Cross-monotone subsequences

Two finite real sequences (a ₁,...,a _k ) and (b ₁,...,b _k ) are cross-monotone if each is nondecreasing anda _i+1–a _i b _i+1–b _i for alli. A sequence (₁,..., _n ) of nondecreasing reals is in class CM(k) if it has disjointk-term subsequences that are cross-monotone. The paper shows thatf(k), the smallestn such that every nondecreasing (₁,..., _n ) is in CM(k), is bounded between aboutk ²/4 andk ₂/2. It also shows thatg(k), the smallestn for which all (₁,..., _n ) are in CM(k)and eithera _k b ₁ orb _k a ₁, equalsk(k–1)+2, and thath(k), the smallestn for which all (₁,..., _n ) are in CM(_k)and eithera ₁b ₁...a _k b _k orb ₁a ₁...b _k a _k , equals 2(k–1)²+2.The results forf andg rely on new theorems for regular patterns in (0, 1)-matrices that are of interest in their own right. An example is: Every upper-triangulark ²×k ² (0, 1)-matrix has eitherk 1's in consecutive columns, each below its predecessor, ork 0's in consecutive rows, each to the right of its predecessor, and the same conclusion is false whenk ² is replaced byk ²–1.     

Spanning trees with bounded degrees

Lets andk be positive integers. We prove that ifG is ak-connected graph containing no independent set withks+2 vertices thenG has a spanning tree with maximum degree at mosts+1. Moreover ifs3 and the independence number (G) is such that (G)1+k(s–1)+c for some0ck thenG has a spanning tree with no more thanc vertices of degrees+1.     

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.     

Graph Connectivity After Path Removal

Let G be a graph and u, v be two distinct vertices of G. A u—v path P is called nonseparating if G—V(P) is connected. The purpose of this paper is to study the number of nonseparating u—v path for two arbitrary vertices u and v of a given graph. For a positive integer k, we will show that there is a minimum integer (k) so that if G is an (k)-connected graph and u and v are two arbitrary vertices in G, then there exist k vertex disjoint paths P ₁[u,v], P ₂[u,v], . . ., P _k [u,v], such that G—V (P _i [u,v]) is connected for every i (i = 1, 2, ..., k). In fact, we will prove that (k) 22k+2. It is known that (1) = 3.. A result of Tutte showed that (2) = 3. We show that (3) = 6. In addition, we prove that if G is a 5-connected graph, then for every pair of vertices u and v there exists a path P[u, v] such that G—V(P[u, v]) is 2-connected.* Supported by NSF grant No. DMS-0070059 Supported by ONR grant N00014-97-1-0499 Supported by NSF grant No. 9531824     

Solution of an extremal problem for sets using resultants of polynomials

A new, short proof is given of the following theorem of Bollobás: LetA ₁,..., A_h andB ₁,..., B_h be collections of sets with _i ¦A _i¦=r,¦B_i¦=s and ¦A _iB_j¦=Ø if and only ifi=j, thenh( _s ^r+s ). The proof immediately extends to the generalizations of this theorem obtained by Frankl, Alon and others.     

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.     

The complexity of a class of infinite graphs

IfG _k is the family of countable graphs with nok vertex (or edge) disjoint circuits (1<k<) then there is a countableG _k G _k such that every member ofG _k is an (induced) subgraph of some member ofG _k , but no finiteG _k suffices.     

List edge colourings of some 1-factorable multigraphs

The List Edge Colouring Conjecture asserts that, given any multigraphG with chromatic indexk and any set system {S _e :eE(G)} with each |S _e |=k, we can choose elementss _e S _e such thats _e s _f whenevere andf are adjacent edges. Using a technique of Alon and Tarsi which involves the graph monomial of an oriented graph, we verify this conjecture for certain families of 1-factorable multigraphs, including 1-factorable planar graphs.Supported by the University Research Council of Vanderbilt University and NSERC Canada grants A5414 and A5499.Supported by NSERC Canada grant A5499     

Circle grids and bipartite graphs of distances

Fort fixed,n+t pointsA ₁,A ₂,...,A _n andB ₁,B ₂,...,B _t are constructed in the plane withO(n) distinct distancesd(A _i B _j ) As a by-product we show that the graph of thek largest distances can contain a complete subgraphK _{t, n} withn=(k ²), which settles a problem of Erds, Lovász and Vesztergombi.Research partially supported by the Hungarian National Science Fund (OTKA) # 2117.     

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.     

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.     

A Dynamic location problem for graphs

We introduce a class of optimization problems, calleddynamic location problems, involving the processing of requests that occur sequentially at the nodes of a graphG. This leads to the definition of a new parameter of graphs, called the window indexWX(G), that measures how large a window into the future is needed to solve every instance of the dynamic location problem onG optimally on-line. We completely characterize this parameter:WX(G)k if and only ifG is a weak retract of a product of complete graphs of size at mostk. As a byproduct, we obtain two (polynomially recognizable) structural characterizations of such graphs, extending a result of Bandelt.     

