Hamiltonian cycles in Dirac graphs

We prove that for any n-vertex Dirac graph (graph with minimum degree at least n/2) G=(V,E), the number, Ψ(G), of Hamiltonian cycles in G is at least

$exp_2 2h(G) - n\log e - o(n)],$

where h(G)=maxΣ _e x _e log(1/x _e ), the maximum over x: E → ?⁺ satisfying Σ _e?υ x _e = 1 for each υ ∈ V, and log =log₂. (A second paper will show that this bound is tight up to the o(n).)

We also show that for any (Dirac) G of minimum degree at least d, h(G) ≥ (n/2) logd, so that Ψ(G) > (d/(e + o(1))) ⁿ . In particular, this says that for any Dirac G we have Ψ(G) > n!/(2 + o(1)) ⁿ , confirming a conjecture of G. Sárközy, Selkow, and Szemerédi which was the original motivation for this work.