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Joanna Polcyn

Publications and source records attributed to Joanna Polcyn.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
arXiv2024

The next case of Andrásfai's conjecture

Let $\mathrm{ex}(n,s)$ denote the maximum number of edges in a triangle-free graph on $n$ vertices which contains no independent sets larger than $s$. The behaviour of $\mathrm{ex}(n,s)$ was first studied by Andrásfai, who conjectured that for $s>n/3$ this function is determined by appropriately chosen blow-ups of so called Andrásfai graphs. Moreover, he proved $\mathrm{ex}(n, s)=n^2-4ns+5s^2$ for $s/n\in [2/5, 1/2]$ and in earlier work we obtained $\mathrm{ex}(n, s)=3n^2-15ns+20s^2$ for $s/n\in [3/8, 2/5]$. Here we make the next step in the quest to settle Andrásfai's conjecture by proving $\mathrm{ex}(n, s)=6n^2-32ns+44s^2$ for $s/n\in [4/11, 3/8]$.

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arXiv2024

Strong Brandt-Thomassé Theorems

Solving a long standing conjecture of Erdős and Simonovits, Brandt and Thomassé proved that the chromatic number of each triangle-free graph $G$ such that $δ(G)>|V(G)|/3$ is at most four. In fact, they showed the much stronger result that every maximal triangle-free graph $G$ satisfying this minimum degree condition is a blow-up of either an Andrásfai or a Vega graph. Here we establish the same structural conclusion on $G$ under the weaker assumption that for $m\in\{2, 3, 4\}$ every sequence of $3m$ vertices has a subsequence of length $m+1$ with a common neighbour. In forthcoming work this will be used to solve an old problem of Andrásfai in Ramsey-Turán theory.

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arXiv2022

Two disjoint cycles in digraphs

Bermond and Thomassen conjectured that every digraph with minimum outdegree at least $2k-1$ contains $k$ vertex disjoint cycles. So far the conjecture was verified for $k\le 3$. Here we generalise the question asking for all outdegree sequences which force $k$ vertex disjoint cycles and give the full answer for $k\le 2$.

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arXiv2022

On the restricted size Ramsey number for a pair of cycles

For graphs $H_1,H_2$ by $r^*(H_1,H_2)$ we denote the minimum number of edges in a graph $G$ on $r(H_1,H_2)$ vertices such that $G\to (H_1,H_2)$. We show that for each pair of natural numbers $k,n$, $k\le n$, where $k$ is odd and $n$ is large enough, we have $$r^*(C_n,C_k)=\lceil (n+1)(2n-1)/2\rceil \,.$$

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arXiv2021

Andrásfai and Vega graphs in Ramsey-Turán theory

Given positive integers $n\ge s$, we let ${\mathrm{ex}}(n,s)$ denote the maximum number of edges in a triangle-free graph $G$ on $n$ vertices with $α(G)\le s$. In the early sixties Andrásfai conjectured that for $n/3<s<n/2$ the function ${\mathrm{ex}}(n, s)$ is piecewise quadratic with critical values at $s/n={k}/({3k-1})$. We confirm that this is indeed the case whenever $s/n$ is slightly larger than a critical value, thus determining ${\mathrm{ex}}(n,s)$ for all $n$ and $s$ such that $s/n\in [{k}/({3k-1}), {k}/({3k-1})+γ_k]$, where $γ_k=Θ(k^{-6})$.

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arXiv2020

On the Ramsey-Turán density of triangles

One of the oldest results in modern graph theory, due to Mantel, asserts that every triangle-free graphs on $n$ vertices has at most $\lfloor n^2/4\rfloor$ edges. About half a century later Andrásfai studied dense triangle-free graphs and proved that the largest triangle-free graphs on $n$ vertices without independent sets of size $αn$, where $2/5\le α< 1/2$, are blow-ups of the pentagon. More than 50 further years have elapsed since Andrásfai's work. In this article we make the next step towards understanding the structure of dense triangle-free graphs without large independent sets. Notably, we determine the maximum size of triangle-free graphs~$G$ on $n$ vertices with $α(G)\ge 3n/8$ and state a conjecture on the structure of the densest triangle-free graphs $G$ with $α(G) > n/3$. We remark that the case $α(G) \le n/3$ behaves differently, but due to the work of Brandt this situation is fairly well understood.

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arXiv2020

The Ramsey number of a long even cycle versus a star

We find the exact value of the Ramsey number $R(C_{2\ell},K_{1,n})$, when $\ell$ and $n=O(\ell^{10/9})$ are large. Our result is closely related to the behaviour of Turán number $ex(N, C_{2\ell})$ for an even cycle whose length grows quickly with $N$.

