Recently, settling a question of Erdős, Balogh, and Petříčková showed that there are at most $2^{n^{2}/8+o(n^{2})}$$n$-vertex maximal triangle-free graphs, matching the previously known lower bound. Here, we characterize the typical structure of maximal triangle-free graphs. We show that almost every maximal triangle-free graph $G$ admits a vertex partition $X\cup Y$ such that $G[X]$ is a perfect matching and $Y$ is an independent set.

Our proof uses the Ruzsa–Szemerédi removal lemma, the Erdős–Simonovits stability theorem, and recent results of Balogh, Morris, and Samotij and Saxton and Thomason on characterization of the structure of independent sets in hypergraphs. The proof also relies on a new bound on the number of maximal independent sets in triangle-free graphs with many vertex-disjoint $P_{3}$s, which is of independent interest.

Let p1, p2, p3 be three noncollinear points in the plane, and let P be a set of n other points in the plane. We show that the number of distinct distances between p1, p2, p3 and the points of P is Ω(n6/11), improving the lower bound Ω(n0.502) of Elekes and Szabó [4] (and considerably simplifying the analysis).

In the tournament game two players, called Maker and Breaker, alternately take turns in claiming an unclaimed edge of the complete graph Kn and selecting one of the two possible orientations. Before the game starts, Breaker fixes an arbitrary tournament Tk on k vertices. Maker wins if, at the end of the game, her digraph contains a copy of Tk; otherwise Breaker wins. In our main result, we show that Maker has a winning strategy for k = (2 − o(1))log2n, improving the constant factor in previous results of Beck and the second author. This is asymptotically tight since it is known that for k = (2 − o(1))log2n Breaker can prevent the underlying graph of Maker's digraph from containing a k-clique. Moreover, the precise value of our lower bound differs from the upper bound only by an additive constant of 12.

We also discuss the question of whether the random graph intuition, which suggests that the threshold for k is asymptotically the same for the game played by two ‘clever’ players and the game played by two ‘random’ players, is supported by the tournament game. It will turn out that, while a straightforward application of this intuition fails, a more subtle version of it is still valid.

Finally, we consider the orientation game version of the tournament game, where Maker wins the game if the final digraph – also containing the edges directed by Breaker – possesses a copy of Tk. We prove that in that game Breaker has a winning strategy for k = (4 + o(1))log2n.

Let $G$ be a finite group and ${\rm\Gamma}$ a $G$-symmetric graph. Suppose that $G$ is imprimitive on $V({\rm\Gamma})$ with $B$ a block of imprimitivity and ${\mathcal{B}}:=\{B^{g};g\in G\}$ a system of imprimitivity of $G$ on $V({\rm\Gamma})$. Define ${\rm\Gamma}_{{\mathcal{B}}}$ to be the graph with vertex set ${\mathcal{B}}$ such that two blocks $B,C\in {\mathcal{B}}$ are adjacent if and only if there exists at least one edge of ${\rm\Gamma}$ joining a vertex in $B$ and a vertex in $C$. Xu and Zhou [‘Symmetric graphs with 2-arc-transitive quotients’, J. Aust. Math. Soc. 96 (2014), 275–288] obtained necessary conditions under which the graph ${\rm\Gamma}_{{\mathcal{B}}}$ is 2-arc-transitive. In this paper, we completely settle one of the cases defined by certain parameters connected to ${\rm\Gamma}$ and ${\mathcal{B}}$ and show that there is a unique graph corresponding to this case.

A set A of positive integers is a Bh-set if all the sums of the form a1 + . . . + ah, with a1,. . .,ah ∈ A and a1 ⩽ . . . ⩽ ah, are distinct. We provide asymptotic bounds for the number of Bh-sets of a given cardinality contained in the interval [n] = {1,. . .,n}. As a consequence of our results, we address a problem of Cameron and Erdős (1990) in the context of Bh-sets. We also use these results to estimate the maximum size of a Bh-sets contained in a typical (random) subset of [n] with a given cardinality.

