This paper studies the following question: Given a surface $Σ$ and an integer $n$, what is the maximum number of cliques in an $n$-vertex graph embeddable in $Σ$? We characterise the extremal graphs for this question, and prove that the answer is between $8(n-ω)+2^ω$ and $8n+{3/2} 2^ω+o(2^ω)$, where $ω$ is the maximum integer such that the complete graph $K_ω$ embeds in $Σ$. For the surfaces $\mathbb{S}_0$, $\mathbb{S}_1$, $\mathbb{S}_2$, $\mathbb{N}_1$, $\mathbb{N}_2$, $\mathbb{N}_3$ and $\mathbb{N}_4$ we establish an exact answer.
A \emph{clique} is a set of pairwise adjacent vertices in a graph. We determine the maximum number of cliques in a graph for the following graph classes: (1) graphs with $n$ vertices and $m$ edges; (2) graphs with $n$ vertices, $m$ edges, and maximum degree $Δ$; (3) $d$-degenerate graphs with $n$ vertices and $m$ edges; (4) planar graphs with $n$ vertices and $m$ edges; and (5) graphs with $n$ vertices and no $K_5$-minor or no $K_{3,3}$-minor. For example, the maximum number of cliques in a planar graph with $n$ vertices is $8(n-2)$.
A complete subgraph of any simple graph $G$ on $k$ vertices is called a $k$-\emph{clique} of $G$. In this paper, we first introduce the concept of the value of a $k$-clique ($k>1$) as an extension of the idea of the degree of a given vertex. Then, we obtain the generalized version of handshaking lemma which we call it clique handshaking lemma. The well-known classical result of Mantel states that the maximum number of edges in the class of triangle-free graphs with $n$ vertices is equal to $\frac{n^{2}}{4}$. Our main goal here is to find an extension of the above result for the class of $K_{ω+…
Generalized Turán problems have been a central topic of study in extremal combinatorics throughout the last few decades. One such problem, maximizing the number of cliques of a fixed order in a graph with fixed number of vertices and bounded maximum degree, was recently completely resolved by Chase. Kirsch and Radcliffe raised a natural variant of this problem where the number of edges is fixed instead of the number of vertices. In this paper, we determine the maximum number of cliques of a fixed order in a graph with fixed number of edges and bounded maximum degree, resolving a conjecture by …
For a $k$-graph $\mathcal{F}\subset \binom{[n]}{k}$, the clique number of $\mathcal{F}$ is defined to be the maximum size of a subset $Q$ of $[n]$ with $\binom{Q}{k}\subset \mathcal{F}$. In the present paper, we determine the maximum number of edges in a $k$-graph on $[n]$ with matching number at most $s$ and clique number at least $q$ for $n\geq 8k^2s$ and for $q \geq (s+1)k-l$, $n\leq (s+1)k+s/(3k)-l$. Two special cases that $q=(s+1)k-2$ and $k=2$ are solved completely.
In this work, we give the sharp upper bound for the number of cliques in graphs with bounded odd circumferences. This generalized Turán-type result is an extension of the celebrated Erdős and Gallai theorem and a strengthening of Luo's recent result. The same bound for graphs with bounded even circumferences is a trivial application of the theorem of Li and Ning.
The Erdős--Gallai Theorem states that for $k\geq 3$ every graph on $n$ vertices with more than $\frac{1}{2}(k-1)(n-1)$ edges contains a cycle of length at least $k$. Kopylov proved a strengthening of this result for 2-connected graphs with extremal examples $H_{n,k,t}$ and $H_{n,k,2}$. In this note, we generalize the result of Kopylov to bound the number of $s$-cliques in a graph with circumference less than $k$. Furthermore, we show that the same extremal examples that maximize the number of edges also maximize the number of cliques of any fixed size. Finally, we obtain the extremal number of…
The problem of maximising the number of cliques among $n$-vertex graphs from various graph classes has received considerable attention. We investigate this problem for the class of $1$-planar graphs where we determine precisely the maximum total number of cliques as well as the maximum number of cliques of any fixed size. We also precisely characterise the extremal graphs for these problems.