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.     

Asymptotics for the Euclidean TSP with power weighted edges

Summary LetU ₁,...,U_n denote i.i.d. random variables with the uniform distribution on [0, 1]², and letT ²T²(U₁,...,U_n) denote the shortest tour throughU ₁,...,U_n with square-weighted edges. By drawing on the quasi-additive structure ofT ² and the boundary rooted dual process, it is shown that lim _n E T ²(U ₁,...,U_n)= for some finite constant .This work was supported in part by NSF Grant DMS-9200656, Swiss National Foundation Grant 21-298333.90, and the US Army Research Office through the Mathematical Sciences Institute of Cornell University, whose assistance is gratefully acknowledged     

Quadratic spline interpolation on uniform meshes

The interpolation problem at uniform mesh points of a quadratic splines(x _i)=f _i,i=0, 1,...,N ands(x ₀)=f₀ is considered. It is known that s–f=O(h ³) and s–f=O(h ²), whereh is the step size, and that these orders cannot be improved. Contrary to recently published results we prove that superconvergence cannot occur for any particular point independent off other than mesh points wheres=f by assumption. Best error bounds for some compound formulae approximatingf _i andf _i ⁽³⁾ are also derived.     

On Connected Resolving Decompositions in Graphs

For an ordered k-decomposition of a connected graph G and an edge e of G, the -code of e is the k-tuple where d(e, G _i) is the distance from e to G _i. A decomposition is resolving if every two distinct edges of G have distinct -codes. The minimum k for which G has a resolving k-decomposition is its decomposition dimension dim _d (G). A resolving decomposition of G is connected if each G _i is connected for 1 i k. The minimum k for which G has a connected resolving k-decomposition is its connected decomposition number cd(G). Thus 2 dim _d (G) cd(G) m for every connected graph G of size m 2. All nontrivial connected graphs of size m with connected decomposition number 2 or m have been characterized. We present characterizations for connected graphs of size m with connected decomposition number m – 1 or m – 2. It is shown that each pair s, t of rational numbers with 0 < s t 1, there is a connected graph G of size m such that dim _d (G)/m = s and cd(G)/m = t.     

Weight functions on the Kneser graph and the solution of an intersection problem of Sali

LetX, Y be finite sets and suppose thatF is a collection of pairs of sets (F, G),FX,GY satisfying |FF|s, |GG|t and |FF|+|GG|s+t+1 for all (F, G),F, GF. Extending a result of Sali, we determine the maximum ofF.     

Some Ramsey-Turán type results for hypergraphs

To everyk-graphG let(G) be the minimal real number such that for every>0 andn>n ₀(,G) everyk-graphH withn vertices and more than (+) ( ) edges contains a copy ofG. The real number (G) is defined in the same way adding the constraint that all independent sets of vertices inH have sizeo(n). Answering a problem of Erds and Sós it is shown that there exist infinitely manyk-graphs with 0<(G)<(G) for everyk3. It is worth noting that we were unable to find a singleG with the above property.This paper was written while the authors were visiting AT&T Bell Laboratories, Murray Hill, NJ 07974.     

On a theorem of lovász on covers inr-partite hypergraphs

A theorem of Lovász asserts that (H)/*(H)r/2 for everyr-partite hypergraphH (where and * denote the covering number and fractional covering number respectively). Here it is shown that the same upper bound is valid for a more general class of hypergraphs: those which admit a partition (V ₁, ...,V _k ) of the vertex set and a partitionp ₁+...+p _k ofr such that |eV _i |p _i r/2 for every edgee and every 1ik. Moreover, strict inequality holds whenr>2, and in this form the bound is tight. The investigation of the ratio /* is extended to some other classes of hypergraphs, defined by conditions of similar flavour. Upper bounds on this ratio are obtained fork-colourable, stronglyk-colourable and (what we call)k-partitionable hypergraphs.Supported by grant HL28438 at MIPG, University of Pennsylvania, and by the fund for the promotion of research at the Technion.This author's research was supported by the fund for the promotion of research at the Technion.     

∑II∑ threshold formulas

A II formula has the form, where eachL is either a variable or a negated variable. In this paper we study the computation of threshold functions by II formulas. By combining the proof of the Fredman-Komlós bound [5, 10] and a counting argument, we show that fork andn large andkn/2, every II formula computing the threshold functionT _k ⁿ has size at least exp . Fork andn large andkn ^2/3, we show that there exist II formulas for computingT _k ⁿ with size at most exp .