arXiv subjects

Jacques Verstraete

Publications and source records attributed to Jacques Verstraete.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Erd\H{o}s-S\'{o}s for digraphs

It is shown that every Eulerian digraph on $n$ vertices with more than $(t-1)n$ arcs contains every oriented tree with $t$ edges. The digraphs have no loops or repeated arcs, but opposite arcs are permitted. The bound is sharp for each fixed oriented tree, as witnessed by disjoint unions of complete bidirected graphs. Previously, such tight bounds were not known, even just for directed paths. This can be considered as a directed analog of the recently proved Erd\H{o}s-S\'os conjecture. The result was proved by GPT-6 Astra.

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arXiv2026

Kalai's Conjecture for Tight Trees

Let $r \ge 2$ and $t \ge 1$. It is shown that if $T$ is an $r$-uniform tight tree with $t$ edges and $H$ is a $T$-free $r$-uniform hypergraph, then $|E(H)|\le (t-1)|\sh H|/r$, where $\sh H$ is the $(r-1)$-shadow of $H$. \iffalse Equality holds only for $(n,t + r - 2,r)$-designs.\fi The bound is tight infinitely often, and establishes Kalai's Conjecture, whose $r=2$ case is the Erd\H os-S\'os Conjecture. The proof was found by GPT-6 Astra, extending its method of proof for the Erd\H os-S\'os conjecture to the hypergraph setting. It is noteworthy that previous proofs of special cases of the Erd\H os-S\'os conjecture do not extend to give tights bounds in the hypergraph setting. A strengthening of the Erd\H os-S\'os conjecture due to the authors about tight lower bounds on the number of copies of a tree in a graph with average degree $d \ge t-1\ge 0$ remains open.

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arXiv2026

Large point-line matchings and small Nikodym sets

For any integer $d \geq 2$ and prime power $q$, we construct unexpectedly large induced matchings in the point-line incidence graph of $\mathbb{F}_{q}^{d}$ by leveraging a new connection with the Furstenberg-S\'ark\"ozy problem from arithmetic combinatorics. In particular, we significantly improve the previously well-known baselines when $q$ is prime, showing that $\mathbb{F}_{q}^{2}$ contains matchings of size $q^{1.233}$ and $\mathbb{F}_{q}^{d}$ contains matchings of size $q^{d-o_{d}(1)}$. These results and their proofs have several applications. First, we also obtain new constructions for finite field Nikodym sets in dimension $d \geq 2$, improving recent results of Tao by polynomial factors. For example, when $q$ is prime, we show the existence of Nikodym sets in $\mathbb{F}_q^d$ of size $q^d - q^{d - o_d(1)}$. Second, we construct a new minimal blocking set in $\mathrm{PG}(2,q)$, solving a longstanding problem in finite geometry. Third, we obtain new constructions for the minimal distance problem (in $\mathbb{R}^{2}$ and also in higher dimensions), improving a recent result of Logunov-Zakharov. We also obtain analogous results for general finite fields with large characteristics. In particular, in one of our constructions we introduce a new special set of points inside the norm hypersurface in $\mathbb{F}_{q}^{d}$, which directly generalizes the classical Hermitian unital and which may be of independent interest for applications.

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arXiv2025

Improved bounds for the minimum degree of minimal multicolor Ramsey graphs

We provide two novel constructions of $r$ edge-disjoint $K_{k+1}$-free graphs on the same vertex set, each of which has the property that every small induced subgraph contains a complete graph on $k$ vertices. The main novelty of our argument is the combination of an algebraic and a probabilistic coloring scheme, which utilizes the beneficial algebraic and combinatorial properties of the Hermitian unital. These constructions improve on a number of upper bounds on the smallest possible minimum degree of minimal $r$-color Ramsey graphs for the clique $K_{k+1}$ when $r\geq c\frac{k}{\log^2 k}$ and $k$ is large enough.

