On the stochastic independence properties of hard-core distributions

A probability measurep on the set of matchings in a graph (or, more generally 2-bounded hypergraph) ishard-core if for some : [0,), the probabilityp(M) ofM is proportional to . We show that such distributions enjoy substantial approximate stochastic independence properties. This is based on showing that, withM chosen according to the hard-core distributionp, MP () the matching polytope of , and >0, if the vector ofmarginals, (Pr(AM):A an edge of ), is in (1–) MP (), then the weights (A) are bounded by someA(). This eventually implies, for example, that under the same assumption, with fixed, as the distance betweenA, B tends to infinity.Thought to be of independent interest, our results have already been applied in the resolutions of several questions involving asymptotic behaviour of graphs and hypergraphs (see [14, 16], [11]–[13]).Supported in part by NSFThis work forms part of the author's doctoral dissertation [16]; see also [17]. The author gratefully acknowledges NSERC for partial support in the form of a 1967 Science and Engineering Scholarship.     

The tree number of a graph with a given girth

A family of subtrees of a graphG whose edge sets form a partition of the edge set ofG is called atree decomposition ofG. The minimum number of trees in a tree decomposition ofG is called thetree number ofG and is denoted by(G). It is known that ifG is connected then(G) |G|/2. In this paper we show that ifG is connected and has girthg 5 then(G) |G|/g + 1. Surprisingly, the case wheng = 4 seems to be more difficult. We conjecture that in this case(G) |G|/4 + 1 and show a wide class of graphs that satisfy it. Also, some special graphs like complete bipartite graphs andn-dimensional cubes, for which we determine their tree numbers, satisfy it. In the general case we prove the weaker inequality(G) (|G| – 1)/3 + 1.     

First order properties of random posets

Let =(n,p) be a binary relation on the set [n]={1, 2, ..., n} such that (i,i) for every i and (i,j) with probability p, independently for each pair i,j [n], where i<j. Define as the transitive closure of and denote poset ([n], ) by R(n, p). We show that for any constant p probability of each first order property of R(n, p) converges as n .     

Colouring a graph frugally

We prove that any graph with maximum degree sufficiently large, has a proper vertex colouring using +1 colours such that each colour class appears at most log⁸ times in the neighbourhood of any vertex. We also show that for 1, the minimum number of colours required to colour any such graph so that each vertex appears at most times in the neighbourhood of any vertex is (+^1+1//), showing in particular that when =log/loglog, such a colouring cannot always be achieved with O() colours. We also provide a polynomial time algorithm to find such a colouring. This has applications to the total chromatic number of a graph.The second two authors were supported by NATO Collaborative Research Grant #CRG950235.     

C 1 changes of variable: Beurling-Helson type theorem and Hörmander conjecture on Fourier multipliers

We prove that if aC ¹ smooth change of variable : generates a bounded composition operatorff° in the spaceA _p()=L ^p ,p2, then is linear (affine).We also prove that for a nonlinearC ¹ mapping , the norms of exponentialse ⁱ as Fourier multipliers inL ^p () tend to infinity (,||). In both results the condition C ¹ is sharp, it cannot be replaced by the Lipschitz condition.     

Infinite highly arc transitive digraphs and universal covering digraphs

A digraph (that is a directed graph) is said to be highly arc transitive if its automorphism group is transitive on the set ofs-arcs for eachs0. Several new constructions are given of infinite highly arc transitive digraphs. In particular, for a connected, 1-arc transitive, bipartite digraph, a highly arc transitive digraphDL() is constructed and is shown to be a covering digraph for every digraph in a certain classD() of connected digraphs. Moreover, if is locally finite, thenDL() is a universal covering digraph forD(). Further constructions of infinite highly arc transitive digraphs are given.The second author wishes to acknowledge the hospitality of the Mathematical Institute of the University of Oxford, and the University of Auckland, during the period when the research for this paper was doneResearch supported by the Australian Research Council     

k-regular factors and semi-k-regular factors in bipartite graphs

LetG be a graph, andk1 an integer. LetU be a subset ofV(G), and letF be a spanning subgraph ofG such that deg _F (x)=k for allx V(G)–U. If deg _F (x)k for allxU, thenF is called an upper semi-k-regular factor with defect setU, and if deg _F (x)k for allxU, thenF is called a lower semi-k-regular factor with defect setU. Now letG=(X, Y;E(G)) be a bipartite graph with bipartition (X,Y) such that X=Yk+2. We prove the following two results.(1) Suppose that for each subsetU ₁X such that U ₁=max{k+1, X+1/2},G has an upper semi-k-regular factor with defect setU ₁Y, and for each subsetU ₂Y such that U ₂=max{k+1, X+1/2},G has an upper semi-k-regular factor with defect setXU ₂. ThenG has ak-factor.(2) Suppose that for each subsetU ₁X such that U ₁=X–1/k+1,G has a lower semi-k-regular factor with defect setU ₁Y, and for each subsetU ₂Y such that U ₂=X–1/k+1,G has a lower semi-k-regular factor with defect setXU ₂. ThenG has ak-factor.     

