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Imre Leader

Publications and source records attributed to Imre Leader.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
arXiv2022

Constructible Graphs and Pursuit

A (finite or infinite) graph is called constructible if it may be obtained recursively from the one-point graph by repeatedly adding dominated vertices. In the finite case, the constructible graphs are precisely the cop-win graphs, but for infinite graphs the situation is not well understood. One of our aims in this paper is to give a graph that is cop-win but not constructible. This is the first known such example. We also show that every countable ordinal arises as the rank of some constructible graph, answering a question of Evron, Solomon and Stahl. In addition, we give a finite constructible graph for which there is no construction order whose associated domination map is a homomorphism, answering a question of Chastand, Laviolette and Polat. Lehner showed that every constructible graph is a weak cop win (meaning that the cop can eventually force the robber out of any finite set). Our other main aim is to investigate how this notion relates to the notion of `locally constructible' (every finite graph is contained in a finite constructible subgraph). We show that, under mild extra conditions, every locally constructible graph is a weak cop win. But we also give an example to show that, in general, a locally constructible graph need not be a weak cop win. Surprisingly, this graph may even be chosen to be locally finite. We also give some open problems.

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arXiv2020

Correlation for permutations

In this note we investigate correlation inequalities for `up-sets' of permutations, in the spirit of the Harris--Kleitman inequality. We focus on two well-studied partial orders on $S_n$, giving rise to differing notions of up-sets. Our first result shows that, under the strong Bruhat order on $S_n$, up-sets are positively correlated (in the Harris--Kleitman sense). Thus, for example, for a (uniformly) random permutation $π$, the event that no point is displaced by more than a fixed distance $d$ and the event that $π$ is the product of at most $k$ adjacent transpositions are positively correlated. In contrast, under the weak Bruhat order we show that this completely fails: surprisingly, there are two up-sets each of measure $1/2$ whose intersection has arbitrarily small measure. We also prove analogous correlation results for a class of non-uniform measures, which includes the Mallows measures. Some applications and open problems are discussed.

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arXiv2019

The extremal number of Venn diagrams

We show that there exists an absolute constant $C>0$ such that any family $\mathcal{F}\subset \{0,1\}^n$ of size at least $Cn^3$ has dual VC-dimension at least 3. Equivalently, every family of size at least $Cn^3$ contains three sets such that all eight regions of their Venn diagram are non-empty. This improves upon the $Cn^{3.75}$ bound of Gupta, Lee and Li and is sharp up to the value of the constant.

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arXiv2019

Inequalities on Projected Volumes

In this paper we study the following geometric problem: given $2^n-1$ real numbers $x_A$ indexed by the non-empty subsets $A\subset \{1,..,n\}$, is it possible to construct a body $T\subset \mathbb{R}^n$ such that $x_A=|T_A|$ where $|T_A|$ is the $|A|$-dimensional volume of the projection of $T$ onto the subspace spanned by the axes in $A$? As it is more convenient to take logarithms we denote by $ψ_n$ the set of all vectors $x$ for which there is a body $T$ such that $x_A=\log |T_A|$ for all $A$. Bollobás and Thomason showed that $ψ_n$ is contained in the polyhedral cone defined by the class of `uniform cover inequalities'. Tan and Zeng conjectured that the convex hull $\DeclareMathOperator{\conv}{conv}$ $\conv(ψ_n)$ is equal to the cone given by the uniform cover inequalities. We prove that this conjecture is `nearly' right: the closed convex hull $\overline{\conv}(ψ_n)$ is equal to the cone given by the uniform cover inequalities. However, perhaps surprisingly, we also show that $\conv (ψ_n)$ is not closed for $n\ge 4$, thus disproving the conjecture.

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arXiv2019

The Width of Downsets

How large an antichain can we find inside a given downset in the lattice of subsets of [n]? Sperner's theorem asserts that the largest antichain in the whole lattice has size the binomial coefficient C(n, n/2); what happens for general downsets? Our main results are a Dilworth-type decomposition theorem for downsets, and a new proof of a result of Engel and Leck that determines the largest possible antichain size over all downsets of a given size. We also prove some related results, such as determining the maximum size of an antichain inside the downset that we conjecture minimizes this quantity among downsets of a given size.

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arXiv2019

Infinite monochromatic sumsets for colourings of the reals

N. Hindman, I. Leader and D. Strauss proved that it is consistent that there is a finite colouring of $\mathbb R$ so that no infinite sumset $X+X=\{x+y:x,y\in X\}$ is monochromatic. Our aim in this paper is to prove a consistency result in the opposite direction: we show that, under certain set-theoretic assumptions, for any $c:\mathbb R\to r$ with $r$ finite there is an infinite $X\subseteq \mathbb R$ so that $c$ is constant on $X+X$.

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arXiv2018

Product-free sets in the free semigroup

In this paper, we study product-free subsets of the free semigroup over a finite alphabet $A$. We prove that the maximum density of a product-free subset of the free semigroup over $A$, with respect to the natural measure that assigns a weight of $|A|^{-n}$ to each word of length $n$, is precisely $1/2$.