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arXiv2025

Recent Progress in Ramsey Theory

The classical Ramsey numbers $r(s,t)$ denote the minimum $n$ such that every red-blue coloring of the edges of the complete graph $K_n$ contains either a red clique of order $s$ or a blue clique of order $t$. These quantities are the centerpiece of graph Ramsey Theory, and have been studied for almost a century. The Erd\H{o}s-Szekeres Theorem (1935) shows that for each $s \geq 2$, $r(s,t) = O(t^{s - 1})$ as $t \rightarrow \infty$. We introduce a new approach using pseudorandom graphs which shows $r(4,t) = \Omega(t^3/(\log t)^4)$ as $t \rightarrow \infty$, answering an old conjecture of Erd\H{o}s, and we illustrate how to apply this approach to many other Ramsey and related combinatorial problems.

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arXiv2024

Independent Sets in Hypergraphs

A theorem of Shearer states that every $n$-vertex triangle-free graph of maximum degree $d \geq 2$ contains an independent set of size at least $(d\log d - d + 1)/(d - 1)^2 \cdot n$. Ajtai, Koml\'{o}s, Pintz, Spencer and Szemer\'{e}di proved that every $(r + 1)$-uniform $n$-vertex ``uncrowded'' hypergraph of maximum degree $d \geq 1$ has an independent set of size at least $c_r(\log d)^{1/r}/d^{1/r} \cdot n$ for some $c_r > 0$ depending only on $r$. Shearer asked whether his method for triangle-free graphs could be extended to uniform hypergraphs. In this paper, we answer this in the affirmative, thereby giving a short proof of the theorem of Ajtai, Koml\'{o}s, Pintz, Spencer and Szemer\'{e}di for a wider class of ``locally sparse'' hypergraphs.

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arXiv2024

Erdős-Rogers functions for arbitrary pairs of graphs

Let $f_{F,G}(n)$ be the largest size of an induced $F$-free subgraph that every $n$-vertex $G$-free graph is guaranteed to contain. We prove that for any triangle-free graph $F$, \[ f_{F,K_3}(n) = f_{K_2,K_3}(n)^{1 + o(1)} = n^{\frac{1}{2} + o(1)}.\] Along the way we give a slight improvement of a construction of Erd\H os-Frankl-Rödl for the Brown-Erd\H os-Sós $(3r-3,3)$-problem when $r$ is large. In contrast to our result for $K_3$, for any $K_4$-free graph $F$ containing a cycle, we prove there exists $c_F > 0$ such that $$f_{F,K_4}(n) > f_{K_2,K_4}(n)^{1 + c_F} = n^{\frac{1}{3}+c_F+o(1)}.$$ \iffalse We also observe that our earlier proof for $F=K_3$ generalizes to $f_{F,K_4}(n) = O(\sqrt{n}\log n)$ for all $F$ containing a cycle. \fi For every graph $G$, we prove that there exists $\varepsilon_G >0$ such that whenever $F$ is a non-empty graph such that $G$ is not contained in any blowup of $F$, then $f_{F,G}(n) = O(n^{1-\varepsilon_G})$. On the other hand, for graph $G$ that is not a clique, and every $\varepsilon>0$, we exhibit a $G$-free graph $F$ such that $f_{F,G}(n) = Ω(n^{1-\varepsilon})$.

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arXiv2024

Big line or big convex polygon

Let $ES_{\ell}(n)$ be the minimum $N$ such that every $N$-element point set in the plane contains either $\ell$ collinear members or $n$ points in convex position. We prove that there is a constant $C>0$ such that, for each $\ell, n \ge 3$, $$ (3\ell - 1) \cdot 2^{n-5} < ES_{\ell}(n) < \ell^2 \cdot 2^{n+ C\sqrt{n\log n}}.$$ A similar extension of the well-known Erd\H os--Szekeres cups-caps theorem is also proved.

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arXiv2024

On off-diagonal hypergraph Ramsey numbers

A fundamental problem in Ramsey theory is to determine the growth rate in terms of $n$ of the Ramsey number $r(H, K_n^{(3)})$ of a fixed $3$-uniform hypergraph $H$ versus the complete $3$-uniform hypergraph with $n$ vertices. We study this problem, proving two main results. First, we show that for a broad class of $H$, including links of odd cycles and tight cycles of length not divisible by three, $r(H, K_n^{(3)}) \ge 2^{Ω_H(n \log n)}$. This significantly generalizes and simplifies an earlier construction of Fox and He which handled the case of links of odd cycles and is sharp both in this case and for all but finitely many tight cycles of length not divisible by three. Second, disproving a folklore conjecture in the area, we show that there exists a linear hypergraph $H$ for which $r(H, K_n^{(3)})$ is superpolynomial in $n$. This provides the first example of a separation between $r(H,K_n^{(3)})$ and $r(H,K_{n,n,n}^{(3)})$, since the latter is known to be polynomial in $n$ when $H$ is linear.

