A constrained colouring or, more specifically, an $(α,β)$-colouring of a hypergraph $H$, is an assignment of colours to its vertices such that no edge of $H$ contains less than $α$ or more than $β$ vertices with different colours. This notion, introduced by B{ú}jtas and Tuza, generalises both classical hypergraph colourings and the more general Voloshin colourings of hypergraphs. In fact, for $r$-uniform hypergraphs, classical colourings correspond to $(2,r)$-colourings while an important instance of Voloshin colourings of $r$-uniform hypergraphs gives $(2, r-1)$-colourings. One intriguing aspect of all these colourings, not present in classical colourings, is that $H$ can have gaps in its $(α,β)$-spectrum, that is, for $k_1 < k_2 < k_3$, $H$ would be $(α,β)$-colourable using $k_1$ and using $k_3$ colours, but not using $k_2$ colours.
In an earlier paper, the first two authors introduced, for $σ$ a partition of $r$, a very versatile type of $r$-uniform hypergraph which they called $σ$-hypergraphs. They showed that, by simple manipulation of the parameters of a $σ$-hypergraph $H$, one can obtain families of hypergraphs which have $(2,r-1)$-colourings exhibiting various interesting chromatic properties. They also showed that, if the smallest part of $σ$ is at least 2, then $H$ will never have a gap in its $(2,r-1)$-spectrum but, quite surprisingly, they found examples where gaps re-appear when $α=β=2$.
In this paper we extend many of the results of the first two authors to more general $(α,β)$-colourings, and we study the phenomenon of the disappearanace and re-appearance of gaps and show that it is not just the behaviour of a particular example but we place it within the context of a more general study of constrained colourings of $σ$-hypergraphs.
The Lovász Local Lemma is a powerful probabilistic technique for proving the existence of combinatorial objects. It is especially useful for colouring graphs and hypergraphs with bounded maximum degree. This paper presents a general theorem for colouring hypergraphs that in many instances matches or slightly improves upon the bounds obtained using the Lovász Local Lemma. Moreover, the theorem directly shows that there are exponentially many colourings. The elementary and self-contained proof is inspired by a recent result for nonrepetitive colourings by Rosenfeld [2020]. We apply our general t…
One of the most interesting new developments in hypergraph colourings in these last few years has been Voloshin's notion of colourings of mixed hypergraphs. In this paper we shall study a specific instance of Voloshin's idea: a non-monochromatic non-rainbow (NMNR) colouring of a hypergraph is a colouring of its vertices such that every edge has at least two vertices coloured with different colours (non-monochromatic) and no edge has all of its vertices coloured with distinct colours (non-rainbow). Perhaps the most intriguing phenomenon of such colourings is that a hypergraph can have gaps in i…
We look at colourings of $r$-uniform hypergraphs, focusing our attention on unique colourability and gaps in the chromatic spectrum. The pattern of an edge $E$ in an $r$-uniform hypergraph $H$ whose vertices are coloured is the partition of $r$ induced by the colour classes of the vertices in $E$. Let $Q$ be a set of partitions of $r$. A $Q$-colouring of $H$ is a colouring of its vertices such that only patterns appearing in $Q$ are allowed. We first show that many known hypergraph colouring problems, including Ramsey theory, can be stated in the language of $Q$-colourings. Then, using as our …
A hypergraph is "$d$-degenerate" if every subhypergraph has a vertex of degree at most $d$. A greedy algorithm colours every such hypergraph with at most $d+1$ colours. We show that this bound is tight, by constructing an $r$-uniform $d$-degenerate hypergraph with chromatic number $d+1$ for all $r\geq2$ and $d\geq1$. Moreover, the hypergraph is triangle-free, where a "triangle" in an $r$-uniform hypergraph consists of three edges whose union is a set of $r+1$ vertices.
