An Erdős–Ko–Rado Theorem for Direct Products

Letn_i, k_ibe positive integers,i=1, ..., d,satisfyingn_i≥2k_i.LetX₁, ..., X_dbe pairwise disjoint sets with |X_i| =n_i.Letbe the family of those (k₁+···+k_d)-element sets which have exactlyk_ielements inX_i, i=1,..., d.It is shown that if⊂is an intersecting family then ||/||≤max_ik_i/n_i,and this is best possible. The proof is algebraic, although in thed=2 case a combinatorial argument is presented as well.     

Pósa-condition and nowhere-zero 3-flows

Let G be a simple graph on n vertices and π(G)=(d₁,d₂,…,d_n) be the degree sequence of G, where n≥3 and d₁≤d₂≤?≤d_n. The classical Pósa’s theorem states that if d_m≥m+1 for and d_m+1≥m+1 for n being odd and , then G is Hamiltonian, which implies that G admits a nowhere-zero 4-flow. In this paper, we further show that if G satisfies the Pósa-condition that d_m≥m+1 for and d_m+1≥m+1 for n being odd and , then G has no nowhere-zero 3-flow if and only if G is one of seven completely described graphs.     

Higher order log-concavity in Euler’s difference table

For 0≤k≤n, let be the entries in Euler’s difference table and let . Dumont and Randrianarivony showed equals the number of permutations on [n] whose fixed points are contained in {1,2,…,k}. Rakotondrajao found a combinatorial interpretation of the number in terms of k-fixed-points-permutations of [n]. We show that for any n≥1, the sequence is essentially 2-log-concave and reverse ultra log-concave.     

On the size of the symmetry group of a perfect code

It is shown that for every nonlinear perfect code C of length n and rank r with n−log(n+1)+1≤r≤n−1, where denotes the group of symmetries of C. This bound considerably improves a bound of Malyugin.     

Boxicity of line graphs

The boxicity of a graph H, denoted by , is the minimum integer k such that H is an intersection graph of axis-parallel k-dimensional boxes in R^k. In this paper we show that for a line graph G of a multigraph, , where Δ(G) denotes the maximum degree of G. Since G is a line graph, Δ(G)≤2(χ(G)−1), where χ(G) denotes the chromatic number of G, and therefore, . For the d-dimensional hypercube Q_d, we prove that . The question of finding a nontrivial lower bound for was left open by Chandran and Sivadasan in [L. Sunil Chandran, Naveen Sivadasan, The cubicity of Hypercube Graphs. Discrete Mathematics 308 (23) (2008) 5795–5800].The above results are consequences of bounds that we obtain for the boxicity of a fully subdivided graph (a graph that can be obtained by subdividing every edge of a graph exactly once).     

A new characterization of projections of quadrics in finite projective spaces of even characteristic

We will classify, up to linear representations, all geometries fully embedded in an affine space with the property that for every antiflag {p,L} of the geometry there are either 0, α, or q lines through p intersecting L. An example of such a geometry with α=2 is the following well known geometry . Let Q_n+1 be a nonsingular quadric in a finite projective space , n≥3, q even. We project Q_n+1 from a point r∉Q_n+1, distinct from its nucleus if n+1 is even, on a hyperplane not through r. This yields a partial linear space whose points are the points p of , such that the line 〈p,r〉 is a secant to Q_n+1, and whose lines are the lines of which contain q such points. This geometry is fully embedded in an affine subspace of and satisfies the antiflag property mentioned. As a result of our classification theorem we will give a new characterization theorem of this geometry.     

Locating–dominating codes in paths

Bertrand, Charon, Hudry and Lobstein studied, in their paper in 2004 [1], r-locating–dominating codes in paths P_n. They conjectured that if r≥2 is a fixed integer, then the smallest cardinality of an r-locating–dominating code in P_n, denoted by , satisfies for infinitely many values of n. We prove that this conjecture holds. In fact, we show a stronger result saying that for any r≥3 we have for all n≥n_r when n_r is large enough. In addition, we solve a conjecture on location–domination with segments of even length in the infinite path.     

