Upper bounds on the general covering number Cλ(v,k, t,m)

A collection of k‐subsets (called blocks) of a v‐set X (v) = {1, 2,…, v} (with elements called points) is called a t‐(v, k, m, λ) covering if for every m‐subset M of X (v) there is a subcollection of with such that every block K ∈ has at least t points in common with M. It is required that v ≥ k ≥ t and v ≥ m ≥ t. The minimum number of blocks in a t‐(v, k, m, λ) covering is denoted by C_λ(v, k, t, m). We present some constructions producing the best known upper bounds on C_λ(v, k, t, m) for k = 6, a parameter of interest to lottery players. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

A bound on the chromatic number using the longest odd cycle length

It is known that for every integer k ≥ 4, each k‐map graph with n vertices has at most kn ? 2k edges. Previously, it was open whether this bound is tight or not. We show that this bound is tight for k = 4, 5. We also show that this bound is not tight for large enough k (namely, k ≥ 374); more precisely, we show that for every and for every integer , each k‐map graph with n vertices has at most edges. This result implies the first polynomial (indeed linear) time algorithm for coloring a given k‐map graph with less than 2k colors for large enough k. We further show that for every positive multiple k of 6, there are infinitely many integers n such that some k‐map graph with n vertices has at least edges. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Graph Theory 55: 267–290, 2007     

Infinite games in the Cantor space and subsystems of second order arithmetic

In this paper we study the determinacy strength of infinite games in the Cantor space and compare them with their counterparts in the Baire space. We show the following theorems: 1. RCA₀ ? ‐Det* ? ‐Det* ? WKL₀. 2. RCA₀ ? ( )2‐Det* ? ACA₀. 3. RCA₀ ? ‐Det* ? ‐Det* ? ‐Det ? ‐Det ? ATR₀. 4. For 1 < k < ω, RCA₀ ? ( )_k ‐Det* ? ( )_{k –1}‐Det. 5. RCA₀ ? ‐Det* ? ‐Det. Here, Det* (respectively Det) stands for the determinacy of infinite games in the Cantor space (respectively the Baire space), and ( )_k is the collection of formulas built from formulas by applying the difference operator k – 1 times. (© 2007 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Two‐factors each component of which contains a specified vertex

It is shown that if G is a graph of order n with minimum degree δ(G), then for any set of k specified vertices {v₁,v₂,…,v_k} ? V(G), there is a 2‐factor of G with precisely k cycles {C₁,C₂,…,C_k} such that v_i ∈ V(C_i) for (1 ≤ i ≤ k) if or 3k + 1 ≤ n ≤ 4k, or 4k ≤ n ≤ 6k ? 3,δ(G) ≥ 3k ? 1 or n ≥ 6k ? 3, . Examples are described that indicate this result is sharp. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Graph Theory 43: 188–198, 2003     

Balanced incomplete block designs with block size 8

The necessary conditions for the existence of a balanced incomplete block design on υ ≥ k points, with index λ and block size k, are that: For k = 8, these conditions are known to be sufficient when λ = 1, with 38 possible exceptions, the largest of which is υ = 3,753. For these 38 values of υ, we show (υ, 8, λ ) BIBDs exist whenever λ > 1 for all but five possible values of υ, the largest of which is υ = 1,177, and these five υ's are the only values for which more than one value of λ is open. For λ>1, we show the necessary conditions are sufficient with the definite exception of two further values of υ, and the possible exception of 7 further values of υ, the largest of which is υ=589. In particular, we show the necessary conditions are sufficient for all λ> 5 and for λ = 4 when υ ≠ 22. We also look at (8, λ) GDDs of type 7^m. Our grouplet divisible design construction is also refined, and we construct and exploit α ‐ frames in constructing several other BIBDs. In addition, we give a PBD basis result for {n: n ≡ 0, 1; mod 8, n ≥ 8}, and construct a few new TDs with index > 1. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Combin Designs 9: 233–268, 2001     