Packing directed circuits fractionally

LetG be a digraph, and letk1, such that no fractional packing of directed circuits ofG has value >k, when every vertex is given capacity 1. We prove there is a set ofO (k logk logk) vertices meeting all directed circuits ofG.     

Packing random items of three colors

Consider three colors 1,2,3, and forj3, considern items (X _i,j)in of colorj. We want to pack these items inn bins of equal capacity (the bin size is not fixed, and is to be determined once all the objects are known), subject to the condition that each bin must contain exactly one item of each color, and that the total item sizes attributed to any given bin does not exceed the bin capacity. Consider the stochastic model where the random variables (X _i,jj)in,j3 are independent uniformly distributed over [0,1]. We show that there is a polynomial-time algorithm that produces a packing which has a wasted spaceK logn with overwhelming probability.Work partially supported by an N.S.F. grant.     

Metrics with finite sets of primitive extensions

In this paper, we give a complete characterization for the class of rational finite metrics with the property that the set () of primitive extensions of is finite. Here, for a metric on a setT, a positive extensionm of to a setV T is calledprimitive if none of the convex combinations of other extensions of toV is less than or equal tom. Our main theorem asserts that the following the properties are equivalent: (i) () is finite; (ii) Up to an integer factor, is a submetric of the path metric d ^H of a graphH with |(d ^H )=1; (iii) A certain bipartite graph associated with contains neither isometrick-cycles withk6 nor induced subgraphsK _3,3 ^– . We then show that () is finite if and only if the dimension of the tight span of is at most two. We also present other results, discuss applications to multicommodity flows, and raise open problems.This research was supported by grant 97-01-00115 from the Russian Foundation of Basic Research and a grant from the Sonderforschungsbereich 343, Bielefeld Universität, Bielefeld, Germany.     

Conservative weightings and ear-decompositions of graphs

A subsetJ of edges of a connected undirected graphG=(V, E) is called ajoin if |CJ||C|/2 for every circuitC ofG. Answering a question of P. Solé and Th. Zaslavsky, we derive a min-max formula for the maximum cardinality of a joint ofG. Namely, =(+|V|–1)/2 where denotes the minimum number of edges whose contraction leaves a factor-critical graph.To study these parameters we introduce a new decomposition ofG, interesting for its own sake, whose building blocks are factor-critical graphs and matching-covered bipartite graphs. We prove that the length of such a decomposition is always and show how an optimal join can be constructed as the union of perfect matchings in the building blocks. The proof relies on the Gallai-Edmonds structure theorem and gives rise to a polynomial time algorithm to construct the optima in question.     

Extending partial isomorphisms of graphs

Theorem Let X be a finite graph. Then there exists a finite graph Z containing X as an induced subgraphs, such that every isomorphism between induced subgraphs of X extends to an automorphism of Z.The graphZ may be required to be edge-transitive. The result implies that for anyn, there exists a notion of a genericn-tuple of automorphism of the Rado graphR (the random countable graph): for almost all automorphism ₁,..., _n and ₁ ofR (in the sense of Baire category), (R,₁,..., _n ), (R,₁,..., _n ). The problem arose in a recent paper of Hodges, Hodgkinson, Lascar and Shelah, where the theorem is used to prove the small index property forR.Work supported by a Sloan Fellowship and by NSF grant DMS-8903378.     

Upper bound for transversals of tripartite hypergraphs

We prove 2 7/9v for 3-partite hypergraphs. (This is an improvement of the trivial bound 3v.)     

Eulerian numbers with fractional order parameters

Summary The aim of this paper is to generalize the well-known Eulerian numbers, defined by the recursion relationE(n, k) = (k + 1)E(n – 1, k) + (n – k)E(n – 1, k – 1), to the case thatn is replaced by . It is shown that these Eulerian functionsE(, k), which can also be defined in terms of a generating function, can be represented as a certain sum, as a determinant, or as a fractional Weyl integral. TheE(, k) satisfy recursion formulae, they are monotone ink and, as functions of , are arbitrarily often differentiable. Further, connections with the fractional Stirling numbers of second kind, theS(, k), > 0, introduced by the authors (1989), are discussed. Finally, a certain counterpart of the famous Worpitzky formula is given; it is essentially an approximation ofx in terms of a sum involving theE(, k) and a hypergeometric function.Dedicated to the memory of Alexander M. Ostrowski on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of his birth.     