There are many methods to find a maximum (or maximal) clique in large networks. Due to the nature of combinatorics, computation becomes exponentially expensive as the number of vertices in a graph increases. Thus, there is a need for efficient algorithms to find a maximum clique. In this paper, we present a graph reduction method that significantly reduces the order of a graph, and so enables the identification of a maximum clique in graphs of large order, that would otherwise be computational infeasible to find the maximum. We find bounds of the maximum (or maximal) clique using this reductio…
There is a remarkable connection between the maximum clique number and the Lagrangian of a graph given by T. S. Motzkin and E.G. Straus in 1965. This connection and its extensions were successfully employed in optimization to provide heuristics for the maximum clique number in graphs. It is useful in practice if similar results hold for hypergraphs. In this paper, we explore evidences that the Lagrangian of a 3-uniform hypergraph is related to the order of its maximum cliques when the number of edges of the hypergraph is in certain range. In particular, we present some results about a conjectu…
This paper considers the following question: What is the maximum number of $k$-cliques in an $n$-vertex graph with no $K_t$-minor? This question generalises the extremal function for $K_t$-minors, which corresponds to the $k=2$ case. The exact answer is given for $t\leq 9$ and all values of $k$. We also determine the maximum total number of cliques in an $n$-vertex graph with no $K_t$-minor for $t\leq 9$. Several observations are made about the case of general $t$.
We characterize the connected graphs of given order $n$ and given independence number $α$ that maximize the number of maximum independent sets. For $3\leq α\leq n/2$, there is a unique such graph that arises from the disjoint union of $α$ cliques of orders $\left\lceil\frac{n}α\right\rceil$ and $\left\lfloor\frac{n}α\right\rfloor$, by selecting a vertex $x$ in a largest clique and adding an edge between $x$ and a vertex in each of the remaining $α-1$ cliques. Our result confirms a conjecture of Derikvand and Oboudi [On the number of maximum independent sets of graphs, Transactions on Combinato…
Recently Cutler and Radcliffe proved that the graph on $n$ vertices with maximum degree at most $r$ having the most cliques is a disjoint union of $\lfloor n/(r+1)\rfloor$ cliques of size $r+1$ together with a clique on the remainder of the vertices. It is very natural also to consider this question when the limiting resource is edges rather than vertices. In this paper we prove that among graphs with $m$ edges and maximum degree at most $r$, the graph that has the most cliques of size at least two is the disjoint union of $\bigl\lfloor m \bigm/\binom{r+1}{2} \bigr\rfloor$ cliques of size $r+1…
It was recently proved that any graph satisfying $ω> \frac 23(Δ+1)$ contains a stable set hitting every maximum clique. In this note we prove that the same is true for graphs satisfying $ω\geq \frac 23(Δ+1)$ unless the graph is the strong product of $K_{ω/2}$ and an odd hole. We also provide a counterexample to a recent conjecture on the existence of a stable set hitting every sufficiently large maximal clique.
We prove that every graph $G$ for which $ω(G) \geq 3/4(Δ(G) + 1)$, has an independent set $I$ such that $ω(G - I) < ω(G)$. It follows that a minimum counterexample $G$ to Reed's conjecture satisfies $ω(G) < 3/4(Δ(G) + 1)$ and hence also $χ(G) > \lceil 7/6ω(G) \rceil$. We also prove that if for every induced subgraph $H$ of $G$ we have $χ(H) \leq \max{\lceil 7/6ω(H) \rceil, \lceil \frac{ω(H) + Δ(H) + 1}{2}\rceil}$, then we also have $χ(G) \leq \lceil \frac{ω(G) + Δ(G) + 1}{2}\rceil$. This gives a generic proof of the upper bound for line graphs of multigraphs proved by King et al.
The $kK_{r+1}$ is the union of $k$ disjoint copies of $(r+1)$-clique. Moon [Canad. J. Math. 20 (1968) 95--102] and Simonovits [Theory of Graphs (Proc. colloq., Tihany, 1996)] independently showed that if $n$ is sufficiently large, then $K_{k-1}\vee T_{n-k+1,r}$ is the unique extremal graph for $kK_{r+1}$. In this paper, we consider the graph which has the maximum spectral radius among all graphs without $k$ disjoint cliques. We prove that if $G$ attains the maximum spectral radius over all $n$-vertex $kK_{r+1}$-free graphs for sufficiently large $n$, then $G$ is isomorphic to $K_{k-1}\vee T_{n…
Rabern recently proved that any graph with omega >= (3/4)(Delta+1) contains a stable set meeting all maximum cliques. We strengthen this result, proving that such a stable set exists for any graph with omega > (2/3)(Delta+1). This is tight, i.e. the inequality in the statement must be strict. The proof relies on finding an independent transversal in a graph partitioned into vertex sets of unequal size.
