Searcharxiv⌕ Search

arXiv subjects

Allan Lo

Publications and source records attributed to Allan Lo.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources
arXiv2018

Hamilton cycles in sparse robustly expanding digraphs

The notion of robust expansion has played a central role in the solution of several conjectures involving the packing of Hamilton cycles in graphs and directed graphs. These and other results usually rely on the fact that every robustly expanding (di)graph with suitably large minimum degree contains a Hamilton cycle. Previous proofs of this require Szemerédi's Regularity Lemma and so this fact can only be applied to dense, sufficiently large robust expanders. We give a proof that does not use the Regularity Lemma and, indeed, we can apply our result to suitable sparse robustly expanding digraphs.

math.CO↗
arXiv2018

Long properly coloured cycles in edge-coloured graphs

Let $G$ be an edge-coloured graph. The minimum colour degree $δ^c(G)$ of $G$ is the largest integer $k$ such that, for every vertex $v$, there are at least $k$ distinct colours on edges incident to $v$. We say that $G$ is properly coloured if no two adjacent edges have the same colour. In this paper, we show that, for any $\varepsilon >0$ and $n$ large, every edge-coloured graph $G$ with $δ^c(G) \ge (1/2+\varepsilon)n$ contains a properly coloured cycle of length at least $\min\{ n , \lfloor 2 δ^c(G)/3 \rfloor\}$.

math.CO↗
arXiv2018

An asymptotic bound for the strong chromatic number

The strong chromatic number $χ_{\text{s}}(G)$ of a graph $G$ on $n$ vertices is the least number $r$ with the following property: after adding $r \lceil n/r \rceil - n$ isolated vertices to $G$ and taking the union with any collection of spanning disjoint copies of $K_r$ in the same vertex set, the resulting graph has a proper vertex-colouring with $r$ colours. We show that for every $c > 0$ and every graph $G$ on $n$ vertices with $Δ(G) \ge cn$, $χ_{\text{s}}(G) \leq (2 + o(1)) Δ(G)$, which is asymptotically best possible.

math.CO↗
arXiv2018

Codegree Turán density of complete $r$-uniform hypergraphs

Let $r\ge 3$. Given an $r$-graph $H$, the minimum codegree $δ_{r-1}(H)$ is the largest integer $t$ such that every $(r-1)$-subset of $V(H)$ is contained in at least $t$ edges of $H$. Given an $r$-graph $F$, the codegree Turán density $γ(F)$ is the smallest $γ>0$ such that every $r$-graph on $n$ vertices with $δ_{r-1}(H)\ge (γ+ o(1))n$ contains $F$ as a subhypergraph. Using results on the independence number of hypergraphs, we show that there are constants $c_1, c_2>0$ depending only on $r$ such that \[ 1 - c_2 \frac{\ln t}{t^{r-1}} \le γ(K_t^r) \le 1 - c_1 \frac{\ln t}{t^{r-1}}, \] where $K_t^r$ is the complete $r$-graph on $t$ vertices. This gives the best general bounds for $γ(K_t^r)$.

math.CO↗
arXiv2017

Fractional Clique Decompositions of Dense Graphs and Hypergraphs

Our main result is that every graph $G$ on $n\ge 10^4r^3$ vertices with minimum degree $δ(G) \ge (1 - 1 / 10^4 r^{3/2} ) n$ has a fractional $K_r$-decomposition. Combining this result with recent work of Barber, Kühn, Lo and Osthus leads to the best known minimum degree thresholds for exact (non-fractional) $F$-decompositions for a wide class of graphs~$F$ (including large cliques). For general $k$-uniform hypergraphs, we give a short argument which shows that there exists a constant $c_k>0$ such that every $k$-uniform hypergraph $G$ on $n$ vertices with minimum codegree at least $(1- c_k /r^{2k-1}) n $ has a fractional $K^{(k)}_r$-decomposition, where $K^{(k)}_r$ is the complete $k$-uniform hypergraph on $r$ vertices. (Related fractional decomposition results for triangles have been obtained by Dross and for hypergraph cliques by Dukes as well as Yuster.) All the above new results involve purely combinatorial arguments. In particular, this yields a combinatorial proof of Wilson's theorem that every large $F$-divisible complete graph has an $F$-decomposition.

