Determining the distribution of the number of empty urns after a number of balls have been thrown randomly into the urns is a classical and well understood problem. We study a generalization: Given a finite alphabet of size σ and a word length q, what is the distribution of the number X of words (of length q) that do not occur in a random text of length n+q−1 over the given alphabet? For q=1, X is the number Y of empty urns with σ urns and n balls. For q[ges ]2, X is related to the number Y of empty urns with σq urns and n balls, but the law of X is more complicated because successive words in the text overlap. We show that, perhaps surprisingly, the laws of X and Y are not as different as one might expect, but some problems remain currently open.

The sizes of the cycles and unicyclic components in the random graph $G(n, n/2\pm s)$, where $n^{2/3}\ll s \ll n$, are studied using the language of point processes. This refines several earlier results by different authors. Asymptotic distributions of various random variables are given: these distributions include the gamma distributions with parameters 1/4, 1/2 and 3/4, as well as the Poisson–Dirichlet and GEM distributions with parameters 1/4 and 1/2.

The bond percolation critical probability of the Kagomé lattice is greater than 0.5209 and less than 0.5291. The proof of these bounds uses the substitution method, comparing the percolative behaviour of the Kagomé lattice bond model with that of the exactly solved hexagonal lattice bond model via stochastic ordering.

A proper vertex coloring of a graph is called equitable if the sizes of colour classes differ by at most 1. In this paper, we find the minimum number l=l(d, Δ) such that every d-degenerate graph with maximum degree at most Δ admits an equitable t-colouring for every t[ges ]l when Δ[ges ]27d.

In this paper we prove that, if a collection of sets [Ascr] is union-closed, then the average set size of $\cal A is at least $\frac{1}{2}\log_2 (\vert{\cal A}\vert)$.

A general spectral bound for the sizes of some vertex subsets, which are mutually at a given minimum distance in a graph, is derived. This unifies and improves some previous results. Some applications to the study of certain metric parameters of the graph are then discussed.

It has been shown [2] that if n is odd and m1,…,mt are integers with mi[ges ]3 and [sum ]i=1tmi=|E(Kn)| then Kn can be decomposed as an edge-disjoint union of closed trails of lengths m1,…,mt. This result was later generalized [3] to all sufficiently dense Eulerian graphs G in place of Kn. In this article we consider the corresponding questions for directed graphs. We show that the complete directed graph <?TeX \displaystyle{\mathop{K}^{\raise-2pt\hbox{$\scriptstyle\leftrightarrow$}}}_{n}?> can be decomposed as an edge-disjoint union of directed closed trails of lengths m1,…,mt whenever mi[ges ]2 and <?TeX \sum_{i=1}^t m_{i}=\vert E({\leftrightarrow}_{n})\vert ?>, except for the single case when n=6 and all mi=3. We also show that sufficiently dense Eulerian digraphs can be decomposed in a similar manner, and we prove corresponding results for (undirected) complete multigraphs.

We prove that, for all values of the edge probability $p(n)$, the largest eigenvalue of the random graph $G(n, p)$ satisfies almost surely $\lambda_1(G)=(1+o(1))\max\{\sqrt{\Delta}, np\}$, where Δ is the maximum degree of $G$, and the o(1) term tends to zero as $\max\{\sqrt{\Delta}, np\}$ tends to infinity.