A generalization of a result of Tran Van Trung on t-designs

We prove that if there exists a t − (v, k, λ) design satisfying the inequality for some positive integer j (where m = min{j, v − k} and n = min {i, t}), then there exists a t − (v + j, k, λ ()) design. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Combin Designs 7: 107–112, 1999     

Random partitions with restricted part sizes

For a subset of positive integers let Ω(n, ) be the set of partitions of n into summands that are elements of . For every λ ∈ Ω(n, ), let M _n(λ) be the number of parts, with multiplicity, that λ has. Put a uniform probability distribution on Ω(n, ), and regard M _n as a random variable. In this paper the limiting density of the (suitably normalized) random variable M _n is determined for sets that are sufficiently regular. In particular, our results cover the case = {Q(k) : k ≥ 1}, where Q(x) is a fixed polynomial of degree d ≥ 2. For specific choices of Q, the limiting density has appeared before in rather different contexts such as Kingman's coalescent, and processes associated with the maxima of Brownian bridge and Brownian meander processes. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Random Struct. Alg., 2008     

On an online random k‐SAT model

Given n Boolean variables x₁,…,x_n, a k‐clause is a disjunction of k literals, where a literal is a variable or its negation. Suppose random k‐clauses are generated one at a time and an online algorithm accepts or rejects each clause as it is generated. Our goal is to accept as many randomly generated k‐clauses as possible with the condition that it must be possible to satisfy every clause that is accepted. When cn random k‐clauses on n variables are given, a natural online algorithm known as Online‐Lazy accepts an expected (1 ? )cn + a_kn clauses for some constant a_k. If these clauses are given offline, it is possible to do much better, (1 ? )cn + Ω( )n can be accepted whp . The question of closing the gap between a_k and Ω( ) for the online version remained open. This article shows that for any k ≥ 1, any online algorithm will accept less than (1 ? )cn + (ln 2)n k‐clauses whp , closing the gap between the constant and Ω( ). Furthermore we show that this bound is asymptotically tight as k → ∞. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Random Struct. Alg., 2008     

Globally sparse vertex-ramsey graphs

For graphs G and F we write F → (G)¹_r if every r-coloring of the vertices of F results in a monochromatic copy of G. The global density m(F) of F is the maximum ratio of the number of edges to the number of vertices taken over all subgraphs of F. Let We show that The lower bound is achieved by complete graphs, whereas, for all r ≥ 2 and ? > 0, m_cr(S_k, r) > r - ? for sufficiently large k, where S_k is the star with k arms. In particular, we prove that      

Ryser's embedding problem for Hadamard matrices

What is the minimum order of a Hadamard matrix that contains an a by b submatrix of all 1's? Newman showed that where c^? denotes the smallest order greater than or equal to c for which a Hadamard matrix exists. It follows that if 4 divides both a and b, and if the Hadamard conjecture is true, then . We establish the improved bounds for min {a,b} ≥ 2. The Hadamard conjecture therefore implies that if 4 divides both 2ab and ?a/2? ?b/2?, then (a, b) = 2 · max {?a/2?b, ?b/2?a}. Our lower bound comes from a counting argument, while our upper bound follows from a sub‐multiplicative property of : Improvements in our upper bound occur when suitable conference matrices or Bush‐type Hadamard matrices exist. We conjecture that any (1,?1)‐matrix of size a by b occurs as a submatrix of some Hadamard matrix of order at most . © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Combin Designs     

Existence of graphs with prescribed mean distance

It is shown that for each rational number t ≥ 1 there exist infinitely many graphs with mean distance equal to t. For a graph G, define the mean distance μ(G) by . In an earlier issue of this journal, J. Plesník [3, Theorem 9] showed that, given real numbers t ≥ 1 and ? > 0, there exists a graph G with |μ(G)?t| < ?. Furthermore, he asked [3, p. 19]: Given a rational number t ≥ 1, does there exist a graph G with μ(G) = t? We answer this question in the affirmative by proving:     