math.CO↗
arXiv2017

Clique decompositions of multipartite graphs and completion of Latin squares

Our main result essentially reduces the problem of finding an edge-decomposition of a balanced r-partite graph of large minimum degree into r-cliques to the problem of finding a fractional r-clique decomposition or an approximate one. Together with very recent results of Bowditch and Dukes as well as Montgomery on fractional decompositions into triangles and cliques respectively, this gives the best known bounds on the minimum degree which ensures an edge-decomposition of an r-partite graph into r-cliques (subject to trivially necessary divisibility conditions). The case of triangles translates into the setting of partially completed Latin squares and more generally the case of r-cliques translates into the setting of partially completed mutually orthogonal Latin squares.

math.CO↗
arXiv2017

Transitive Triangle Tilings in Oriented Graphs

In this paper, we prove an analogue of Corrádi and Hajnal's classical theorem. There exists $n_0$ such that for every $n \in 3\mathbb{Z}$ when $n \ge n_0$ the following holds. If $G$ is an oriented graph on $n$ vertices and every vertex has both indegree and outdegree at least $7n/18$, then $G$ contains a perfect transitive triangle tiling, which is a collection of vertex-disjoint transitive triangles covering every vertex of $G$. This result is best possible, as, for every $n \in 3\mathbb{Z}$, there exists an oriented graph $G$ on $n$ vertices without a perfect transitive triangle tiling in which every vertex has both indegree and outdegree at least $\lceil 7n/18\rceil - 1.$

math.CO↗
arXiv2015

Exact minimum codegree threshold for $K^- _4$-factors

Given hypergraphs $F$ and $H$, an $F$-factor in $H$ is a set of vertex-disjoint copies of $F$ which cover all the vertices in $H$. Let $K^- _4$ denote the $3$-uniform hypergraph with $4$ vertices and $3$ edges. We show that for sufficiently large $n\in 4 \mathbb N$, every $3$-uniform hypergraph $H$ on $n$ vertices with minimum codegree at least $n/2-1$ contains a $K^- _4$-factor. Our bound on the minimum codegree here is best-possible. It resolves a conjecture of Lo and Markström for large hypergraphs, who earlier proved an asymptotically exact version of this result. Our proof makes use of the absorbing method as well as a result of Keevash and Mycroft concerning almost perfect matchings in hypergraphs.

math.CO↗
arXiv2015

Edge-decompositions of graphs with high minimum degree

A fundamental theorem of Wilson states that, for every graph $F$, every sufficiently large $F$-divisible clique has an $F$-decomposition. Here a graph $G$ is $F$-divisible if $e(F)$ divides $e(G)$ and the greatest common divisor of the degrees of $F$ divides the greatest common divisor of the degrees of $G$, and $G$ has an $F$-decomposition if the edges of $G$ can be covered by edge-disjoint copies of $F$. We extend this result to graphs $G$ which are allowed to be far from complete. In particular, together with a result of Dross, our results imply that every sufficiently large $K_3$-divisible graph of minimum degree at least $9n/10+o(n)$ has a $K_3$-decomposition. This significantly improves previous results towards the long-standing conjecture of Nash-Williams that every sufficiently large $K_3$-divisible graph with minimum degree at least $3n/4$ has a $K_3$-decomposition. We also obtain the asymptotically correct minimum degree thresholds of $2n/3 +o(n)$ for the existence of a $C_4$-decomposition, and of $n/2+o(n)$ for the existence of a $C_{2\ell}$-decomposition, where $\ell\ge 3$. Our main contribution is a general `iterative absorption' method which turns an approximate or fractional decomposition into an exact one. In particular, our results imply that in order to prove an asymptotic version of Nash-Williams' conjecture, it suffices to show that every $K_3$-divisible graph with minimum degree at least $3n/4+o(n)$ has an approximate $K_3$-decomposition,

