Minimal homogeneous Steiner 2-(v,3) trades

A Steiner 2-$(v,3)$ trade is a pair $(T_1,T_2)$ of disjoint partial Steiner triple systems, each on the same set of $v$ points, such that each pair of points occurs in $T_1$ if and only if it occurs in $T_2$. A Steiner 2-$(v,3)$ trade is called d-homogeneous if each point occurs in exactly d blocks of $T_1$ (or $T_2$). In this paper we construct minimal d-homogeneous Steiner 2-$(v,3)$ trades of foundation $v$ and volume $\mathit{dv}/3$ for sufficiently large values of $v$. (Specifically, $v>3(1.75d^2+3)$ if $v$ is divisible by 3 and $v>d(4^{d/3+1}+1)$ otherwise.)     

The Laplacian spectral radius of trees and maximum vertex degree

Let $\Delta \left(T\right)$ and $\mu \left(T\right)$ denote the maximum degree and the Laplacian spectral radius of a tree $T$, respectively. In this paper we prove that for two trees $T_1$ and $T_2$ on $n(n\ge 21)$ vertices, if $\Delta \left(T_1\right)>\Delta \left(T_2\right)$ and $\Delta \left(T_1\right)\ge ?\frac{11n}{30}?+1$, then $\mu \left(T_1\right)>\mu \left(T_2\right)$, and the bound “$\Delta \left(T_1\right)\ge ?\frac{11n}{30}?+1$” is the best possible. We also prove that for two trees $T_1$ and $T_2$ on $2k(k\ge 4)$ vertices with perfect matchings, if $\Delta \left(T_1\right)>\Delta \left(T_2\right)$ and $\Delta \left(T_1\right)\ge ?\frac{k}{2}?+2$, then $\mu \left(T_1\right)>\mu \left(T_2\right)$.     

Some multicolor bipartite Ramsey numbers involving cycles and a small number of colors

For bipartite graphs $G_1,G_2,\dots ,G_k$, the bipartite Ramsey number $b(G_1,G_2,\dots ,G_k)$ is the least positive integer $b$ so that any coloring of the edges of $K_{b,b}$ with $k$ colors will result in a copy of $G_i$ in the $i$th color for some $i$. In this paper, our main focus will be to bound the following numbers: $b(C_{2t_1},C_{2t_2})$ and $b(C_{2t_1},C_{2t_2},C_{2t_3})$ for all $t_i\ge 3,$$b(C_{2t_1},C_{2t_2},C_{2t_3},C_{2t_4})$ for $3\le t_i\le 9,$ and $b(C_{2t_1},C_{2t_2},C_{2t_3},C_{2t_4},C_{2t_5})$ for $3\le t_i\le 5.$ Furthermore, we will also show that these mentioned bounds are generally better than the bounds obtained by using the best known Zarankiewicz-type result.     

On the existence of 3-way k-homogeneous Latin trades

A $\mu$-way Latin trade of volume $s$ is a collection of $\mu$ partial Latin squares $T_1,T_2,\dots ,T_{\mu }$, containing exactly the same $s$ filled cells, such that, if cell $(i,j)$ is filled, it contains a different entry in each of the $\mu$ partial Latin squares, and such that row $i$ in each of the $\mu$ partial Latin squares contains, set-wise, the same symbols, and column $j$ likewise. It is called a $\mu$-way$k$-homogeneous Latin trade if, in each row and each column, $T_r$, for $1\le r\le \mu$, contains exactly $k$ elements, and each element appears in $T_r$ exactly $k$ times. It is also denoted as a $(\mu ,k,m)$ Latin trade, where $m$ is the size of the partial Latin squares.We introduce some general constructions for $\mu$-way $k$-homogeneous Latin trades, and specifically show that, for all $k\le m$, $6\le k\le 13$, and $k=15$, and for all $k\le m$, $k=4,5$ (except for four specific values), a $3$-way $k$-homogeneous Latin trade of volume $km$ exists. We also show that there is no $(3,4,6)$ Latin trade and there is no $(3,4,7)$ Latin trade. Finally, we present general results on the existence of $3$-way $k$-homogeneous Latin trades for some modulo classes of $m$.     