Edge choosability and total choosability of planar graphs with no 3-cycles adjacent 4-cycles

Two cycles are said to be adjacent if they share a common edge. Let G be a planar graph without triangles adjacent 4-cycles. We prove that if Δ(G)≥6, and and if Δ(G)≥8, where and denote the list edge chromatic number and list total chromatic number of G, respectively.     

Random induced subgraphs of Cayley graphs induced by transpositions

In this paper we study random induced subgraphs of Cayley graphs of the symmetric group induced by an arbitrary minimal generating set of transpositions. A random induced subgraph of this Cayley graph is obtained by selecting permutations with independent probability, λ_n. Our main result is that for any minimal generating set of transpositions, for probabilities where and δ>0, a random induced subgraph has a.s. a unique largest component of size . Here x(?_n) is the survival probability of a Poisson branching process with parameter λ=1+?_n.     

Adjoint polynomials of bridge–path and bridge–cycle graphs and Chebyshev polynomials

The chromatic polynomial of a simple graph G with n>0 vertices is a polynomial of degree n, where α_k(G) is the number of k-independent partitions of G for all k. The adjoint polynomial of G is defined to be , where is the complement of G. We find explicit formulas for the adjoint polynomials of the bridge–path and bridge–cycle graphs. Consequence, we find the zeros of the adjoint polynomials of several families of graphs.     

Coquet-type formulas for the rarefied weighted Thue–Morse sequence

Newman proved for the classical Thue–Morse sequence, ((−1)^s(n))_n≥0, that for all N∈N with real constants satisfying c₂>c₁>0 and λ=log3/log4. Coquet improved this result and deduced , where F(x) is a nowhere-differentiable, continuous function with period 1 and η(N)∈{−1,0,1}. In this paper we obtain for the weighted version of the Thue–Morse sequence that for the sum a Coquet-type formula exists for every r∈{0,1,2} if and only if the sequence of weights is eventually periodic. From the specific Coquet-type formulas we derive parts of the weak Newman-type results that were recently obtained by Larcher and Zellinger.     

A pattern sequence approach to Stern’s sequence

Suppose that w∈1{0,1}^∗ and let a_w(n) be the number of occurrences of the word w in the binary expansion of n. Let {s(n)}_n?0 denote the Stern sequence, defined by s(0)=0, s(1)=1, and for n?1, In this note, we show that where denotes the complement of w (obtained by sending 0?1 and 1?0) and [w]₂ denotes the integer specified by the word w∈{0,1}^∗ interpreted in base 2.     

On the layered nearest neighbour estimate, the bagged nearest neighbour estimate and the random forest method in regression and classification

Let be identically distributed random vectors in R^d, independently drawn according to some probability density. An observation is said to be a layered nearest neighbour (LNN) of a point if the hyperrectangle defined by and contains no other data points. We first establish consistency results on , the number of LNN of . Then, given a sample of independent identically distributed random vectors from R^d×R, one may estimate the regression function by the LNN estimate , defined as an average over the Y_i’s corresponding to those which are LNN of . Under mild conditions on r, we establish the consistency of towards 0 as n→∞, for almost all and all p≥1, and discuss the links between r_n and the random forest estimates of Breiman (2001) [8]. We finally show the universal consistency of the bagged (bootstrap-aggregated) nearest neighbour method for regression and classification.     

Problems arising from jackknifing the estimate of a Kaplan-Meier integral

Stute and Wang (1994) considered the problem of estimating the integral S^θ = ∫ θ dF, based on a possibly censored sample from a distribution F, where θ is an F-integrable function. They proposed a Kaplan-Meier integral to approximate S^θ and derived an explicit formula for the delete-1 jackknife estimate . differs from only when the largest observation, X_(n), is not censored (δ_(n) = 1 and next-to-the-largest observation, X_(n-1), is censored (δ_(n-1) = 0). In this note, it will pointed out that when X_(n) is censored is based on a defective distribution, and therefore can badly underestimate . We derive an explicit formula for the delete-2 jackknife estimate . However, on comparing the expressions of and , their difference is negligible. To improve the performance of and , we propose a modified estimator according to Efron (1980). Simulation results demonstrate that is much less biased than and and .     