math.CO↗
arXiv2015

A note on the minimum size of $k$-rainbow connected graphs

An edge-coloured graph $G$ is rainbow connected if there exists a rainbow path between any two vertices. A graph $G$ is said to be $k$-rainbow connected if there exists an edge-colouring of $G$ with at most $k$ colours that is rainbow connected. For integers $n$ and $k$, let $t(n,k)$ denote the minimum number of edges in $k$-rainbow connected graphs of order $n$. In this note, we prove that $t(n,k) = \lceil k(n-2)/(k-1) \rceil$ for all $n, k \ge 3$

math.CO↗
arXiv2015

Existences of rainbow matchings and rainbow matching covers

Let $G$ be an edge-coloured graph. A rainbow subgraph in $G$ is a subgraph such that its edges have distinct colours. The minimum colour degree $δ^c(G)$ of $G$ is the smallest number of distinct colours on the edges incident with a vertex of $G$. We show that every edge-coloured graph $G$ on $n\geq 7k/2+2$ vertices with $δ^c(G) \geq k$ contains a rainbow matching of size at least $k$, which improves the previous result for $k \ge 10$. Let $Δ_{\text{mon}}(G)$ be the maximum number of edges of the same colour incident with a vertex of $G$. We also prove that if $t \ge 11$ and $Δ_{\text{mon}}(G) \le t$, then $G$ can be edge-decomposed into at most $\lfloor tn/2 \rfloor $ rainbow matchings. This result is sharp and improves a result of LeSaulnier and West.

math.CO↗
arXiv2014

Proof of the 1-factorization and Hamilton decomposition conjectures II: the bipartite case

In a sequence of four papers, we prove the following results (via a unified approach) for all sufficiently large $n$: (i) [1-factorization conjecture] Suppose that $n$ is even and $D \geq 2\lceil n/4\rceil -1$. Then every $D$-regular graph $G$ on $n$ vertices has a decomposition into perfect matchings. Equivalently, $χ'(G)=D$. (ii) [Hamilton decomposition conjecture] Suppose that $D \ge \lfloor n/2 \rfloor $. Then every $D$-regular graph $G$ on $n$ vertices has a decomposition into Hamilton cycles and at most one perfect matching. (iii) [Optimal packings of Hamilton cycles] Suppose that $G$ is a graph on $n$ vertices with minimum degree $δ\ge n/2$. Then $G$ contains at least ${\rm reg}_{\rm even}(n,δ)/2 \ge (n-2)/8$ edge-disjoint Hamilton cycles. Here ${\rm reg}_{\rm even}(n,δ)$ denotes the degree of the largest even-regular spanning subgraph one can guarantee in a graph on $n$ vertices with minimum degree $δ$. According to Dirac, (i) was first raised in the 1950s. (ii) and the special case $δ= \lceil n/2 \rceil$ of (iii) answer questions of Nash-Williams from 1970. All of the above bounds are best possible. In the current paper, we prove the above results for the case when $G$ is close to a complete balanced bipartite graph.

math.CO↗
arXiv2014

Proof of the 1-factorization and Hamilton decomposition conjectures III: approximate decompositions

In a sequence of four papers, we prove the following results (via a unified approach) for all sufficiently large $n$: (i) [1-factorization conjecture] Suppose that $n$ is even and $D\geq 2\lceil n/4\rceil -1$. Then every $D$-regular graph $G$ on $n$ vertices has a decomposition into perfect matchings. Equivalently, $χ'(G)=D$. (ii) [Hamilton decomposition conjecture] Suppose that $D \ge \lfloor n/2 \rfloor $. Then every $D$-regular graph $G$ on $n$ vertices has a decomposition into Hamilton cycles and at most one perfect matching. (iii) We prove an optimal result on the number of edge-disjoint Hamilton cycles in a graph of given minimum degree. According to Dirac, (i) was first raised in the 1950s. (ii) and (iii) answer questions of Nash-Williams from 1970. The above bounds are best possible. In the current paper, we show the following: suppose that $G$ is close to a complete balanced bipartite graph or to the union of two cliques of equal size. If we are given a suitable set of path systems which cover a set of `exceptional' vertices and edges of $G$, then we can extend these path systems into an approximate decomposition of $G$ into Hamilton cycles (or perfect matchings if appropriate).

