For a graph G and a family of graphs $\mathcal {F}$, the Turán number ${\mathrm {ex}}(G,\mathcal {F})$ is the maximum number of edges an $\mathcal {F}$-free subgraph of G can have. We prove that ${\mathrm {ex}}(G,\mathcal {F})\ge {\mathrm {ex}}(K_r, \mathcal {F})$ if the chromatic number of G is r and $\mathcal {F}$ is a family of connected graphs. This result answers a question raised by Briggs and Cox [‘Inverting the Turán problem’, Discrete Math. 342(7) (2019), 1865–1884] about the inverse Turán number for all connected graphs.

We consider supercritical site percolation on the $d$-dimensional hypercube $Q^d$. We show that typically all components in the percolated hypercube, besides the giant, are of size $O(d)$. This resolves a conjecture of Bollobás, Kohayakawa, and Łuczak from 1994.

A $(p,q)$-colouring of a graph $G$ is an edge-colouring of $G$ which assigns at least $q$ colours to each $p$-clique. The problem of determining the minimum number of colours, $f(n,p,q)$, needed to give a $(p,q)$-colouring of the complete graph $K_n$ is a natural generalization of the well-known problem of identifying the diagonal Ramsey numbers $r_k(p)$. The best-known general upper bound on $f(n,p,q)$ was given by Erdős and Gyárfás in 1997 using a probabilistic argument. Since then, improved bounds in the cases where $p=q$ have been obtained only for $p\in \{4,5\}$, each of which was proved by giving a deterministic construction which combined a $(p,p-1)$-colouring using few colours with an algebraic colouring.

In this paper, we provide a framework for proving new upper bounds on $f(n,p,p)$ in the style of these earlier constructions. We characterize all colourings of $p$-cliques with $p-1$ colours which can appear in our modified version of the $(p,p-1)$-colouring of Conlon, Fox, Lee, and Sudakov. This allows us to greatly reduce the amount of case-checking required in identifying $(p,p)$-colourings, which would otherwise make this problem intractable for large values of $p$. In addition, we generalize our algebraic colouring from the $p=5$ setting and use this to give improved upper bounds on $f(n,6,6)$ and $f(n,8,8)$.

A recent paper of Balogh, Li and Treglown [3] initiated the study of Dirac-type problems for ordered graphs. In this paper, we prove a number of results in this area. In particular, we determine asymptotically the minimum degree threshold for forcing

1. (i) a perfect H-tiling in an ordered graph, for any fixed ordered graph H of interval chromatic number at least $3$;

2. (ii) an H-tiling in an ordered graph G covering a fixed proportion of the vertices of G (for any fixed ordered graph H);

3. (iii) an H-cover in an ordered graph (for any fixed ordered graph H).

The first two of these results resolve questions of Balogh, Li and Treglown, whilst (iii) resolves a question of Falgas-Ravry. Note that (i) combined with a result from [3] completely determines the asymptotic minimum degree threshold for forcing a perfect H-tiling. Additionally, we prove a result that, combined with a theorem of Balogh, Li and Treglown, asymptotically determines the minimum degree threshold for forcing an almost perfect H-tiling in an ordered graph (for any fixed ordered graph H). Our work therefore provides ordered graph analogues of the seminal tiling theorems of Kühn and Osthus [Combinatorica 2009] and of Komlós [Combinatorica 2000]. Each of our results exhibits some curious, and perhaps unexpected, behaviour. Our solution to (i) makes use of a novel absorbing argument.

In this article we introduce a simple tool to derive polynomial upper bounds for the probability of observing unusually large maximal components in some models of random graphs when considered at criticality. Specifically, we apply our method to a model of a random intersection graph, a random graph obtained through p-bond percolation on a general d-regular graph, and a model of an inhomogeneous random graph.

We provide a general purpose result for the coupling of exploration processes of random graphs, both undirected and directed, with their local weak limits when this limit is a marked Galton–Watson process. This class includes in particular the configuration model and the family of inhomogeneous random graphs with rank-1 kernel. Vertices in the graph are allowed to have attributes on a general separable metric space and can potentially influence the construction of the graph itself. The coupling holds for any fixed depth of a breadth-first exploration process.

For a graph G, let $f(G)$ denote the maximum number of edges in a bipartite subgraph of G. Given a positive integer m and a fixed graph H, let $f(m,H)$ denote the minimum possible cardinality of $f(G)$, as G ranges over all graphs on m edges that contain no copy of H. We prove bounds on $f(m,H)$ for some bipartite graphs H and give a bound for a conjecture of Alon et al. [‘MaxCut in H-free graphs’, Combin. Probab. Comput. 14 (2005), 629–647] concerning $f(m,K_{4,s})$.

