A degree condition for the circumference of a graph

We present a new condition on the degree sums of a graph that implies the existence of a long cycle. Let c(G) denote the length of a longest cycle in the graph G and let m be any positive integer. Suppose G is a 2-connected graph with vertices x₁,…,x_n and edge set E that satisfies the property that, for any two integers j and k with j < k, x_jx_k ? E, d(x_i) ? j and d(x_k) ? K - 1, we have (1) d(x_i) + d(x_k ? m if j + k ? n and (2) if j + k < n, either m ? n or d(x_j) + d(x_k) ? min(K + 1,m). Then c(G) ? min(m, n). This result unifies previous results of J.C. Bermond and M. Las Vergnas, respectively.     

Small deviations of the maximal element of a sequence of weighted independent random variables

Consider a sequence {X _i } of independent copies of a nonnegative random variable X and let M = sup _{j ≥ 1}λ _j X _j , where {λ _j } is a nonincreasing sequence of positive numbers for which P(M < ∞) = 1. The asymptotic behavior of -logP(M < r) as r → 0 is studied.     

Partitioning Posets

Given a poset P = (X, ≺ ), a partition X ₁, ..., X _k of X is called an ordered partition of P if, whenever x ∈ X _i and y ∈ X _j with x ≺ y, then i ≤ j. In this paper, we show that for every poset P = (X, ≺ ) and every integer k ≥ 2, there exists an ordered partition of P into k parts such that the total number of comparable pairs within the parts is at most (m − 1)/k, where m ≥ 1 is the total number of edges in the comparability graph of P. We show that this bound is best possible for k = 2, but we give an improved bound, , for k ≥ 3, where c(k) is a constant depending only on k. We also show that, given a poset P = (X, ≺ ) and an integer 2 ≤ k ≤ |X|, we can find an ordered partition of P into k parts that minimises the total number of comparable pairs within parts in time polynomial in the size of P. We prove more general, weighted versions of these results. Supported by an EPSRC doctoral training grant.     

On metric spaces with the properties of de Groot and Nagata in dimension one

A metric space (X,d) has the de Groot property GPn if for any points x₀,x₁,…,xn+2∈X there are positive indices i,j,k?n+2 such that i≠j and d(xi,xj)?d(x₀,xk). If, in addition, k∈{i,j} then X is said to have the Nagata property NPn. It is known that a compact metrizable space X has dimension dim(X)?n iff X has an admissible GPn-metric iff X has an admissible NPn-metric.We prove that an embedding f:(0,1)→X of the interval (0,1)⊂R into a locally connected metric space X with property GP₁ (resp. NP₁) is open, provided f is an isometric embedding (resp. f has distortion Dist(f)=‖fLip_‖⋅‖f−1Lip_‖<2). This implies that the Euclidean metric cannot be extended from the interval [−1,1] to an admissible GP₁-metric on the triode T=[−1,1]∪[0,i]. Another corollary says that a topologically homogeneous GP₁-space cannot contain an isometric copy of the interval (0,1) and a topological copy of the triode T simultaneously. Also we prove that a GP₁-metric space X containing an isometric copy of each compact NP₁-metric space has density ?c.     

Bipartite Graphs Whose Edge Algebras Are Complete Intersections

Let R be a monomial subalgebra of k[x₁,…,x_N] generated by square free monomials of degree two. This paper addresses the following question: when is R a complete intersection? For such a k-algebra we can associate a graph G whose vertices are x₁,…,x_N and whose edges are {(x_i, x_j)|x_ix_j  R}. Conversely, for any graph G with vertices {x₁,…,x_N} we define the edge algebra associated with G as the subalgebra of k[x₁,…,x_N] generated by the monomials {x_ix_j|(x_i, x_j) is an edge of G}. We denote this monomial algebra by k[G]. This paper describes all bipartite graphs whose edge algebras are complete intersections.     