math.CO↗
arXiv2014

Proof of the 1-factorization and Hamilton decomposition conjectures IV: exceptional systems for the two cliques case

In a sequence of four papers, we prove the following results (via a unified approach) for all sufficiently large $n$: (i) [1-factorization conjecture] Suppose that $n$ is even and $D\geq 2\lceil n/4\rceil -1$. Then every $D$-regular graph $G$ on $n$ vertices has a decomposition into perfect matchings. Equivalently, $χ'(G)=D$. (ii) [Hamilton decomposition conjecture] Suppose that $D \ge \lfloor n/2 \rfloor $. Then every $D$-regular graph $G$ on $n$ vertices has a decomposition into Hamilton cycles and at most one perfect matching. (iii) We prove an optimal result on the number of edge-disjoint Hamilton cycles in a graph of given minimum degree. According to Dirac, (i) was first raised in the 1950s. (ii) and (iii) answer questions of Nash-Williams from 1970. The above bounds are best possible. In the current paper, we prove results on the decomposition of sparse graphs into path systems. These are used in the proof of (i) and (ii) in the case when $G$ is close to the union of two disjoint cliques.

math.CO↗
arXiv2014

Proof of the $1$-factorization and Hamilton Decomposition Conjectures

In this paper we prove the following results (via a unified approach) for all sufficiently large $n$: (i) [$1$-factorization conjecture] Suppose that $n$ is even and $D\geq 2\lceil n/4\rceil -1$. Then every $D$-regular graph $G$ on $n$ vertices has a decomposition into perfect matchings. Equivalently, $χ'(G)=D$. (ii) [Hamilton decomposition conjecture] Suppose that $D \ge \lfloor n/2 \rfloor $. Then every $D$-regular graph $G$ on $n$ vertices has a decomposition into Hamilton cycles and at most one perfect matching. (iii) [Optimal packings of Hamilton cycles] Suppose that $G$ is a graph on $n$ vertices with minimum degree $δ\ge n/2$. Then $G$ contains at least ${\rm reg}_{\rm even}(n,δ)/2 \ge (n-2)/8$ edge-disjoint Hamilton cycles. Here $\text{reg}_{\text{even}}(n,δ)$ denotes the degree of the largest even-regular spanning subgraph one can guarantee in a graph on $n$ vertices with minimum degree $δ$. (i) was first explicitly stated by Chetwynd and Hilton. (ii) and the special case $δ= \lceil n/2 \rceil$ of (iii) answer questions of Nash-Williams from 1970. All of the above bounds are best possible.

math.CO↗
arXiv2014

On-line Ramsey numbers of paths and cycles

Consider a game played on the edge set of the infinite clique by two players, Builder and Painter. In each round, Builder chooses an edge and Painter colours it red or blue. Builder wins by creating either a red copy of $G$ or a blue copy of $H$ for some fixed graphs $G$ and $H$. The minimum number of rounds within which Builder can win, assuming both players play perfectly, is the on-line Ramsey number $\tilde{r}(G,H)$. In this paper, we consider the case where $G$ is a path $P_k$. We prove that $\tilde{r}(P_3, P_{\ell+1}) = \lceil 5\ell/4 \rceil = \tilde{r}(P_3, C_\ell)$ for all $\ell \ge 5$, and determine $\tilde{r}(P_4, P_{\ell+1}$) up to an additive constant for all $\ell \ge 3$. We also prove some general lower bounds for on-line Ramsey numbers of the form $\tilde{r}(P_{k+1},H)$.

math.CO↗