We consider vertex colourings of $r$-uniform hypergraphs $H$ in the classical sense, that is such that no edge has all its vertices given the same colour, and $(2,2)$-colourings of $H$ in which the vertices in any edge are given exactly two colours. This is a special case of constrained colourings introduced by Bujtas and Tuza which, in turn, is a generalisation of Voloshin's colourings of mixed hypergraphs. We study, $χ(H)$, the classical chromatic number, and the $(2,2)$-spectrum of $H$, that is, the set of integers $k$ for which $H$ has a $(2,2)$-colouring using exactly $k$ colours. We pres…
We consider the problem of $q$-colouring a $k$-uniform random hypergraph, where $q,k \geq 3$, and determine the rigidity threshold. For edge densities above the rigidity threshold, we show that almost all solutions have a linear number of vertices that are linearly frozen, meaning that they cannot be recoloured by a sequence of colourings that each change the colour of a sublinear number of vertices. When the edge density is below the threshold, we prove that all but a vanishing proportion of the vertices can be recoloured by a sequence of colourings that recolour only one vertex at a time. Th…
The $k$-Strong Conflict-Free ($k$-SCF, in short) colouring problem seeks to find a colouring of the vertices of a hypergraph $H$ using minimum number of colours so that in every hyperedge $e$ of $H$, there are at least $\min\{|e|,k\}$ vertices whose colour is different from that of all other vertices in $e$. In the case of interval hypergraphs, we present an exact $P$-time algorithm for the $k$-SCF problem thus solving an open problem posed by Cheilaris et al. (2014). We achieve our results by showing that for any hypergraph a $k$-SCF colouring is a proper colouring of a related simple graph w…
For any two non-negative integers h and k, h > k, an L(h, k)-colouring of a graph G is a colouring of vertices such that adjacent vertices admit colours that at least differ by h and vertices that are two distances apart admit colours that at least differ by k. The smallest positive integer δ such that G permits an L(h, k)-colouring with maximum colour δ is known as the L(h, k)-chromatic number (L(h, k)-colouring number) denoted by λ_{h,k}(G). In this paper, we discuss some interesting invariants in hypergraphs. In fact, we study the relation between the spectral gap and L(2, 1)-chromatic numb…
We prove that the vertices of every $(r + 1)$-uniform hypergraph with maximum degree $Δ$ may be coloured with $c(\fracΔ{d + 1})^{1/r}$ colours such that each vertex is in at most $d$ monochromatic edges. This result, which is best possible up to the value of the constant $c$, generalises the classical result of Erdős and Lovász who proved the $d = 0$ case.
Gallai's colouring theorem states that if the edges of a complete graph are 3-coloured, with each colour class forming a connected (spanning) subgraph, then there is a triangle that has all 3 colours. What happens for more colours: if we $k$-colour the edges of the complete graph, with each colour class connected, how many of the $\binom{k}{3}$ triples of colours must appear as triangles? In this note we show that the `obvious' conjecture, namely that there are always at least $\binom{k-1}{2}$ triples, is not correct. We determine the minimum asymptotically. This answers a question of Johnson.…
We study rainbow-free colourings of $k$-uniform hypergraphs; that is, colourings that use $k$ colours but with the property that no hyperedge attains all colours. We show that $p^*=(k-1)(\ln n)/n$ is the threshold function for the existence of a rainbow-free colouring in a random $k$-uniform hypergraph.
We determine the limiting distribution of the logarithm of the number of satisfying assignments in the random $k$-uniform hypergraph 2-colouring problem in a certain density regime for all $k\ge 3$ . As a direct consequence we obtain that in this regime the random colouring model is contiguous wrt. the planted model, a result that helps simplifying the transfer of statements between these two models.
This paper provides a survey of methods, results, and open problems on graph and hypergraph colourings, with a particular emphasis on semi-random `nibble' methods. We also give a detailed sketch of some aspects of the recent proof of the Erdős-Faber-Lovász conjecture.
Let $χ_l(G)$ denote the list chromatic number of the $r$-uniform hypergraph~$G$. Extending a result of Alon for graphs, Saxton and the second author used the method of containers to prove that, if $G$ is simple and $d$-regular, then $χ_l(G)\ge (1/(r-1)+o(1))\log_r d$. To see how close this inequality is to best possible, we examine $χ_l(G)$ when $G$ is a random $r$-partite hypergraph with $n$ vertices in each class. The value when $r=2$ was determined by Alon and Krivelevich, here we show that $χ_l(G)= (g(r,α)+o(1))\log_r d$ almost surely, where $d$ is the expected average degree of~$G$ and $α…
We answer a question of Gyárfás and Sárközy from 2013 by showing that every 2-edge-coloured complete 3-uniform hypergraph can be partitioned into two monochromatic tight paths of different colours. We also give a lower bound for the number of tight paths needed to partition any 2-edge-coloured complete r-partite r-uniform hypergraph. Finally, we show that any 2-edge-coloured complete bipartite graph has a partition into a monochromatic cycle and a monochromatic path, of different colours, unless the colouring is a split colouring.
We study the problem of sampling almost uniform proper $q$-colourings in $k$-uniform simple hypergraphs with maximum degree $Δ$. For any $δ> 0$, if $k \geq\frac{20(1+δ)}δ$ and $q \geq 100Δ^{\frac{2+δ}{k-4/δ-4}}$, the running time of our algorithm is $\tilde{O}(\mathrm{poly}(Δk)\cdot n^{1.01})$, where $n$ is the number of vertices. Our result requires fewer colours than previous results for general hypergraphs (Jain, Pham, and Voung, 2021; He, Sun, and Wu, 2021), and does not require $Ω(\log n)$ colours unlike the work of Frieze and Anastos (2017).