Mutually orthogonal equitable Latin rectangles

Let ab=n². We define an equitable Latin rectangle as an a×b matrix on a set of n symbols where each symbol appears either or times in each row of the matrix and either or times in each column of the matrix. Two equitable Latin rectangles are orthogonal in the usual way. Denote a set of ka×b mutually orthogonal equitable Latin rectangles as a k– MOELR (a,b;n). When a≠9,18,36, or 100, then we show that the maximum number of k– MOELR (a,b;n)≥3 for all possible values of (a,b).     

The non-existence of some perfect codes over non-prime power alphabets

Let denote the number of times the prime number p appears in the prime factorization of the integer q. The following result is proved: If there is a perfect 1-error correcting code of length n over an alphabet with q symbols then, for every prime number .This condition is stronger than both the packing condition and the necessary condition given by the Lloyd theorem, as it for example excludes the existence of a perfect code with the parameters (n,q,e)=(19,6,1).     

Perfectness and imperfectness of unit disk graphs on triangular lattice points

Given a finite set of 2-dimensional points P⊆R² and a positive real d, a unit disk graph, denoted by (P,d), is an undirected graph with vertex set P such that two vertices are adjacent if and only if the Euclidean distance between the pair is less than or equal to d. Given a pair of non-negative integers m and n, P(m,n) denotes a subset of 2-dimensional triangular lattice points defined by where . Let T_m,n(d) be a unit disk graph defined on a vertex set P(m,n) and a positive real d. Let be the kth power of T_m,n(1).In this paper, we show necessary and sufficient conditions that [ is perfect] and/or [ is perfect], respectively. These conditions imply polynomial time approximation algorithms for multicoloring (T_m,n(d),w) and .     

Transcendence of Binomial and Lucas' Formal Power Series

The formal power series[formula]is transcendental over (X) whentis an integer ≥ 2. This is due to Stanley forteven, and independently to Flajolet and to Woodcock and Sharif for the general case. While Stanley and Flajolet used analytic methods and studied the asymptotics of the coefficients of this series, Woodcock and Sharif gave a purely algebraic proof. Their basic idea is to reduce this series modulo prime numbersp, and to use thep-Lucas property: ifn = ∑n_ipⁱis the basepexpansion of the integern, then[equation]The series reduced modulopis then proved algebraic over _p(X), the field of rational functions over the Galois field _p, but its degree is not a bounded function ofp. We generalize this method to characterize all formal power series that have thep-Lucas property for “many” prime numbersp, and that are furthermore algebraic over (X).     

Forbidden configurations and repeated induction

For a given k×? matrix F, we say a matrix A has no configurationF if no k×? submatrix of A is a row and column permutation of F. We say a matrix is simple if it is a (0,1)-matrix with no repeated columns. We define as the maximum number of columns in an m-rowed simple matrix which has no configuration F. A fundamental result of Sauer, Perles and Shelah, and Vapnik and Chervonenkis determines exactly, where K_k denotes the k×2^k simple matrix. We extend this in several ways. For two matrices G,H on the same number of rows, let [G∣H] denote the concatenation of G and H. Our first two sets of results are exact bounds that find some matrices B,C where and . Our final result provides asymptotic boundary cases; namely matrices F for which is O(m^p) yet for any choice of column α not in F, we have is Ω(m^p+1). This is evidence for a conjecture of Anstee and Sali. The proof techniques in this paper are dominated by repeated use of the standard induction employed in forbidden configurations. Analysis of base cases tends to dominate the arguments. For a k-rowed (0,1)-matrix F, we also consider a function which is the minimum number of columns in an m-rowed simple matrix for which each k-set of rows contains F as a configuration.