The Maximum Size of 3-Wise Intersecting and 3-Wise Union Families

Let be an n-uniform hypergraph on 2n vertices. Suppose that and holds for all F₁,F₂,F₃ ∈ . We prove that the size of is at most . The second author was supported by MEXT Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B) 16340027     

On Resolvable Multipartite G-Designs II

In this paper, it has been proved that and are factorable, where ⊗ denotes wreath product of graphs. As a consequence, a resolvable (k,n,k,2λ) multipartite –design exists for even k. These results generalize the results of Ushio on –factorizations of complete tripartite graphs.     

Minimal Connected τ-Critical Hypergraphs

A hypergraph is τ-critical if τ(−{E})<τ() for every edge E ∈ , where τ() denotes the transversal number of . We show that if is a connected τ-critical hypergraph, then −{E} can be partitioned into τ()−1 stars of size at least two, for every edge E ∈ . An immediate corollary is that a connected τ-critical hypergraph has at least 2τ()−1 edges. This extends, in a very natural way, a classical theorem of Gallai on colour-critical graphs, and is equivalent to a theorem of Füredi on t-stable hypergraphs. We deduce a lower bound on the size of τ-critical hypergraphs of minimum degree at least two.     

On the Circumference of 3-Connected Quasi-Claw-Free Graphs

A graph G is quasi-claw-free if it satisfies the property: d(x,y)=2 ⇒ there exists such that . In the paper, we prove that the circumference of a 3-connected quasi-claw-free graph G on n vertices is at least min{4δ−2,n} and G is hamiltonian if n≤5δ−5.     

On the Intersection Problem for Steiner Triple Systems of Different Orders

A Steiner triple system of order v, or STS(v), is a pair (V, ) with V a set of v points and a set of 3-subsets of V called blocks or triples, such that every pair of distinct elements of V occurs in exactly one triple. The intersection problem for STS is to determine the possible numbers of blocks common to two Steiner triple systems STS(u), (U, ), and STS(v), (V, ), with U⊆V. The case where U=V was solved by Lindner and Rosa in 1975. Here, we let U⊂V and completely solve this question for v−u=2,4 and for v≥2u−3. supported by NSERC research grant #OGP0170220. supported by NSERC postdoctoral fellowship. supported by NSERC research grant #OGP007621.     

A Lower Bound for the Rectilinear Crossing Number

We give a new lower bound for the rectilinear crossing number of the complete geometric graph K_n. We prove that and we extend the proof of the result to pseudolinear drawings of K_n. Dedicated to the memory of our good friend and mentor Víctor Neumann-Lara. Received: April, 2003 Final version received: March 18, 2005     

Non-Jumping Numbers for 4-Uniform Hypergraphs

Let r≥2 be an integer. A real number α ∈ [0,1) is a jump for r if for any Open image in new window >0 and any integer m, m≥r, any r-uniform graph with n>n₀( Open image in new window ,m) vertices and at least Open image in new window edges contains a subgraph with m vertices and at least Open image in new window edges, where c=c(α) does not depend on Open image in new window and m. It follows from a theorem of Erd?s, Stone and Simonovits that every α ∈ [0,1) is a jump for r=2. Erd?s asked whether the same is true for r≥3. Frankl and Rödl gave a negative answer by showing that Open image in new window is not a jump for r if r≥3 and l>2r. Following a similar approach, we give several sequences of non-jumping numbers generalizing the above result for r=4.     