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arXiv2018

Inhomogeneous Partition Regularity

We say that the system of equations $Ax=b$, where $A$ is an integer matrix and $b$ is a (non-zero) integer vector, is partition regular if whenever the integers are finitely coloured there is a monochromatic vector $x$ with $Ax=b$. Rado proved that the system $Ax=b$ is partition regular if and only if it has a constant solution. Byszewski and Krawczyk asked if this remains true when the integers are replaced by a general ring $R$. Our aim in this note is to answer this question in the affirmative. The main ingredient is a new `direct' proof of Rado's result.

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arXiv2018

A Note on Intervals in the Hales-Jewett Theorem

The Hales-Jewett theorem for alphabet of size 3 states that whenever the Hales-Jewett cube [3]^n is r-coloured there is a monochromatic line (for n large). Conlon and Kamcev conjectured that, for any n, there is a 2-colouring of [3]^n for which there is no monochromatic line whose active coordinate set is an interval. In this note we disprove this conjecture.

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arXiv2017

An isoperimetric inequality for antipodal subsets of the discrete cube

A family of subsets of $\{1,2,\ldots,n\}$ is said to be {\em antipodal} if it is closed under taking complements. We prove a best-possible isoperimetric inequality for antipodal families of subsets of $\{1,2,\ldots,n\}$. Our inequality implies that for any $k \in \mathbb{N}$, among all such families of size $2^k$, a family consisting of the union of a $(k-1)$-dimensional subcube and its antipode has the smallest possible edge boundary.

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arXiv2017

Improved Bounds for the Graham-Pollak Problem for Hypergraphs

For a fixed $r$, let $f_r(n)$ denote the minimum number of complete $r$-partite $r$-graphs needed to partition the complete $r$-graph on $n$ vertices. The Graham-Pollak theorem asserts that $f_2(n)=n-1$. An easy construction shows that $f_r(n) \leq (1+o(1))\binom{n}{\lfloor r/2 \rfloor}$, and we write $c_r$ for the least number such that $f_r(n) \leq c_r (1+o(1))\binom{n}{\lfloor r/2 \rfloor}$. It was known that $c_r < 1$ for each even $r \geq 4$, but this was not known for any odd value of $r$. In this short note, we prove that $c_{295}<1$. Our method also shows that $c_r \rightarrow 0$, answering another open problem.

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arXiv2017

Monochromatic infinite sumsets

We show that there is a rational vector space $V$ such that, whenever $V$ is finitely coloured, there is an infinite set $X$ whose sumset $X+X$ is monochromatic. Our example is the rational vector space of dimension $\sup\{\aleph_0,2^{\aleph_0},2^{2^{\aleph_0}},\ldots\,\}$. This complements a result of Hindman, Leader and Strauss, who showed that the result does not hold for dimension below $\aleph_ω$. So our result is best possible under GCH.

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arXiv2017

Decomposing the Complete $r$-Graph

Let $f_r(n)$ be the minimum number of complete $r$-partite $r$-graphs needed to partition the edge set of the complete $r$-uniform hypergraph on $n$ vertices. Graham and Pollak showed that $f_2(n) = n-1$. An easy construction shows that $f_r(n)\le (1-o(1))\binom{n}{\lfloor r/2\rfloor}$ and it has been unknown if this upper bound is asymptotically sharp. In this paper we show that $f_r(n)\le (\frac{14}{15}+o(1))\binom{n}{r/2}$ for each even $r\ge 4$.

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arXiv2016

Duality for image and kernel partition regularity of infinite matrices

A matrix A is image partition regular over Q provided that whenever Q - {0} is finitely coloured, there is a vector x with entries in Q - {0} such that the entries of Ax are monochromatic. It is kernel partition regular over Q provided that whenever Q - {0} is finitely coloured, the matrix has a monochromatic member of its kernel. We establish a duality for these notions valid for both finite and infinite matrices. We also investigate the extent to which this duality holds for matrices partition regular over proper subsemigroups of Q.

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arXiv2016

Partitioning the Boolean lattice into copies of a poset

Let $P$ be a poset of size $2^k$ that has a greatest and a least element. We prove that, for sufficiently large $n$, the Boolean lattice $2^{[n]}$ can be partitioned into copies of $P$. This resolves a conjecture of Lonc.

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arXiv2016

Tiling with arbitrary tiles

Let $T$ be a tile in $\mathbb{Z}^n$, meaning a finite subset of $\mathbb{Z}^n$. It may or may not tile $\mathbb{Z}^n$, in the sense of $\mathbb{Z}^n$ having a partition into copies of $T$. However, we prove that $T$ does tile $\mathbb{Z}^d$ for some $d$. This resolves a conjecture of Chalcraft.

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arXiv2016

Transitive Avoidance Games

Positional games are a well-studied class of combinatorial game. In their usual form, two players take turns to play moves in a set (`the board'), and certain subsets are designated as `winning': the first person to occupy such a set wins the game. For these games, it is well known that (with correct play) the game cannot be a second-player win. In the avoidance (or misère) form, the first person to occupy such a set \emph{loses} the game. Here it would be natural to expect that the game cannot be a first-player win, at least if the game is transitive, meaning that all points of the board look the same. Our main result is that, contrary to this expectation, there are transitive games that are first-player wins, for all board sizes which are not prime or a power of 2. Further, we show that such games can have additional properties such as stronger transitivity conditions, fast winning times, and `small' winning sets.

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