Semilinear wave equation with time dependent potential

We consider the following semilinear wave equation: (1) for (t,x) ∈ ?_t × ?. We prove that if the potential V(t,x) is a measurable function that satisfies the following decay assumption: ∣V(t,x)∣?C(1+t)(1+∣x∣) for a.e. (t,x) ∈ ?_t × ? where C, σ₀>0 are real constants, then for any real number λ that satisfies there exists a real number ρ(f,g,λ)>0 such that the equation has a global solution provided that 0<ρ?ρ(f,g,λ). Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Hamiltonian graphs involving neighborhood unions

Dirac proved that a graph G is hamiltonian if the minimum degree , where n is the order of G. Let G be a graph and . The neighborhood of A is for some . For any positive integer k, we show that every (2k ? 1)‐connected graph of order n ≥ 16k³ is hamiltonian if |N(A)| ≥ n/2 for every independent vertex set A of k vertices. The result contains a few known results as special cases. The case of k = 1 is the classic result of Dirac when n is large and the case of k = 2 is a result of Broersma, Van den Heuvel, and Veldman when n is large. For general k, this result improves a result of Chen and Liu. The lower bound 2k ? 1 on connectivity is best possible in general while the lower bound 16k³ for n is conjectured to be unnecessary. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Graph Theory 53: 83–100, 2006     

Explicit sparse almost‐universal graphs for ${\bf {{\cal G}(n, {k \over n})}}$

For any integer n, let be a probability distribution on the family of graphs on n vertices (where every such graph has nonzero probability associated with it). A graph Γ is ‐almost‐universal if Γ satisifies the following: If G is chosen according to the probability distribution , then G is isomorphic to a subgraph of Γ with probability 1 ‐ . For any p ∈ [0,1], let (n,p) denote the probability distribution on the family of graphs on n vertices, where two vertices u and v form an edge with probability p, and the events {u and v form an edge}; u,v ∈ V (G) are mutually independent. For k ≥ 4 and n sufficiently large we construct a ‐almost‐universal‐graph on n vertices and with O(n)polylog(n) edges, where q = ? ? for such k ≤ 6, and where q = ? ? for k ≥ 7. The number of edges is close to the lower bound of Ω( ) for the number of edges in a universal graph for the family of graphs with n vertices and maximum degree k. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Random Struct. Alg., 2010     

Between ends and fibers

Let Γ be an infinite, locally finite, connected graph with distance function δ. Given a ray P in Γ and a constant C ≥ 1, a vertex‐sequence is said to be regulated by C if, for all n??, never precedes x_n on P, each vertex of P appears at most C times in the sequence, and . R. Halin (Math. Ann., 157, 3 , 125–137) defined two rays to be end‐equivalent if they are joined by infinitely many pairwise‐disjoint paths; the resulting equivalence classes are called ends. More recently H. A. Jung (Graph Structure Theory, Contemporary Mathematics, 147, 6 , 477–484) defined rays P and Q to be b‐equivalent if there exist sequences and VQ regulated by some constant C ≥ 1 such that for all n??; he named the resulting equivalence classes b‐fibers. Let denote the set of nondecreasing functions from into the set of positive real numbers. The relation (called f‐equivalence) generalizes Jung's condition to . As f runs through , uncountably many equivalence relations are produced on the set of rays that are no finer than b‐equivalence while, under specified conditions, are no coarser than end‐equivalence. Indeed, for every Γ there exists an “end‐defining function” that is unbounded and sublinear and such that implies that P and Q are end‐equivalent. Say if there exists a sublinear function such that . The equivalence classes with respect to are called bundles. We pursue the notion of “initially metric” rays in relation to bundles, and show that in any bundle either all or none of its rays are initially metric. Furthermore, initially metric rays in the same bundle are end‐equivalent. In the case that Γ contains translatable rays we give some sufficient conditions for every f‐equivalence class to contain uncountably many g‐equivalence classes (where ). We conclude with a variety of applications to infinite planar graphs. Among these, it is shown that two rays whose union is the boundary of an infinite face of an almost‐transitive planar map are never bundle‐ equivalent. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Graph Theory 54: 125–153, 2007     