EPG graphs, introduced by Golumbic et al. in 2009, are edge-intersection graphs of paths on an orthogonal grid. The class $B_k$-EPG is the subclass of EPG graphs where the path on the grid associated to each vertex has at most $k$ bends. Epstein et al. showed in 2013 that computing a maximum clique in $B_1$-EPG graphs is polynomial. As remarked in [Heldt et al., 2014], when the number of bends is at least $4$, the class contains $2$-interval graphs for which computing a maximum clique is an NP-hard problem. The complexity status of the Maximum Clique problem remains open for $B_2$ and $B_3$-EP…
How many cliques can a graph on $n$ vertices have with a forbidden substructure? Extremal problems of this sort have been studied for a long time. This paper studies the maximum possible number of cliques in a graph on $n$ vertices with a forbidden clique subdivision or immersion. We prove for $t$ sufficiently large that every graph on $n \geq t$ vertices with no $K_t$-immersion has at most $2^{t+\log^2 t}n$ cliques, which is sharp apart from the $2^{O(\log^2 t)}$ factor. We also prove that the maximum number of cliques in an $n$-vertex graph with no $K_t$-subdivision is at most $2^{1.817t}n$.…
Let $GP(q,d)$ be the $d$-Paley graph defined on the finite field $\mathbb{F}_q$. It is notoriously difficult to improve the trivial upper bound $\sqrt{q}$ on the clique number of $GP(q,d)$. In this paper, we investigate the connection between Gauss sums over a finite field and the maximum cliques of their corresponding generalized Paley graphs. We show that the trivial upper bound on the clique number of $GP(q,d)$ is tight if and only if $d \mid (\sqrt{q}+1)$, which strengthens the previous related results by Broere-Döman-Ridley and Schneider-Silva. We also obtain a new simple proof of Stickel…
Truemper configurations (thetas, pyramids, prisms, and wheels) have played an important role in the study of complex hereditary graph classes (e.g. the class of perfect graphs and the class of even-hole-free graphs), appearing both as excluded configurations, and as configurations around which graphs can be decomposed. In this paper, we study the structure of graphs that contain (as induced subgraphs) no Truemper configurations other than (possibly) universal wheels and twin wheels. We also study several subclasses of this class. We use our structural results to analyze the complexity of the r…
We give lower bounds on the size and total size of clique partitions of a graph in terms of its spectral radius and minimum degree, and derive a spectral upper bound for the maximum number of edge-disjoint $t$-cliques. The extremal graphs attaining the bounds are exactly the block graphs of Steiner $2$-designs and the regular graphs with $K_t$-decompositions, respectively.
This paper investigates some relationship between the algebraic connectivity and the clique number of graphs. We characterize all extremal graphs which have the maximum and minimum the algebraic connectivity among all graphs of order $n$ with the clique number $r$, respectively. In turn, an upper and lower bounds for the clique number of a graph in terms of the algebraic connectivity are obtained. Moreover, a spectral version of the Erdős-Stone theorem in terms of the algebraic connectivity of graphs is presented.
Let $[n]$ denote the set $\{1, 2, \ldots, n\}$ and $\mathcal{F}^{(r)}_{n,k,a}$ be an $r$-uniform hypergraph on the vertex set $[n]$ with edge set consisting of all the $r$-element subsets of $[n]$ that contains at least $a$ vertices in $[ak+a-1]$. For $n\geq 2rk$, Frankl proved that $\mathcal{F}^{(r)}_{n,k,1}$ maximizes the number of edges in $r$-uniform hypergraphs on $n$ vertices with the matching number at most $k$. Huang, Loh and Sudakov considered a multicolored version of the Erdős matching conjecture, and provided a sufficient condition on the number of edges for a multicolored hypergra…
We present a new formulation of the maximum clique problem of a graph in complex space. We start observing that the adjacency matrix A of a graph can always be written in the form A = B B where B is a complex, symmetric matrix formed by vectors of zero length (null vectors) and the maximum clique problem can be transformed in a geometrical problem for these vectors. This problem, in turn, is translated in spinorial language and we show that each graph uniquely identifies a set of pure spinors, that is vectors of the endomorphism space of Clifford algebras, and the maximum clique problem is for…
The spectral radius (or the signless Laplacian spectral radius) of a general hypergraph is the maximum modulus of the eigenvalues of its adjacency (or its signless Laplacian) tensor. In this paper, we firstly obtain a lower bound of the spectral radius (or the signless Laplacian spectral radius) of general hypergraphs in terms of clique number. Moreover, we present a relation between a homogeneous polynomial and the clique number of general hypergraphs. As an application, we finally obtain an upper bound of the spectral radius of general hypergraphs in terms of clique number.
Given an integer $k \geq 2$ and a real number $γ\in [0, 1]$, which graphs of edge density $γ$ contain the largest number of $k$-edge stars? For $k=2$ Ahlswede and Katona proved that asymptotically there cannot be more such stars than in a clique or in the complement of a clique (depending on the value of $γ$). Here we extend their result to all integers $k\ge 2$.