We show that for any coprime integers λ1, . . ., λk and any finite A ⊂ $\mathbb{Z}$, one has

|\lambda_1 \cdot A + \cdots + \lambda_k \cdot A| \geq (|\lambda_1| + \cdots + |\lambda_k|)|A|- C,

A random k-out mapping (digraph) on [n] is generated by choosing k random images of each vertex one at a time, subject to a 'preferential attachment' rule: the current vertex selects an image i with probability proportional to a given parameter α = α(n) plus the number of times i has already been selected. Intuitively, the larger α becomes, the closer the resulting k-out mapping is to the uniformly random k-out mapping. We prove that α = Θ(n1/2) is the threshold for α growing 'fast enough' to make the random digraph approach the uniformly random digraph in terms of the total variation distance. We also determine an exact limit for this distance for the α = βn1/2 case.

We consider the number of spanning trees in circulant graphs of ${\it\beta}n$ vertices with generators depending linearly on $n$. The matrix tree theorem gives a closed formula of ${\it\beta}n$ factors, while we derive a formula of ${\it\beta}-1$ factors. We also derive a formula for the number of spanning trees in discrete tori. Finally, we compare the spanning tree entropy of circulant graphs with fixed and nonfixed generators.

We examine the tail distributions of integer partition ranks and cranks by investigating tail moments, which are analogous to the positive moments introduced by Andrews et al. [‘The odd moments of ranks and cranks’, J. Combin. Theory Ser. A120(1) (2013), 77–91].

A family of sets is called union-closed if whenever A and B are sets of the family, so is A ∪ B. The long-standing union-closed conjecture states that if a family of subsets of [n] is union-closed, some element appears in at least half the sets of the family. A natural weakening is that the union-closed conjecture holds for large families, that is, families consisting of at least p02n sets for some constant p0. The first result in this direction appears in a recent paper of Balla, Bollobás and Eccles [1], who showed that union-closed families of at least $\tfrac{2}{3}$2n sets satisfy the conjecture; they proved this by determining the minimum possible average size of a set in a union-closed family of given size. However, the methods used in that paper cannot prove a better constant than $\tfrac{2}{3}$. Here, we provide a stability result for the main theorem of [1], and as a consequence we prove the union-closed conjecture for families of at least ($\tfrac{2}{3}$ − c)2n sets, for a positive constant c.

We give an easy method for constructing containers for simple hypergraphs. The method also has consequences for non-simple hypergraphs. Some applications are given; in particular, a very transparent calculation is offered for the number of H-free hypergraphs, where H is some fixed uniform hypergraph.

We study the isomorphism problem of vertex-transitive cubic graphs which have a transitive simple group of automorphisms.

We consider ‘unconstrained’ random k-XORSAT, which is a uniformly random system of m linear non-homogeneous equations in $\mathbb{F}$2 over n variables, each equation containing k ⩾ 3 variables, and also consider a ‘constrained’ model where every variable appears in at least two equations. Dubois and Mandler proved that m/n = 1 is a sharp threshold for satisfiability of constrained 3-XORSAT, and analysed the 2-core of a random 3-uniform hypergraph to extend this result to find the threshold for unconstrained 3-XORSAT.

We show that m/n = 1 remains a sharp threshold for satisfiability of constrained k-XORSAT for every k ⩾ 3, and we use standard results on the 2-core of a random k-uniform hypergraph to extend this result to find the threshold for unconstrained k-XORSAT. For constrained k-XORSAT we narrow the phase transition window, showing that m − n → −∞ implies almost-sure satisfiability, while m − n → +∞ implies almost-sure unsatisfiability.