Packing k‐edge trees in graphs of restricted vertex degrees

Let denote the set of graphs with each vertex of degree at least r and at most s, v(G) the number of vertices, and τ_k (G) the maximum number of disjoint k‐edge trees in G. In this paper we show that

• (a1) if G ∈ and s ≥ 4, then τ₂(G) ≥ v(G)/(s + 1),
• (a2) if G ∈ and G has no 5‐vertex components, then τ₂(G) ≥ v(G)4,
• (a3) if G ∈ and G has no k‐vertex component, where k ≥ 2 and s ≥ 3, then τ_k(G) ≥ (v(G) ‐k)/(sk ‐ k + 1), and
• (a4) the above bounds are attained for infinitely many connected graphs.

Our proofs provide polynomial time algorithms for finding the corresponding packings in a graph. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Graph Theory 55: 306–324, 2007     

A list analogue of equitable coloring

Given lists of available colors assigned to the vertices of a graph G, a list coloring is a proper coloring of G such that the color on each vertex is chosen from its list. If the lists all have size k, then a list coloring is equitable if each color appears on at most vertices. A graph is equitably k-choosable if such a coloring exists whenever the lists all have size k. We prove that G is equitably k-choosable when unless G contains or k is odd and . For forests, the threshold improves to . If G is a 2-degenerate graph (given k ≥ 5) or a connected interval graph (other than ), then G is equitably k-choosable when . © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Graph Theory 44: 166–177, 2003     

On the Harnack principle for strongly elliptic systems with nonsmooth coefficients

In this paper we prove the following theorem (for notation and definitions, see the paragraphs below): “Let Ω ⊆ ℝⁿ be a domain, m ∈ ℕ, and λ, q > 0. Then, there exists r (= r(λ, q)) > 1 such that for every 0 < p < q, whenever are weak solutions of a strongly elliptic system with m equations of ellipticity λ satisfying ∈ 𝒫_r a.e. and Ω′ ⊆ Ω subdomain, the following inequalities hold: where C (= C(n,m,λ,q,p,Ω,Ω′)) is a positive constant.” © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Solution of a conjecture of Tewes and Volkmann regarding extendable cycles in in‐tournaments

A directed cycle C of a digraph D is extendable if there exists a directed cycle C′ in D that contains all vertices of C and an additional one. In 1989, Hendry defined a digraph D to be cycle extendable if it contains a directed cycle and every non‐Hamiltonian directed cycle of D is extendable. Furthermore, D is fully cycle extendable if it is cycle extendable and every vertex of D belongs to a directed cycle of length three. In 2001, Tewes and Volkmann extended these definitions in considering only directed cycles whose length exceed a certain bound 3≤k<n: a digraph D is k ‐extendable if every directed cycle of length t, where k≤t<n, is extendable. Moreover, D is called fully k ‐extendable if D is k ‐extendable and every vertex of D belongs to a directed cycle of length k. An in‐tournament is an oriented graph such that the in‐neighborhood of every vertex induces a tournament. This class of digraphs which generalizes the class of tournaments was introduced by Bang‐Jensen, Huang and Prisner in 1993. Tewes and Volkmann showed that every connected in‐tournament D of order n with minimum degree δ≥1 is ( ) ‐extendable. Furthermore, if D is a strongly connected in‐tournament of order n with minimum degree δ=2 or , then D is fully ( ) ‐extendable. In this article we shall see that if , every vertex of D belongs to a directed cycle of length , which means that D is fully ( ) ‐extendable. This confirms a conjecture of Tewes and Volkmann. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Graph Theory 63: 82–92, 2010     

A Ramsey‐type problem and the Turán numbers*

For each n and k, we examine bounds on the largest number m so that for any k‐coloring of the edges of K_n there exists a copy of K_m whose edges receive at most k?1 colors. We show that for , the largest value of m is asymptotically equal to the Turá number , while for any constant then the largest m is asymptotically larger than that Turá number. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Graph Theory 40: 120–129, 2002