One of the central questions in Ramsey theory asks how small the largest clique and independent set in a graph on N vertices can be. By the celebrated result of Erdős from 1947, a random graph on N vertices with edge probability $1/2$ contains no clique or independent set larger than $2\log _2 N$, with high probability. Finding explicit constructions of graphs with similar Ramsey-type properties is a famous open problem. A natural approach is to construct such graphs using algebraic tools.

Say that an r-uniform hypergraph $\mathcal {H}$ is algebraic of complexity $(n,d,m)$ if the vertices of $\mathcal {H}$ are elements of $\mathbb {F}^{n}$ for some field $\mathbb {F}$, and there exist m polynomials $f_1,\dots ,f_m:(\mathbb {F}^{n})^{r}\rightarrow \mathbb {F}$ of degree at most d such that the edges of $\mathcal {H}$ are determined by the zero-patterns of $f_1,\dots ,f_m$. The aim of this paper is to show that if an algebraic graph (or hypergraph) of complexity $(n,d,m)$ has good Ramsey properties, then at least one of the parameters $n,d,m$ must be large.

In 2001, Rónyai, Babai and Ganapathy considered the bipartite variant of the Ramsey problem and proved that if G is an algebraic graph of complexity $(n,d,m)$ on N vertices, then either G or its complement contains a complete balanced bipartite graph of size $\Omega _{n,d,m}(N^{1/(n+1)})$. We extend this result by showing that such G contains either a clique or an independent set of size $N^{\Omega (1/ndm)}$ and prove similar results for algebraic hypergraphs of constant complexity. We also obtain a polynomial regularity lemma for r-uniform algebraic hypergraphs that are defined by a single polynomial that might be of independent interest. Our proofs combine algebraic, geometric and combinatorial tools.

We derive three critical exponents for Bernoulli site percolation on the uniform infinite planar triangulation (UIPT). First, we compute explicitly the probability that the root cluster is infinite. As a consequence, we show that the off-critical exponent for site percolation on the UIPT is $\beta = 1/2$. Then we establish an integral formula for the generating function of the number of vertices in the root cluster. We use this formula to prove that, at criticality, the probability that the root cluster has at least n vertices decays like $n^{-1/7}$. Finally, we also derive an expression for the law of the perimeter of the root cluster and use it to establish that, at criticality, the probability that the perimeter of the root cluster is equal to n decays like $n^{-4/3}$. Among these three exponents, only the last one was previously known. Our main tools are the so-called gasket decomposition of percolation clusters, generic properties of random Boltzmann maps, and analytic combinatorics.

Scale-free percolation is a stochastic model for complex networks. In this spatial random graph model, vertices $x,y\in\mathbb{Z}^d$ are linked by an edge with probability depending on independent and identically distributed vertex weights and the Euclidean distance $|x-y|$. Depending on the various parameters involved, we get a rich phase diagram. We study graph distance and compare it to the Euclidean distance of the vertices. Our main attention is on a regime where graph distances are (poly-)logarithmic in the Euclidean distance. We obtain improved bounds on the logarithmic exponents. In the light tail regime, the correct exponent is identified.

The diamond is the complete graph on four vertices minus one edge; $P_n$ and $C_n$ denote the path and cycle on n vertices, respectively. We prove that the chromatic number of a $(P_6,C_4,\mbox {diamond})$-free graph G is no larger than the maximum of 3 and the clique number of G.

We use tools from free probability to study the spectra of Hermitian operators on infinite graphs. Special attention is devoted to universal covering trees of finite graphs. For operators on these graphs, we derive a new variational formula for the spectral radius and provide new proofs of results due to Sunada and Aomoto using free probability.

With the goal of extending the applicability of free probability techniques beyond universal covering trees, we introduce a new combinatorial product operation on graphs and show that, in the noncommutative probability context, it corresponds to the notion of freeness with amalgamation. We show that Cayley graphs of amalgamated free products of groups, as well as universal covering trees, can be constructed using our graph product.

Strengthening Hadwiger’s conjecture, Gerards and Seymour conjectured in 1995 that every graph with no odd $K_t$-minor is properly $(t-1)$-colourable. This is known as the Odd Hadwiger’s conjecture. We prove a relaxation of the above conjecture, namely we show that every graph with no odd $K_t$-minor admits a vertex $(2t-2)$-colouring such that all monochromatic components have size at most $\lceil \frac{1}{2}(t-2) \rceil$. The bound on the number of colours is optimal up to a factor of $2$, improves previous bounds for the same problem by Kawarabayashi (2008, Combin. Probab. Comput. 17 815–821), Kang and Oum (2019, Combin. Probab. Comput. 28 740–754), Liu and Wood (2021, arXiv preprint, arXiv:1905.09495), and strengthens a result by van den Heuvel and Wood (2018, J. Lond. Math. Soc. 98 129–148), who showed that the above conclusion holds under the more restrictive assumption that the graph is $K_t$-minor-free. In addition, the bound on the component-size in our result is much smaller than those of previous results, in which the dependency on $t$ was given by a function arising from the graph minor structure theorem of Robertson and Seymour. Our short proof combines the method by van den Heuvel and Wood for $K_t$-minor-free graphs with some additional ideas, which make the extension to odd $K_t$-minor-free graphs possible.