A well-known conjecture due to van Lint and MacWilliams states that if $A$ is a subset of $\mathbb{F}_{q^2}$ such that $0,1 \in A$, $|A|=q$, and $a-b$ is a square for each $a,b \in A$, then $A$ must be the subfield $\mathbb{F}_q$. This conjecture is often phrased in terms of the maximum cliques in Paley graphs. It was first proved by Blokhuis and later extended by Sziklai to generalized Paley graphs. In this paper, we give a new proof of the conjecture and its variants, and show this Erdős-Ko-Rado property of Paley graphs extends to a larger family of Cayley graphs, which we call Peisert-type …
Mantel's theorem is a classical result in extremal graph theory which implies that the maximum number of edges of a triangle-free graph of order $n$. In 1970, E. Nosal obtained a spectral version of Mantel's theorem which gave the maximum spectral radius of a triangle-free graph of order $n$. In this paper, the clique tensor of a graph $G$ is proposed and the spectral Mantel's theorem is extended via the clique tensor. Furthermore, a sharp upper bound of the number of cliques in $G$ via the spectral radius of the clique tensor is obtained. And we show that the results of this paper implies tha…
We prove that every triangle-free graph with maximum degree $Δ$ has list chromatic number at most $(1+o(1))\fracΔ{\ln Δ}$. This matches the best-known bound for graphs of girth at least 5. We also provide a new proof that for any $r\geq 4$ every $K_r$-free graph has list-chromatic number at most $200r\frac{Δ\ln\lnΔ}{\lnΔ}$.
Extremal problems on disjoint path covers of graphs
School of Mathematics and Statistics, Key Laboratory of Analytical Mathematics and Applications (Ministry of Education), Fujian Key Laboratory of Analytical Mathematics and Applications (FJKLAMA), Center for Applied Mathematics of Fujian Province (FJNU), Fujian Normal University（福建师范大学数学与统计学院，分析数学及应用教育部重点实验室，福建省分析数学及应用重点实验室（FJKLAMA），福建省应用数学中心（FJNU））
In this paper, we relate the problem of finding a maximum clique to the intersection number of the input graph (i.e. the minimum number of cliques needed to edge cover the graph). In particular, we consider the maximum clique problem for graphs with small intersection number and random intersection graphs (a model in which each one of $m$ labels is chosen independently with probability $p$ by each one of $n$ vertices, and there are edges between any vertices with overlaps in the labels chosen). We first present a simple algorithm which, on input $G$ finds a maximum clique in $O(2^{2^m + O(m)} …
Maximum Clique Problem(MCP) is one of the 21 original NP--complete problems enumerated by Karp in 1972. In recent years a large number of exact methods to solve MCP have been appeared(Babel, Wood, Kumlander, Fahle, Li, Tomita and etc). Most of them are branch and bound algorithms that use branching rule introduced by Balas and Yu and based on coloring heuristics to establish an upper bound on the clique number. They differ from each other primarily in vertex preordering and vertex coloring methods. Current methods of worst case running time analysis for branch and bound algorithms do not allow…
The greedy coloring algorithm shows that a graph of maximum degree at most $Δ$ has chromatic number at most $Δ+ 1$, and this is tight for cliques. Much attention has been devoted to improving this "greedy bound" for graphs without large cliques. Brooks famously proved that this bound can be improved by one if $Δ\geq 3$ and the graph contains no clique of size $Δ+ 1$. Reed's Conjecture states that the "greedy bound" can be improved by $k$ if the graph contains no clique of size $Δ+ 1 - 2k$. Johansson proved that the "greedy bound" can be improved by a factor of $Ω(\ln(Δ)^{-1})$ or $Ω\left(\frac…
Extremal problems concerning the number of complete subgraphs have a long story in extremal graph theory. Let $k_s(G)$ be the number of $s$-cliques in a graph $G$ and $m={{r_m}\choose s}+t_m$, where $0\le t_m\leq r_m$. Edrős showed that $k_s(G)\le {{r_m}\choose s}+{{t_m}\choose{s-1}}$ over all graphs of size $m$ and order $n\geq r_m+1$. %Clearly, $K_{r_m}^{t_m}\cup (n-r_m-1)K_1$ is an extremal graph, where $K_{r_m}^{t_m}$ is the graph by joining a new vertex to $t_m$ vertices of $K_{r_m}$. It is natural to consider an improvement in connected situation: what is the maximum number of $s$-clique…