A Note on Convex Decompositions of a Set of Points in the Plane

For any set P of n points in general position in the plane there is a convex decomposition of P with at most elements. Moreover, any minimal convex decomposition of such a set P has at most elements, where k is the number of points in the boundary of the convex hull of P.Partially supported by Conacyt, MexicoFinal version received: November 10, 2003     

An Extremal Problem on Contractible Edges in 3-Connected Graphs

An edge e in a 3-connected graph G is contractible if the contraction G/e is still 3-connected. The existence of contractible edges is a very useful induction tool. Let G be a simple 3-connected graph with at least five vertices. Wu [7] proved that G has at most vertices that are not incident to contractible edges. In this paper, we characterize all simple 3-connected graphs with exactly vertices that are not incident to contractible edges. We show that all such graphs can be constructed from either a single vertex or a 3-edge-connected graph (multiple edges are allowed, but loops are not allowed) by a simple graph operation. Research partially supported by an ONR grant under grant number N00014-01-1-0917     

Orthogonal Double Covers of Complete Graphs by Caterpillars of Diameter 5

An orthogonal double cover (ODC) of the complete graph K_n by a graph G is a collection = {G_i|i = 1,2, . . . ,n} of spanning subgraphs of K_n, all isomorphic to G, with the property that every edge of K_n belongs to exactly two members of and any two distinct members of share exactly one edge. A caterpillar of diameter five is a tree arising from a path with six vertices by attaching pendant vertices to some or each of its vertices of degree two. We show that for any caterpillar of diameter five there exists an ODC of the complete graph K_n.     

New Local Conditions for a Graph to be Hamiltonian

For a vertex w of a graph G the ball of radius 2 centered at w is the subgraph of G induced by the set M₂(w) of all vertices whose distance from w does not exceed 2. We prove the following theorem: Let G be a connected graph where every ball of radius 2 is 2-connected and d(u)+d(v)≥|M₂(w)|−1 for every induced path uwv. Then either G is hamiltonian or for some p≥2 where ∨ denotes join. As a corollary we obtain the following local analogue of a theorem of Nash-Williams: A connected r-regular graph G is hamiltonian if every ball of radius 2 is 2-connected and for each vertex w of G. Supported by the Swedish Research Council (VR)     

Bipartite Subgraphs and Quasi-Randomness

We say that a family of graphs is p-quasi-random, 0<p<1, if it shares typical properties of the random graph G(n,p); for a definition, see below. We denote by the class of all graphs H for which and the number of not necessarily induced labeled copies of H in G_n is at most (1+o(1))p^e(H)n^v(H) imply that is p-quasi-random. In this note, we show that all complete bipartite graphs K_a,b, a,b2, belong to for all 0<p<1.Acknowledgments We would like to thank Andrew Thomason for fruitful discussions and Yoshi Kohayakawa for organizing Extended Workshop on Combinatorics in eq5 Paulo, Ubatuba, and Rio de Janeiro, where a part of this work was done. We also thank the referees for their careful work.The first author was partially supported by NSF grant INT-0072064The second author was partially supported by NSF grants DMS-9970622, DMS-0301228 and INT-0072064Final version received: October 24, 2003     

On Cross-intersecting Families of Sets

A family of -element subsets and a family of k-element subsets of an n-element set are cross-intersecting if every set from has a nonempty intersection with every set from . We compare two previously established inequalities each related to the maximization of the product , and give a new and short proof for one of them. We also determine the maximum of for arbitrary positive weights ,_k.     

Even 2 × 2 Submatrices of a Random Zero-One Matrix

Consider an m×n zero-one matrix A. An s×t submatrix of A is said to be even if the sum of its entries is even. In this paper, we focus on the case m=n and s=t=2. The maximum number M(n) of even 2×2 submatrices of A is clearly and corresponds to the matrix A having, e.g., all ones (or zeros). A more interesting question, motivated by Turán numbers and Hadamard matrices, is that of the minimum number m(n) of such matrices. It has recently been shown that for some constant B. In this paper we show that if the matrix A=A_n is considered to be induced by an infinite zero one matrix obtained at random, then where E_n denotes the number of even 2×2 submatrices of A_n. Results such as these provide us with specific information about the tightness of the concentration of E_n around its expected value of Acknowledgments. The research of both authors was supported by NSF Grant DMS-0139291 and conducted at East Tennessee State University during the Summer of 2002, when Johnson was a student in Godboles Research Experiences for Undergraduates Program. The valuable suggestions of two anonymous referees are gratefully acknowledged.     