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arXiv2020

On Hamiltonian cycles in hypergraphs with dense link graphs

We show that every $k$-uniform hypergraph on $n$ vertices whose minimum $(k-2)$-degree is at least $(5/9+o(1))n^2/2$ contains a Hamiltonian cycle. A construction due to Han and Zhao shows that this minimum degree condition is optimal. The same result was proved independently by Lang and Sahueza-Matamala.

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arXiv2018

A tale of stars and cliques

We show that for an infinitely many natural numbers $k$ there are $k$-uniform hypergraphs which admit a `rescaling phenomenon' as described in [9]. More precisely, let $\mathcal{A}(k,I, n)$ denote the class of $k$-graphs on $n$ vertices in which the sizes of all pairwise intersections of edges belong to a set $I$. We show that if $k=rt^2$ for some $r\ge 1$ and $t\ge 2$, and~$I$ is chosen in some special way, the densest graphs in $\mathcal{A}(rt^2,I, n)$ are either dominated by stars of large degree, or basically, they are `$t$-thick' $rt^2$-graphs in which vertices are partitioned into groups of $t$ vertices each and every edge is a union of $tr$ such groups. It is easy to see that, unlike in stars, the maximum degree of $t$-thick graphs is of a lower order than the number of its edges. Thus, if we study the graphs from $\mathcal{A}(rt^2,I, n)$ with a prescribed number of edges $m$ which minimize the maximum degree, around the value of $m$ which is the number of edges of the largest $t$-thick graph, a rapid, discontinuous phase transition can be observed. Interestingly, these two types of $k$-graphs determine the structure of all hypergraphs in $\mathcal{A}(rt^2,I, n)$. Namely, we show that each such hypergraph can be decomposed into a $t$-thick graph $H_T$, a special collection $H_S$ of stars, and a sparse `left-over' graph $H_R$.

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arXiv2017

Paths in hypergraphs: a rescaling phenomenon

Let $P^k_\ell$ denote the loose $k$-path of length $\ell$ and let define $f^k_\ell(n,m)$ as the minimum value of $Δ(H)$ over all $P^k_\ell$-free $k$-graphs $H$ with $n$ vertices and $m$ edges. In the paper we study the behavior of $f^4_2(n,m)$ and $f^3_3(n,m)$ and characterize the structure of extremal hypergraphs. In particular, it is shown that when $m\sim n^2/8$ the value of each of these functions drops down from $Θ(n^2)$ to $Θ(n)$.

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arXiv2016

A hierarchy of maximal intersecting triple systems

We reach beyond the celebrated theorems of Erdős-Ko-Rado and Hilton-Milner, and, a recent theorem of Han-Kohayakawa, and determine all maximal intersecting triples systems. It turns out that for each $n\ge7$ there are exactly 15 pairwise non-isomorphic such systems (and 13 for $n=6$). We present our result in terms of a hierarchy of Turán numbers $\ex^{(s)}(n, M_2^{3})$, $s\ge1$, where $M_2^{3}$ is a pair of disjoint triples. Moreover, owing to our unified approach, we provide short proofs of the above mentioned results (for triple systems only). The triangle $C_3$ is defined as $C_3=\{\{x_1,y_3,x_2\},\{x_1,y_2,x_3\}, \{x_2,y_1,x_3\}\}$. Along the way we show that the largest intersecting triple system $H$ on $n\ge6$ vertices, which is not a star and is triangle-free, consists of $\max\{10,n\}$ triples. This facilitates our main proof's philosophy which is to assume that $H$ contains a copy of the triangle and analyze how the remaining edges of $H$ intersect that copy.

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arXiv2015

One more Turán number and Ramsey number for the loose 3-uniform path of length three

Let $P$ denote a 3-uniform hypergraph consisting of 7 vertices $a,b,c,d,e,f,g$ and 3 edges $\{a,b,c\}, \{c,d,e\},$ and $\{e,f,g\}$. It is known that the $r$-color Ramsey number for $P$ is $R(P;r)=r+6$ for $r\le 9$. The proof of this result relies on a careful analysis of the Turán numbers for $P$. In this paper, we refine this analysis further and compute the fifth order Turán number for $P$, for all $n$. Using this number for $n=16$, we confirm the formula $R(P;10)=16$.

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arXiv2015

Refined Turán numbers and Ramsey numbers for the loose 3-uniform path of length three

Let $P$ denote a 3-uniform hypergraph consisting of 7 vertices $a,b,c,d,e,f,g$ and 3 edges $\{a,b,c\}, \{c,d,e\},$ and $\{e,f,g\}$. It is known that the $r$-color Ramsey number for $P$ is $R(P;r)=r+6$ for $r\le 7$. The proof of this result relies on a careful analysis of the Turán numbers for $P$. In this paper, we refine this analysis further and compute, for all $n$, the third and fourth order Turán numbers for $P$. With the help of the former, we confirm the formula $R(P;r)=r+6$ for $r\in\{8,9\}$.

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