of Füredi \cite{Furedi}. Using our methods, we also show that for any graph $G$, either ex$_3(n,G^{+}) \leq \left(\frac{1}{2} + o(1)\right)n^2$ or ex$_3(n,G^{+}) \geq (1 + o(1))n^2,$ thereby exhibiting a jump for the Turán number of expansions.

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