Colouring Cubic Graphs by Small Steiner Triple Systems

Given a Steiner triple system , we say that a cubic graph G is -colourable if its edges can be coloured by points of in such way that the colours of any three edges meeting at a vertex form a triple of . We prove that there is Steiner triple system of order 21 which is universal in the sense that every simple cubic graph is -colourable. This improves the result of Grannell et al. [J. Graph Theory 46 (2004), 15–24] who found a similar system of order 381. On the other hand, it is known that any universal Steiner triple system must have order at least 13, and it has been conjectured that this bound is sharp (Holroyd and Škoviera [J. Combin. Theory Ser. B 91 (2004), 57–66]). Research partially supported by APVT, project 51-027604. Research partially supported by VEGA, grant 1/3022/06.     

Reconstructing under Group Actions

We give a bound on the reconstructibility of an action GX in terms of the reconstructibility of a the action NX, where N is a normal subgroup of G, and the reconstructibility of the quotient G/N. We also show that if the action GX is locally finite, in the sense that every point is either in an orbit by itself or has finite stabilizer, then the reconstructibility of GX is at most the reconstructibility of G. Finally, we give some applications to geometric reconstruction problems.     

Consistent Cycles in Graphs and Digraphs

Let Γ be a finite digraph and let G be a subgroup of the automorphism group of Γ. A directed cycle of Γ is called G-consistent whenever there is an element of G whose restriction to is the 1-step rotation of . Consistent cycles in finite arc-transitive graphs were introduced by J. H. Conway in his public lectures at the Second British Combinatorial Conference in 1971. He observed that the number of G-orbits of G-consistent cycles of an arc-transitive group G is precisely one less than the valency of the graph. In this paper, we give a detailed proof of this result in a more general setting of arbitrary groups of automorphisms of graphs and digraphs. Supported in part by ``Ministrstvo za šolstvo, znanost in šport Republike Slovenije', bilateral project BI-USA/04-05/38.     

A Problem on Hinged Dissections with Colours

We examine the following problem. Given a square C we want a hinged dissection of C into congruent squares and a colouring of the edges of these smaller squares with k colours such that we can transform the original square into another with its perimeter coloured with colour i, for all i in We have the restriction that the moves have to be realizable in the plane, so when swinging the pieces no overlappings are allowed. We show a solution for k colours that uses p² pieces, with p an even number and at least this by using a necklace made of the p² pieces and an ingenious way to wrap it into a square.Supported by PAPIIT(UNAM) of Mexico Proyecto IN-110802Supported by CONACYT of Mexico Proyecto 37450-AFinal version received: June 11, 2003     

An approximation algorithm for the general max-min resource sharing problem

We propose an approximation algorithm for, the general max-min resource sharing problem with M nonnegative concave constraints on a convex set B. The algorithm is based on a Lagrangian decomposition method and it uses a c-approximation algorithm (called approximate block solver) for a simpler maximization problem over the convex set B. We show that our algorithm achieves within iterations or calls to the approximate block solver a solution for the general max-min resource sharing problem with approximation ratio The algorithm is faster and simpler than the previous known approximation algorithms for the problem [12, 13] Research of the author was supported in part by EU Thematic Network APPOL, Approximation and Online Algorithms, IST-2001-30012, by EU Project CRESCCO, Critical Resource Sharing for Cooperation in Complex Systems, IST-2001-33135 and by DFG Project, Entwicklung und Analyse von Approximativen Algorithmen für Gemischte und Verallgemeinerte Packungs- und überdeckungsprobleme, JA 612/10-1. Part of this work was done while visiting the Department of Computer Science at ETH Zürich. An extended abstract of this paper appeared in SWAT 2004, Scandinavian Workshop on Algorithm Theory, LNCS 3111, 311–322.