We study 3-random-like graphs, that is, sequences of graphs in which the densities of triangles and anti-triangles converge to 1/8. Since the random graph $\mathcal{G}$n,1/2 is, in particular, 3-random-like, this can be viewed as a weak version of quasi-randomness. We first show that 3-random-like graphs are 4-universal, that is, they contain induced copies of all 4-vertex graphs. This settles a question of Linial and Morgenstern [10]. We then show that for larger subgraphs, 3-random-like sequences demonstrate completely different behaviour. We prove that for every graph H on n ⩾ 13 vertices there exist 3-random-like graphs without an induced copy of H. Moreover, we prove that for every ℓ there are 3-random-like graphs which are ℓ-universal but not m-universal when m is sufficiently large compared to ℓ.

We make a systematic study of a new combinatorial construction called a dual equivalence graph. We axiomatize these graphs and prove that their generating functions are symmetric and Schur positive. This provides a universal method for establishing the symmetry and Schur positivity of quasisymmetric functions.

A companion basis for a quiver Γ mutation equivalent to a simply-laced Dynkin quiver is a subset of the associated root system which is a $\mathbb{Z}$-basis for the integral root lattice with the property that the non-zero inner products of pairs of its elements correspond to the edges in the underlying graph of Γ. It is known in type A (and conjectured for all simply-laced Dynkin cases) that any companion basis can be used to compute the dimension vectors of the finitely generated indecomposable modules over the associated cluster-tilted algebra. Here, we present a procedure for explicitly constructing a companion basis for any quiver of mutation type A or D.

We consider the Jack–Laurent symmetric functions for special values of parameters p0=n+k−1m, where k is not rational and m and n are natural numbers. In general, the coefficients of such functions may have poles at these values of p0. The action of the corresponding algebra of quantum Calogero–Moser integrals $\mathcal{D}$(k, p0) on the space of Laurent symmetric functions defines the decomposition into generalised eigenspaces. We construct a basis in each generalised eigenspace as certain linear combinations of the Jack–Laurent symmetric functions, which are regular at p0=n+k−1m, and describe the action of $\mathcal{D}$(k, p0) in these eigenspaces.

Consider a simple Lie algebra $\mathfrak{g}$ and $\overline{\mathfrak{g}}$ ⊂ $\mathfrak{g}$ a Levi subalgebra. Two irreducible $\overline{\mathfrak{g}}$-modules yield isomorphic inductions to $\mathfrak{g}$ when their highest weights coincide up to conjugation by an element of the Weyl group W of $\mathfrak{g}$ which is also a Dynkin diagram automorphism of $\overline{\mathfrak{g}}$. In this paper, we study the converse problem: given two irreducible $\overline{\mathfrak{g}}$-modules of highest weight μ and ν whose inductions to $\mathfrak{g}$ are isomorphic, can we conclude that μ and ν are conjugate under the action of an element of W which is also a Dynkin diagram automorphism of $\overline{\mathfrak{g}}$? We conjecture this is true in general. We prove this conjecture in type A and, for the other root systems, in various situations providing μ and ν satisfy additional hypotheses. Our result can be interpreted as an analogue for branching coefficients of the main result of Rajan [6] on tensor product multiplicities.

Let $\text{pod}_{-4}(n)$ denote the number of partition quadruples of $n$ where the odd parts in each partition are distinct. We find many arithmetic properties of $\text{pod}_{-4}(n)$ including the following infinite family of congruences: for any integers ${\it\alpha}\geq 1$ and $n\geq 0$,

$$\begin{eqnarray}\text{pod}_{-4}\biggl(3^{{\it\alpha}+1}n+\frac{5\cdot 3^{{\it\alpha}}+1}{2}\biggr)\equiv 0~(\text{mod}~9).\end{eqnarray}$$

$\text{pod}_{-4}(n)$

In 1981 Beck and Fiala proved an upper bound for the discrepancy of a set system of degree d that is independent of the size of the ground set. In the intervening years the bound has been decreased from 2d − 2 to 2d − 4. We improve the bound to 2d − log*d.