A linearly ordered (LO) $k$-colouring of an $r$-uniform hypergraph assigns an integer from $\{1, \ldots, k \}$ to every vertex so that, in every edge, the (multi)set of colours has a unique maximum. Equivalently, for $r=3$, if two vertices in an edge are assigned the same colour, then the third vertex is assigned a larger colour (as opposed to a different colour, as in classic non-monochromatic colouring). Barto, Battistelli, and Berg [STACS'21] studied LO colourings on $3$-uniform hypergraphs in the context of promise constraint satisfaction problems (PCSPs). We show two results. First, given…
Given an edge colouring of a graph with a set of $m$ colours, we say that the graph is (exactly) $m$-coloured if each of the colours is used. In 1999, Stacey and Weidl, partially resolving a conjecture of Erickson from 1994, showed that for a fixed natural number $m>2$ and for all sufficiently large $k$, there is a $k$-colouring of the complete graph on $\mathbb{N}$ such that no complete infinite subgraph is exactly $m$-coloured. In the light of this result, we consider the question of how close we can come to finding an exactly $m$-coloured complete infinite subgraph. We show that for a natur…
We show that for every η > 0 there exists an integer n_0 such that every 2-colouring of the 3-uniform complete hypergraph on n \geq n_0 vertices contains two disjoint monochromatic tight cycles of distinct colours that together cover all but at most ηn vertices. The same result holds if we replace tight cycles with loose cycles.
For a given hypergraph $H = (V,E)$ consider the sum $q(H)$ of $2^{-|e|}$ over $e \in E$. Consider the class of hypergraphs with the smallest edge of size $n$ and without a 2-colouring without monochromatic edges. Let $q(n)$ be the smallest value of $q(H)$ in this class. We provide a survey of the known bounds on $q(n)$ and make some minor refinements.
There are two possible definitions of the "s-disjoint r-uniform Kneser hypergraph'' of a set system T: The hyperedges are either r-sets or r-multisets. We point out that Ziegler's (combinatorial) lower bound on the chromatic number of an s-disjoint r-uniform Kneser hypergraph only holds if we consider r-multisets as hyperedges. We give a new proof of his result and show by example that a similar result does not hold if one considers r-sets as hyperedges. In case of r-sets as hyperedges and $s \geq 2$ the only known lower bounds are obtained from topological invariants of associated simplicial …
In 1991, McKay and Radziszowski proved that, however each 3-subset of a 13-set is assigned one of two colours, there is some 4-subset whose four 3-subsets have the same colour. More than 25 years later, this remains the only non-trivial classical Ramsey number known for hypergraphs. In this article, we find all the extremal colourings of the 3-subsets of a 12-set and list some of their properties. Using the catalogue, we provide an answer to a question of Dudek, Fleur, Mubayi and Rödl about the size-Ramsey numbers of hypergraphs.
We show that for all $\ell, k, n$ with $\ell \leq k/2$ and $(k-\ell)$ dividing $n$ the following hypergraph-variant of Lehel's conjecture is true. Every $2$-edge-colouring of the $k$-uniform complete hypergraph $\mathcal{K}_n^{(k)}$ on $n$ vertices has at most two disjoint monochromatic $\ell$-cycles in different colours that together cover all but at most $4(k-\ell)$ vertices. If $\ell \leq k/3$, then at most two $\ell$-cycles cover all but at most $2(k-\ell)$ vertices. Furthermore, we can cover all vertices with at most $4$ ($3$ if $\ell\leq k/3$) disjoint monochromatic $\ell$-cycles.
The $s$-colour size-Ramsey number of a hypergraph $H$ is the minimum number of edges in a hypergraph $G$ whose every $s$-edge-colouring contains a monochromatic copy of $H$. We show that the $s$-colour size-Ramsey number of the $t$-power of the $r$-uniform tight path on $n$ vertices is linear in $n$, for every fixed $r, s, t$, thus answering a question of Dudek, La Fleur, Mubayi, and Rödl (2017). In fact, we prove a stronger result that allows us to deduce that powers of bounded degree hypergraph trees and powers of `long subdivisions' of bounded degree hypergraphs have size-Ramsey numbers tha…
For a graph G, a signed domination function of G is a two-colouring of the vertices of G with colours +1 and -1 such that the closed neighbourhood of every vertex contains more +1's than -1's. This concept is closely related to combinatorial discrepancy theory as shown by Fueredi and Mubayi [J. Combin. Theory, Ser. B 76 (1999) 223-239]. The signed domination number of G is the minimum of the sum of colours for all vertices, taken over all signed domination functions of G. In this paper, we present new upper and lower bounds for the signed domination number. These new bounds improve a number of…
A lambda colouring (or $L(2,1)-$colouring) of a graph is an assignment of non-negative integers (with minimum assignment $0$) to its vertices such that the adjacent vertices must receive integers at least two apart and vertices at distance two must receive distinct integers. The lambda chromatic number (or the $λ$ number) of a graph $G$ is the least positive integer among all the maximum assigned positive integer over all possible lambda colouring of the graph $G$. Here we have primarily shown that every graph with lambda chromatic number $t$ can be embedded in a graph, with lambda chromatic n…
We consider the problem of $k$-colouring a random $r$-uniform hypergraph with $n$ vertices and $cn$ edges, where $k$, $r$, $c$ remain constant as $n$ tends to infinity. Achlioptas and Naor showed that the chromatic number of a random graph in this setting, the case $r=2$, must have one of two easily computable values as $n$ tends to infinity. We give a complete generalisation of this result to random uniform hypergraphs.