The minimum volume of subspace trades

A subspace bitrade of type $T_q(t,k,v)$ is a pair $(T_0,T_1)$ of two disjoint nonempty collections of $k$-dimensional subspaces of a $v$-dimensional space $V$ over the finite field of order $q$ such that every $t$-dimensional subspace of $V$ is covered by the same number of subspaces from $T_0$ and $T_1$. In a previous paper, the minimum cardinality of a subspace $T_q(t,t+1,v)$ bitrade was established. We generalize that result by showing that for admissible $v$, $t$, and $k$, the minimum cardinality of a subspace $T_q(t,k,v)$ bitrade does not depend on $k$. An example of a minimum bitrade is represented using generator matrices in the reduced echelon form. For $t=1$, the uniqueness of a minimum bitrade is proved.     

Partitions of natural numbers with the same weighted representation functions

TextFor any given two positive integers $k_1$ and $k_2$, and any set A of nonnegative integers, let $r_{k_1,k_2}(A,n)$ denote the number of solutions of the equation $n=k_1{a}_1+k_2{a}_2$ with $a_1,a_2\in A$. In this paper, we determine all pairs $k_1,k_2$ of positive integers for which there exists a set $A?\mathbb{N}$ such that $r_{k_1,k_2}(A,n)=r_{k_1,k_2}(\mathbb{N}?A,n)$ for all $n?n_0$. We also pose several problems for further research.VideoFor a video summary of this paper, please click here or visit http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EnezEsJl0OY.     

Maximum average degree and relaxed coloring

We say a graph is $(d,d,\dots ,d,0,\dots ,0)$-colorable with $a$ of $d$’s and $b$ of $0$’s if $V\left(G\right)$ may be partitioned into $b$ independent sets $O_1,O_2,\dots ,O_b$ and $a$ sets $D_1,D_2,\dots ,D_a$ whose induced graphs have maximum degree at most $d$. The maximum average degree, $mad\left(G\right)$, of a graph $G$ is the maximum average degree over all subgraphs of $G$. In this note, for nonnegative integers $a,b$, we show that if $mad\left(G\right)<\frac{4}{3}a+b$, then $G$ is $(1_1,1_2,\dots ,1_a,0_1,\dots ,0_b)$-colorable.     

Sequences of dilations and translations in function spaces

Let $f\in L^1[0,1]$ be a mean zero function and let $f_n$, $n=1,2,\dots$, be the dyadic dilations and translations of f. We investigate conditions on f, under which the linear operator $T_f$ defined by $T_f{h}_n=f_n$, $n=1,2,\dots$, where $h_n$, $n=1,2,\dots$, are mean zero Haar functions, can be continuously extended to the closed linear span $[h_n]$ in a certain function space X. Among other results we prove that $T_f$ is bounded in every symmetric space with nontrivial Boyd indices whenever $f\in BM{O}_d$ and f has “good” Haar spectral properties. In the special case of so-called Haar chaoses the above results can be essentially refined and sharpened. In particular, we find necessary and sufficient conditions, under which the operator $T_f$, generated by a Haar chaos f of order 1, is continuously invertible in $L^p$ for all $1<p<\infty$.     

A new forbidden pair for 6-contractible edges

An edge of a $k$-connected graph is said to be $k$-contractible if the contraction of the edge results in a $k$-connected graph. If every $k$-connected graph with no $k$-contractible edge has either $H_1$ or $H_2$ as a subgraph, then an unordered pair of graphs $\{H_1,H_2\}$ is said to be a forbidden pair for $k$-contractible edges. We prove that $\{K_1+3K_2,K_1+(P_3\cup K_2)\}$ is a forbidden pair for 6-contractible edges, which is an extension of a previous result due to Ando and Kawarabayashi.