On disjointly representable sets

A system of setsE ₁,E ₂, ...,E _k ⊂X is said to be disjointly representable if there existx ₁,x ₂, ...,x _k teX such thatx _i teE _j ⇔i=j. Letf(r, k) denote the maximal size of anr-uniform set-system containing nok disjointly representable members. In the first section the exact value off(r, 3) is determined and (asymptotically sharp) bounds onf(r, k),k>3 are established. The last two sections contain some generalizations, in particular we prove an analogue of Sauer’ theorem [16] for uniform set-systems. Dedicated to Paul Erdős on his seventieth birthday     

Oberwolfach rectangular table negotiation problem

We completely solve certain case of a “two delegation negotiation” version of the Oberwolfach problem, which can be stated as follows. Let H(k,3) be a bipartite graph with bipartition X={x₁,x₂,…,x_k},Y={y₁,y₂,…,y_k} and edges x₁y₁,x₁y₂,x_ky_k−1,x_ky_k, and x_iy_i−1,x_iy_i,x_iy_i+1 for i=2,3,…,k−1. We completely characterize all complete bipartite graphs K_n,n that can be factorized into factors isomorphic to G=mH(k,3), where k is odd and mH(k,3) is the graph consisting of m disjoint copies of H(k,3).     

Maximal Sidon sets and matroids

A subset X of an abelian group Γ, written additively, is a Sidon set of orderh if whenever {(a_i,m_i):i∈I} and {(b_j,n_j):j∈J} are multisets of size h with elements in X and ∑_i∈Im_ia_i=∑_j∈Jn_jb_j, then {(a_i,m_i):i∈I}={(b_j,n_j):j∈J}. The set X is a generalized Sidon set of order(h,k) if whenever two such multisets have the same sum, then their multiset intersection has size at least k. It is proved that if X is a generalized Sidon set of order (2h−1,h−1), then the maximal Sidon sets of order h contained in X have the same cardinality. Moreover, X is a matroid where the independent subsets of X are the Sidon sets of order h.     

Matrices associated with arithmetical functions

Let f be an arithmetical function and S={x ₁,x ₂,…,x_n } a set of distinct positive integers. Denote by [f(x_i ,x_j }] the n×n matrix having f evaluated at the greatest common divisor (x_i ,x_j ) of x_i , and x_j as its i j-entry. We will determine conditions on f that will guarantee the matrix [f(x_i ,x_j )] is positive definite and, in fact, has properties similar to the greatest common divisor (GCD) matrix

[(x_i ,x_j )] where f is the identity function. The set S is gcd-closed if (x_i ,x_j )∈S for 1≤ i j ≤ n. If S is gcd-closed, we calculate the determinant and (if it is invertible) the inverse of the matrix [f(x_i ,x_j )]. Among the examples of determinants of this kind are H. J. S. Smith's determinant det[(i,j)].     

On Hong’s conjecture for power LCM matrices

A set S={x ₁,...,x _n } of n distinct positive integers is said to be gcd-closed if (x _i , x _j ) ∈ S for all 1 ⩽ i, j ⩽ n. Shaofang Hong conjectured in 2002 that for a given positive integer t there is a positive integer k(t) depending only on t, such that if n ⩽ k(t), then the power LCM matrix ([x _i , x _j ] ^t ) defined on any gcd-closed set S={x ₁,...,x _n } is nonsingular, but for n ⩾ k(t) + 1, there exists a gcd-closed set S={x ₁,...,x _n } such that the power LCM matrix ([x _i , x _j ] ^t ) on S is singular. In 1996, Hong proved k(1) = 7 and noted k(t) ⩾ 7 for all t ⩾ 2. This paper develops Hong’s method and provides a new idea to calculate the determinant of the LCM matrix on a gcd-closed set and proves that k(t) ⩾ 8 for all t ⩾ 2. We further prove that k(t) ⩾ 9 iff a special Diophantine equation, which we call the LCM equation, has no t-th power solution and conjecture that k(t) = 8 for all t ⩾ 2, namely, the LCM equation has t-th power solution for all t ⩾ 2.