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arXiv2024

The asymptotics of $r(4,t)$

For integers $s,t \geq 2$, the Ramsey numbers $r(s,t)$ denote the minimum $N$ such that every $N$-vertex graph contains either a clique of order $s$ or an independent set of order $t$. In this paper we prove \[ r(4,t) = Ω\Bigl(\frac{t^3}{\log^4 \! t}\Bigr) \quad \quad \mbox{ as }t \rightarrow \infty\] which determines $r(4,t)$ up to a factor of order $\log^2 \! t$, and solves a conjecture of Erdős.

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arXiv2024

On the order of Erdős-Rogers functions

For an integer $n \geq 1$, the Erdős-Rogers function $f_{s}(n)$ is the maximum integer $m$ such that every $n$-vertex $K_{s+1}$-free graph has a $K_s$-free subgraph with $m$ vertices. It is known that for all $s \geq 3$, $f_{s}(n) = Ω(\sqrt{n\log n}/\log \log n)$ as $n \rightarrow \infty$. In this paper, we show that for all $s \geq 3$, \begin{equation*} f_{s}(n) = O(\sqrt{n}\, \log n). \end{equation*} This improves previous bounds of order $\sqrt{n} (\log n)^{2(s + 1)^2}$ by Dudek, Retter and Rödl.

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arXiv2023

Coloring hypergraphs that are the union of nearly disjoint cliques

We consider the maximum chromatic number of hypergraphs consisting of cliques that have pairwise small intersections. Designs of the appropriate parameters produce optimal constructions, but these are known to exist only when the number of cliques is exponential in the clique size. We construct near designs where the number of cliques is polynomial in the clique size, and show that they have large chromatic number. The case when the cliques have pairwise intersections of size at most one seems particularly challenging. Here we give lower bounds by analyzing a random greedy hypergraph process. We also consider the related question of determining the maximum number of caps in a finite projective/affine plane and obtain nontrivial upper and lower bounds.

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arXiv2022

Hypergraph Ramsey numbers of cliques versus stars

Let $K_m^{(3)}$ denote the complete $3$-uniform hypergraph on $m$ vertices and $S_n^{(3)}$ the $3$-uniform hypergraph on $n+1$ vertices consisting of all $\binom{n}{2}$ edges incident to a given vertex. Whereas many hypergraph Ramsey numbers grow either at most polynomially or at least exponentially, we show that the off-diagonal Ramsey number $r(K_{4}^{(3)},S_n^{(3)})$ exhibits an unusual intermediate growth rate, namely, \[ 2^{c \log^2 n} \le r(K_{4}^{(3)},S_n^{(3)}) \le 2^{c' n^{2/3}\log n} \] for some positive constants $c$ and $c'$. The proof of these bounds brings in a novel Ramsey problem on grid graphs which may be of independent interest: what is the minimum $N$ such that any $2$-edge-coloring of the Cartesian product $K_N \square K_N$ contains either a red rectangle or a blue $K_n$?

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arXiv2022

Set-coloring Ramsey numbers via codes

For positive integers $n,r,s$ with $r > s$, the set-coloring Ramsey number $R(n;r,s)$ is the minimum $N$ such that if every edge of the complete graph $K_N$ receives a set of $s$ colors from a palette of $r$ colors, then there is guaranteed to be a monochromatic clique on $n$ vertices, that is, a subset of $n$ vertices where all of the edges between them receive a common color. In particular, the case $s=1$ corresponds to the classical multicolor Ramsey number. We prove general upper and lower bounds on $R(n;r,s)$ which imply that $R(n;r,s) = 2^{Θ(nr)}$ if $s/r$ is bounded away from $0$ and $1$. The upper bound extends an old result of Erdős and Szemerédi, who treated the case $s = r-1$, while the lower bound exploits a connection to error-correcting codes. We also study the analogous problem for hypergraphs.

