The classical result in the theory of random graphs, proved by Erdos and Renyi in 1960, concerns the threshold for the appearance of the giant component in the random graph process. We consider a variant of this problem, with a Ramsey flavor. Now, each random edge that arrives in the sequence of rounds must be colored with one of R colors. The goal can be either to create a giant component in every color class, or alternatively, to avoid it in every color. One can analyze the offline or online setting for this problem. In this paper, we consider all these variants and provide nontrivial upper and lower bounds; in certain cases (like online avoidance) the obtained bounds are asymptotically tight.
The restricted $(m,n;N)$-online Ramsey game is a game played between two players, Builder and Painter. The game starts with $N$ isolated vertices. Each turn Builder picks an edge to build and Painter chooses whether that edge is red or blue, and Builder aims to create a red $K_m$ or blue $K_n$ in as few turns as possible. The restricted online Ramsey number $\tilde{r}(m,n;N)$ is the minimum number of turns that Builder needs to guarantee her win in the restricted $(m,n;N)$-online Ramsey game. We show that if $N=r(n,n)$, \[ \tilde{r}(n,n;N)\le \binom{N}{2} - Ω(N\log N), \] motivated by a questi…
The purpose of this paper is to introduce the idea of triangular Ramsey numbers and provide values as well as upper and lower bounds for them. To do this, the combinatorial game Mines is introduced; after some necessary theorems about triangular sets are proved. This game is easy enough that young children are able to play. The most basic variations of this game are analyzed and theorems about winning strategies and the existence of draws are proved. The game of Mines is then used to define triangular Ramsey numbers. Lower bounds are found for these triangular Ramsey numbers using the probabil…
Given a class $\mathcal{C}$ of graphs and a fixed graph $H$, the online Ramsey game for $H$ on $\mathcal C$ is a game between two players Builder and Painter as follows: an unbounded set of vertices is given as an initial state, and on each turn Builder introduces a new edge with the constraint that the resulting graph must be in $\mathcal C$, and Painter colors the new edge either red or blue. Builder wins the game if Painter is forced to make a monochromatic copy of $H$ at some point in the game. Otherwise, Painter can avoid creating a monochromatic copy of $H$ forever, and we say Painter wi…
We consider the strong Ramsey-type game $\mathcal{R}^{(k)}(\mathcal{H}, \aleph_0)$, played on the edge set of the infinite complete $k$-uniform hypergraph $K^k_{\mathbb{N}}$. Two players, called FP (the first player) and SP (the second player), take turns claiming edges of $K^k_{\mathbb{N}}$ with the goal of building a copy of some finite predetermined $k$-uniform hypergraph $\mathcal{H}$. The first player to build a copy of $\mathcal{H}$ wins. If no player has a strategy to ensure his win in finitely many moves, then the game is declared a draw. In this paper, we construct a $5$-uniform hyper…
We introduce a graph Ramsey game called Ramsey, Paper, Scissors. This game has two players, Proposer and Decider. Starting from an empty graph on $n$ vertices, on each turn Proposer proposes a potential edge and Decider simultaneously decides (without knowing Proposer's choice) whether to add it to the graph. Proposer cannot propose an edge which would create a triangle in the graph. The game ends when Proposer has no legal moves remaining, and Proposer wins if the final graph has independence number at least $s$. We prove a threshold phenomenon exists for this game by exhibiting randomized st…