Weakly union-free maximum packings

Frankl and Füredi [11] established that the largest number of 3-subsets of ann-set, for which no four distinct setsA,B,D satisfyAB=CD, is at most . Chee, Colbourn, and Ling [6] established that this upper bound is met with few exceptions whenn0, 1 (mod 3). In this paper, it is established that the upper bound is also met with few exceptions whenn2 (mod 3).The research was supported in part by the US Army Research Office under Grant DAAG55-98-1-0272.     

Turán's extremal problem in random graphs: Forbidding odd cycles

For 0<1 and graphsG andH, we writeGH if any -proportion of the edges ofG span at least one copy ofH inG. As customary, we writeC ^k for a cycle of lengthk. We show that, for every fixed integerl1 and real >0, there exists a real constantC=C(l, ), such that almost every random graphG _{n, p} withp=p(n)Cn ^–1+1/2l satisfiesG _n,p1/2+ C ^2l+1. In particular, for any fixedl1 and >0, this result implies the existence of very sparse graphsG withG _1/2+ C ^2l+1.The first author was partially supported by NSERC. The second author was partially supported by FAPESP (Proc. 93/0603-1) and by CNP_q (Proc. 300334/93-1). The third author was partially sopported by KBN grant 2 1087 91 01.     

Generic continuity of restricted weak upper semi-continuous set-valued mappings

Set-valued mappings from a topological space into subsets of a Banach space which satisfy a restricted form of weak upper semi-continuity, have particularly noteworthy properties. We establish a selection theorem for certain set-valued mappings from a (-) unfavourable topological space into subsets of a Banach space and as a consequence derive the property that restricted weak upper semi-continuous set-valued mappings which satisfy a minimality condition, from a (-) unfavourable topological space into subsets of a Banach space are single-valued and norm upper semi-continuous at the points of a residual subset of their domain.     

Regressions and monotone chains II: The poset of integer intervals

A regressive function (also called a regression or contractive mapping) on a partial order P is a function mapping P to itself such that (x)x. A monotone k-chain for is a k-chain on which is order-preserving; i.e., a chain x ₁<...ksuch that (x ₁)...(x_k). Let P _nbe the poset of integer intervals {i, i+1, ..., m} contained in {1, 2, ..., n}, ordered by inclusion. Let f(k) be the least value of n such that every regression on P _nhas a monotone k+1-chain, let t(x,j) be defined by t(x, 0)=1 and t(x,j)=x ^t(x,j–1). Then f(k) exists for all k (originally proved by D. White), and t(2,k) < f(K) <t( + _k, k) , where _k 0 as k. Alternatively, the largest k such that every regression on P _nis guaranteed to have a monotone k-chain lies between lg^*(n) and lg^*(n)–2, inclusive, where lg^*(n) is the number of appliations of logarithm base 2 required to reduce n to a negative number. Analogous results hold for choice functions, which are regressions in which every element is mapped to a minimal element.     

The Colin de Verdière number and sphere representations of a graph

Colin de Vedière introduced an interesting linear algebraic invariant (G) of graphs. He proved that (G)2 if and only ifG is outerplanar, and (G)3 if and only ifG is planar. We prove that if the complement of a graphG onn nodes is outerplanar, then (G)n–4, and if it is planar, then (G)n–5. We give a full characterization of maximal planar graphs whose complementsG have (G)=n–5. In the opposite direction we show that ifG does not have twin nodes, then (G)n–3 implies that the complement ofG is outerplanar, and (G)n–4 implies that the complement ofG is planar.Our main tools are a geometric formulation of the invariant, and constructing representations of graphs by spheres, related to the classical result of Koebe about representing planar graphs by touching disks. In particular we show that such sphere representations characterize outerplanar and planar graphs.     

Contraction of Exterior Powers in Characteristic 2 and the Spin Module

Let K be a field of characteristic 2 and letV be a vector space of dimension 2m over K. Let f be a non-degenerate alternating bilinear form defined on V × V. The symplectic group Sp(2m, K) acts on the exterior powers ^k V for 0 k. 2m There is a contraction map defined on the exterior algebra , which commutes with the Sp(2m, K) action and satisfies ² = 0 and ( ^k V) ^k–1 V We prove that ( ^k V)= ker ^k–1 V except when k=m+2. In the exceptional case, ( ^m+2 V) has codimension 2^m in ker ^m V and we show that the quotient module ker ^m V/ ^m+2 V is a spin module for Sp(2m,K). When K is algebraically closed, we show that this spin module occurs with multiplicity 1 in ^m V and multiplicity 0 in all other components of V.