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arXiv2022

Randomized greedy algorithm for independent sets in regular uniform hypergraphs with large girth

In this paper, we consider a randomized greedy algorithm for independent sets in $r$-uniform $d$-regular hypergraphs $G$ on $n$ vertices with girth $g$. By analyzing the expected size of the independent sets generated by this algorithm, we show that $α(G)\geq (f(d,r)-ε(g,d,r))n$, where $ε(g,d,r)$ converges to $0$ as $g\rightarrow\infty$ for fixed $d$ and $r$, and $f(d,r)$ is determined by a differential equation. This extends earlier results of Gamarnik and Goldberg for graphs. We also prove that when applying this algorithm to uniform linear hypergraphs with bounded degree, the size of the independent sets generated by this algorithm concentrate around the mean asymptotically almost surely.

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arXiv2021

Relative Turán Numbers for Hypergraph Cycles

For an $r$-uniform hypergraph $H$ and a family of $r$-uniform hypergraphs $\mathcal{F}$, the relative Turán number $\mathrm{ex}(H,\mathcal{F})$ is the maximum number of edges in an $\mathcal{F}$-free subgraph of $H$. In this paper we give lower bounds on $\mathrm{ex}(H,\mathcal{F})$ for certain families of hypergraph cycles $\mathcal{F}$ such as Berge cycles and loose cycles. In particular, if $\mathcal{C}_\ell^3$ denotes the set of all $3$-uniform Berge $\ell$-cycles and $H$ is a 3-uniform hypergraph with maximum degree $Δ$, we prove \[\mathrm{ex}(H,\mathcal{C}_4^{3})\ge Δ^{-3/4-o(1)}e(H),\] \[\mathrm{ex}(H,\mathcal{C}_5^{3})\ge Δ^{-3/4-o(1)}e(H),\] and these bounds are tight up to the $o(1)$ term.

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arXiv2020

A generalization of the Bollobás set pairs inequality

The Bollobás set pairs inequality is a fundamental result in extremal set theory with many applications. In this paper, for $n \geq k \geq t \geq 2$, we consider a collection of $k$ families $\mathcal{A}_i: 1 \leq i \leq k$ where $\mathcal{A}_i = \{ A_{i,j} \subset [n] : j \in [n] \}$ so that $A_{1, i_1} \cap \cdots \cap A_{k,i_k} \neq \emptyset $ if and only if there are at least $t$ distinct indices $i_1,i_2,\dots,i_k$. Via a natural connection to a hypergraph covering problem, we give bounds on the maximum size $β_{k,t}(n)$ of the families with ground set $[n]$.

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arXiv2020

Triangle-free Subgraphs of Hypergraphs

In this paper, we consider an analog of the well-studied extremal problem for triangle-free subgraphs of graphs for uniform hypergraphs. A loose triangle is a hypergraph $T$ consisting of three edges $e,f$ and $g$ such that $|e \cap f| = |f \cap g| = |g \cap e| = 1$ and $e \cap f \cap g = \emptyset$. We prove that if $H$ is an $n$-vertex $r$-uniform hypergraph with maximum degree $\triangle$, then as $\triangle \rightarrow \infty$, the number of edges in a densest $T$-free subhypergraph of $H$ is at least \[ \frac{e(H)}{\triangle^{\frac{r-2}{r-1} + o(1)}}.\] For $r = 3$, this is tight up to the $o(1)$ term in the exponent. We also show that if $H$ is a random $n$-vertex triple system with edge-probability $p$ such that $pn^3\rightarrow\infty$ as $n\rightarrow\infty$, then with high probability as $n \rightarrow \infty$, the number of edges in a densest $T$-free subhypergraph is \[ \min\Bigl\{(1-o(1))p{n\choose3},p^{\frac{1}{3}}n^{2-o(1)}\Bigr\}.\] We use the method of containers together with probabilistic methods and a connection to the extremal problem for arithmetic progressions of length three due to Ruzsa and Szemerédi.

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