It is shown that Matet's characterization of the Ramsey property relative to a selective co-ideal $\mathcal{H}$, in terms of games of Kastanas, still holds if we consider semiselectivity instead of selectivity. Moreover, we prove that a co-ideal $\mathcal{H}$ is semiselective if and only if Matet's game-theoretic characterization of the $\mathcal{H}$-Ramsey property holds. This lifts Kastanas's characterization of the classical Ramsey property to its optimal setting, from the point of view of the local Ramsey theory and gives a game-theoretic counterpart to a theorem of Farah \cite{far}, asser…
In 1982, Harary introduced the concept of Ramsey achievement game on graphs. Given a graph $F$ with no isolated vertices. Consider the following game played on the complete graph $K_n$ by two players Alice and Bob. First, Alice colors one of the edges of $K_n$ blue, then Bob colors a different edge red, and so on. The first player who can complete the formation of $F$ in his color is the winner. The minimum $n$ for which Alice has a winning strategy is the achievement number of $F$, denoted by $a(F)$. If we replace $K_n$ in the game by the completed bipartite graph $K_{n,n}$, we get the bipart…
A well-known result of Rödl and Ruciński states that for any graph $H$ there exists a constant $C$ such that if $p \geq C n^{- 1/m_2(H)}$, then the random graph $G_{n,p}$ is a.a.s. $H$-Ramsey, that is, any $2$-colouring of its edges contains a monochromatic copy of $H$. Aside from a few simple exceptions, the corresponding $0$-statement also holds, that is, there exists $c>0$ such that whenever $p\leq cn^{-1/m_2(H)}$ the random graph $G_{n,p}$ is a.a.s. not $H$-Ramsey. We show that near this threshold, even when $G_{n,p}$ is not $H$-Ramsey, it is often extremely close to being $H$-Ramsey. More…
The $(m,n)$-online Ramsey game is a combinatorial game between two players, Builder and Painter. Starting from an infinite set of isolated vertices, Builder draws an edge on each turn and Painter immediately paints it red or blue. Builder's goal is to force Painter to create either a red $K_m$ or a blue $K_n$ using as few turns as possible. The online Ramsey number $\tilde{r}(m,n)$ is the minimum number of edges Builder needs to guarantee a win in the $(m,n)$-online Ramsey game. By analyzing the special case where Painter plays randomly, we obtain an exponential improvement \[ \tilde{r}(n,n) \…
Given two graphs $G$ and $H$, a size Ramsey game is played on the edge set of $K_\mathbb{N}$. In every round, Builder selects an edge and Painter colours it red or blue. Builder's goal is to force Painter to create a red copy of $G$ or a blue copy of $H$ as soon as possible. The online (size) Ramsey number $\tilde r(G,H)$ is the number of rounds in the game provided Builder and Painter play optimally. We prove that $\tilde r(C_4,P_n)\le 2n-2$ for every $n\ge 8$. The upper bound matches the lower bound obtained by J. Cyman, T. Dzido, J. Lapinskas, and A. Lo, so we get $\tilde r(C_4,P_n)=2n-2$ f…
Consider the following one-player game played on an initially empty graph with $n$ vertices. At each stage a randomly selected new edge is added and the player must immediately color the edge with one of $r$ available colors. Her objective is to color as many edges as possible without creating a monochromatic copy of a fixed graph $F$. We use container and sparse regularity techniques to prove a tight upper bound on the typical duration of this game with an arbitrary, but fixed, number of colors for a family of $2$-balanced graphs. The bound confirms a conjecture of Marciniszyn, Spöhel and Ste…
Consider a two-player game between players Builder and Painter. Painter begins the game by picking a coloring of the edges of $K_n$, which is hidden from Builder. In each round, Builder points to an edge and Painter reveals its color. Builder's goal is to locate a particular monochromatic structure in Painter's coloring by revealing the color of as few edges as possible. The fewest number of turns required for Builder to win this game is known as the restricted online Ramsey number. In this paper, we consider the situation where this "particular monochromatic structure" is a large matching or …