In this paper, we study asymmetric Ramsey properties of the random graph $G_{n,p}$. Let $r \in \mathbb{N}$ and $H_1, \ldots, H_r$ be graphs. We write $G_{n,p} \to (H_1, \ldots, H_r)$ to denote the property that whenever we colour the edges of $G_{n,p}$ with colours from the set $[r] \,{:\!=}\, \{1, \ldots, r\}$ there exists $i \in [r]$ and a copy of $H_i$ in $G_{n,p}$ monochromatic in colour $i$. There has been much interest in determining the asymptotic threshold function for this property. In several papers, Rödl and Ruciński determined a threshold function for the general symmetric case; that is, when $H_1 = \cdots = H_r$. A conjecture of Kohayakawa and Kreuter from 1997, if true, would fully resolve the asymmetric problem. Recently, the $1$-statement of this conjecture was confirmed by Mousset, Nenadov and Samotij.

Building on work of Marciniszyn, Skokan, Spöhel and Steger from 2009, we reduce the $0$-statement of Kohayakawa and Kreuter’s conjecture to a certain deterministic subproblem. To demonstrate the potential of this approach, we show this subproblem can be resolved for almost all pairs of regular graphs. This therefore resolves the $0$-statement for all such pairs of graphs.

We suggest two related conjectures dealing with the existence of spanning irregular subgraphs of graphs. The first asserts that any $d$-regular graph on $n$ vertices contains a spanning subgraph in which the number of vertices of each degree between $0$ and $d$ deviates from $\frac{n}{d+1}$ by at most $2$. The second is that every graph on $n$ vertices with minimum degree $\delta$ contains a spanning subgraph in which the number of vertices of each degree does not exceed $\frac{n}{\delta +1}+2$. Both conjectures remain open, but we prove several asymptotic relaxations for graphs with a large number of vertices $n$. In particular we show that if $d^3 \log n \leq o(n)$ then every $d$-regular graph with $n$ vertices contains a spanning subgraph in which the number of vertices of each degree between $0$ and $d$ is $(1+o(1))\frac{n}{d+1}$. We also prove that any graph with $n$ vertices and minimum degree $\delta$ contains a spanning subgraph in which no degree is repeated more than $(1+o(1))\frac{n}{\delta +1}+2$ times.

Let $\Gamma $ be a graph of valency at least four whose automorphism group contains a minimally vertex-transitive subgroup G. It is proved that $\Gamma $ admits a nowhere-zero $3$-flow if one of the following two conditions holds: (i) $\Gamma $ is of order twice an odd number and G contains a central involution; (ii) G is a direct product of a $2$-subgroup and a subgroup of odd order.

We show that the $4$-state anti-ferromagnetic Potts model with interaction parameter $w\in (0,1)$ on the infinite $(d+1)$-regular tree has a unique Gibbs measure if $w\geq 1-\dfrac{4}{d+1_{_{\;}}}$ for all $d\geq 4$. This is tight since it is known that there are multiple Gibbs measures when $0\leq w\lt 1-\dfrac{4}{d+1}$ and $d\geq 4$. We moreover give a new proof of the uniqueness of the Gibbs measure for the $3$-state Potts model on the $(d+1)$-regular tree for $w\geq 1-\dfrac{3}{d+1}$ when $d\geq 3$ and for $w\in (0,1)$ when $d=2$.

How many 2-cells must two finite CW-complexes have to admit a common, but not finite common, covering? Leighton’s theorem says that both complexes must have 2-cells. We construct an almost (?) minimal example with two 2-cells in each complex.

The study of threshold functions has a long history in random graph theory. It is known that the thresholds for minimum degree k, k-connectivity, as well as k-robustness coincide for a binomial random graph. In this paper we consider an inhomogeneous random graph model, which is obtained by including each possible edge independently with an individual probability. Based on an intuitive concept of neighborhood density, we show two sufficient conditions guaranteeing k-connectivity and k-robustness, respectively, which are asymptotically equivalent. Our framework sheds some light on extending uniform threshold values in homogeneous random graphs to threshold landscapes in inhomogeneous random graphs.

In 1999, Jacobson and Lehel conjectured that, for $k \geq 3$, every k-regular Hamiltonian graph has cycles of $\Theta (n)$ many different lengths. This was further strengthened by Verstraëte, who asked whether the regularity can be replaced with the weaker condition that the minimum degree is at least $3$. Despite attention from various researchers, until now, the best partial result towards both of these conjectures was a $\sqrt {n}$ lower bound on the number of cycle lengths. We resolve these conjectures asymptotically by showing that the number of cycle lengths is at least $n^{1-o(1)}$.