A colouring of a hypergraph's vertices is polychromatic if every hyperedge contains at least one vertex of each colour; the polychromatic number is the maximum number of colours in such a colouring. Its dual, the cover-decomposition number, is the maximum number of disjoint hyperedge-covers. In geometric hypergraphs, there is extensive work on lower-bounding these numbers in terms of their trivial upper bounds (minimum hyperedge size and degree); our goal here is to broaden the study beyond geometric settings. We obtain algorithms yielding near-tight bounds for three families of hypergraphs: b…
Given a hypergraph $H$, the size-Ramsey number $\hat{r}_2(H)$ is the smallest integer $m$ such that there exists a graph $G$ with $m$ edges with the property that in any colouring of the edges of $G$ with two colours there is a monochromatic copy of $H$. We prove that the size-Ramsey number of the $3$-uniform tight path on $n$ vertices $P^{(3)}_n$ is linear in $n$, i.e., $\hat{r}_2(P^{(3)}_n) = O(n)$. This answers a question by Dudek, Fleur, Mubayi, and Rödl for $3$-uniform hypergraphs [On the size-Ramsey number of hypergraphs, J. Graph Theory 86 (2016), 417-434], who proved $\hat{r}_2(P^{(3)}…
We develop a notion of containment for independent sets in hypergraphs. For every $r$-uniform hypergraph $G$, we find a relatively small collection $C$ of vertex subsets, such that every independent set of $G$ is contained within a member of $C$, and no member of $C$ is large; the collection, which is in various respects optimal, reveals an underlying structure to the independent sets. The containers offer a straightforward and unified approach to many combinatorial questions concerned (usually implicitly) with independence. With regard to colouring, it follows that simple $r$-uniform hypergra…
Given a countably infinite hypergraph $\mathcal R$ and a finite hypergraph $\mathcal A$, the big Ramsey degree of $\mathcal A$ in $\mathcal R$ is the least number $L$ such that, for every finite $k$ and every $k$-colouring of the embeddings of $\mathcal A$ to $\mathcal R$, there exists an embedding $f$ from $\mathcal R$ to $\mathcal R$ such that all the embeddings of $\mathcal A$ to the image $f(\mathcal R)$ have at most $L$ different colours. We describe the big Ramsey degrees of the random countably infinite 3-uniform hypergraph, thereby solving a question of Sauer. We also give a new presen…
The $p$-spectral radius of a uniform hypergraph covers many important concepts, such as Lagrangian and spectral radius of the hypergraph, and is crucial for solving spectral extremal problems of hypergraphs. In this paper, we establish a spherically constrained maximization model and propose a first-order conjugate gradient algorithm to compute the $p$-spectral radius of a uniform hypergraph (CSRH). By the semialgebraic nature of the adjacency tensor of a uniform hypergraph, CSRH is globally convergent and obtains the global maximizer with a high probability. When computing the spectral radius…
De Finetti's classical result of [18] identifying the law of an exchangeable family of random variables as a mixture of i.i.d. laws was extended to structure theorems for more complex notions of exchangeability by Aldous [1,2,3], Hoover [41,42], Kallenberg [44] and Kingman [47]. On the other hand, such exchangeable laws were first related to questions from combinatorics in an independent analysis by Fremlin and Talagrand [29], and again more recently in Tao [62], where they appear as a natural proxy for the `leading order statistics' of colourings of large graphs or hypergraphs. Moreover, this…
Leipzig University（莱比锡大学）；Max Planck Institute for Mathematics in the Sciences（马普科学数学研究所）；Universidad Pública de Navarra（纳瓦拉公立大学）；Institute for Basic Science（基础科学研究院）；Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC)（加泰罗尼亚理工大学）