For two graphs $B$ and $H$ the strong Ramsey game $\mathcal{R}(B,H)$ on the board $B$ and with target $H$ is played as follows. Two players alternately claim edges of $B$. The first player to build a copy of $H$ wins. If none of the players win, the game is declared a draw. A notorious open question of Beck asks whether the first player has a winning strategy in $\mathcal{R}(K_n,K_k)$ in bounded time as $n\rightarrow\infty$. Surprisingly, in a recent paper Hefetz et al. constructed a $5$-uniform hypergraph $\mathcal{H}$ for which they proved that the first player does not have a winning strate…
Given two graph families $\mathcal H_1$ and $\mathcal H_2$, a size Ramsey game is played on the edge set of $K_\mathbb{N}$. In every round, Builder selects an edge and Painter colours it red or blue. Builder is trying to force Painter to create as soon as possible a red copy of a graph from $\mathcal H_1$ or a blue copy of a graph from $\mathcal H_2$. The online (size) Ramsey number $\tilde{r}(\mathcal H_1,\mathcal H_2)$ is the smallest number of rounds in the game provided Builder and Painter play optimally. We prove that if $\mathcal H_1$ is the family of all odd cycles and $\mathcal H_2$ is…
Consider a game played on the edge set of the infinite clique by two players, Builder and Painter. In each round, Builder chooses an edge and Painter colours it red or blue. Builder wins by creating either a red copy of $G$ or a blue copy of $H$ for some fixed graphs $G$ and $H$. The minimum number of rounds within which Builder can win, assuming both players play perfectly, is the on-line Ramsey number $\tilde{r}(G,H)$. In this paper, we consider the case where $G$ is a path $P_k$. We prove that $\tilde{r}(P_3, P_{\ell+1}) = \lceil 5\ell/4 \rceil = \tilde{r}(P_3, C_\ell)$ for all $\ell \ge 5$…
An online Ramsey game is a game between Builder and Painter, alternating in turns. They are given a graph $H$ and a graph $G$ of an infinite set of independent vertices. In each round Builder draws an edge and Painter colors it either red or blue. Builder wins if after some finite round there is a monochromatic copy of the graph $H$, otherwise Painter wins. The online Ramsey number $\widetilde{r}(H)$ is the minimum number of rounds such that Builder can force a monochromatic copy of $H$ in $G$. This is an analogy to the size-Ramsey number $\overline{r}(H)$ defined as the minimum number such th…
对于任何图$F$和任何整数$r\geq 2$,表示为$m^*(F,r)$的\emph{online vertex-Ramsey density of $F$ and $r$}是通过确定性两人Ramsey型游戏(Painter vs.\ Builder)。该参数在最近的论文\cite{mrs11}中引入,其中表明在线顶点-拉姆齐密度决定了类似概率单人游戏的阈值(Painter vs.\二项随机图$G_{n,p}$)。对于一个大类的图$F$,包括团,圈,完全二分图,超立方体,车轮,和任意大小的星,一个简单的贪婪策略是最佳的画家和封闭的公式$m^*(F,r)$是已知的。在这项工作中,我们表明,对于$F=P_\ell$是一个(长)路径的情况下,图片是非常不同的。不难看出,对于适当定义的整数$k^*(P_\ell,r)$,$m^*(P_\ell,r)= 1-1/k^*(P_\ell,r)$,贪婪策略给出了$k^*(P_\ell,r)\geq \ell^r$的下界。我们构建和分析画家的策略,提高这个贪婪的下限由一个因子多项式在$\ell$,我们表明,没有超多项式的改善是可能的。
We introduce a new type of positional games, played on a vertex set of a graph. Given a graph $G$, two players claim vertices of $G$, where the outcome of the game is determined by the subgraphs of $G$ induced by the vertices claimed by each player (or by one of them). We study classical positional games such as Maker-Breaker, Avoider-Enforcer, Waiter-Client and Client-Waiter games, where the board of the game is the vertex set of the binomial random graph $G\sim G(n,p)$. Under these settings, we consider those games where the target sets are the vertex sets of all graphs containing a copy of …
For positive integers $n$ and $q$ and a monotone graph property $\cA$, we consider the two player, perfect information game $\WC(n,q,\cA)$, which is defined as follows. The game proceeds in rounds. In each round, the first player, called Waiter, offers the second player, called Client, $q+1$ edges of the complete graph $K_n$ which have not been offered previously. Client then chooses one of these edges which he keeps and the remaining $q$ edges go back to Waiter. If at the end of the game, the graph which consists of the edges chosen by Client satisfies the property $\cA$, then Waiter is decla…