A well-known result of Bollobás says that if $\{(A_i, B_i)\}_{i=1}^m$ is a set pair system such that $|A_i| \le a$ and $|B_i| \le b$ for $1 \le i \le m$, and $A_i \cap B_j \ne \emptyset$ if and only if $i \ne j$, then $m \le {a+b \choose a}$. Füredi, Gyárfás and Király recently initiated the study of such systems with the additional property that $|A_i \cap B_j| = 1$ for all $i \ne j$. Confirming a conjecture of theirs, we show that this extra condition allows an improvement of the upper bound (at least) by a constant factor.
Intersecting and cross-intersecting families usually appear in extremal combinatorics in the vein of the Erd{\H o}s--Ko--Rado theorem. On the other hand, P.~Erd{\H o}s and L.~Lov{á}sz in the noted paper~\cite{EL} posed problems on coloring intersecting families as a restriction of classical hypergraph coloring problems to a special class of hypergraphs. This note deals with the mentioned coloring problems stated for cross-intersecting families.
Let $\mathcal{A}\subseteq{[n]\choose a}$ and $\mathcal{B}\subseteq{[n]\choose b}$ be two families of subsets of $[n]$, we say $\mathcal{A}$ and $\mathcal{B}$ are cross-intersecting if $A\cap B\neq \emptyset$ for all $A\in\mathcal{A}$, $B\in\mathcal{B}$. In this paper, we study cross-intersecting families in the multi-part setting. By characterizing the independent sets of vertex-transitive graphs and their direct products, we determine the sizes and structures of maximum-sized multi-part cross-intersecting families. This generalizes the results of Hilton's and Frankl--Tohushige's on cross-inte…
Given an irreducible fraction $\frac{c}{d} \in [0,1]$, a pair $(\mathcal{A},\mathcal{B})$ is called a $\frac{c}{d}$-cross-intersecting pair of $2^{[n]}$ if $\mathcal{A}, \mathcal{B}$ are two families of subsets of $[n]$ such that for every pair $A \in\mathcal{A}$ and $B\in\mathcal{B}$, $|A \cap B|= \frac{c}{d}|B|$. Mathew, Ray, and Srivastava [{\it\small Fractional cross intersecting families, Graphs and Comb., 2019}] proved that $|\mathcal{A}||\mathcal{B}|\le 2^n$ if $(\mathcal{A}, \mathcal{B})$ is a $\frac{c}{d}$-cross-intersecting pair of $2^{[n]}$ and characterized all the pairs $(\mathcal…
We consider families of k-subsets of the standard n-set. Two families F, G are said to be cross-intersecting if every member of F has non-empty intersection with every member of G. A family is called non-trivial if the intersection of all its members is empty. Supposing that F and G are non-trivial and cross-intersecting, we determine the maximum of |F|+|G|. For the proof a strengthened version of the so-called shifting technique is introduced. The corresponding problem for families of different uniformities is solved as well.
We consider a problem of maximizing the product of the sizes of two uniform cross-$t$-intersecting families of sets. We show that the value of this maximum is at most polynomially larger (in the size of a ground set) than a quantity conjectured by Hirschorn in 2008. At the same time, we observe that it can be strictly bigger.
Two sets $\mathscr{A}$ and $\mathscr{B}$ are said to be cross-intersecting if $X\cap Y\neq\emptyset$ for all $X\in\mathscr{A}$ and $Y\in\mathscr{B}$. Given two cross-intersecting Sperner families (or antichains) $\mathscr{A}$ and $\mathscr{B}$ of $\mathbb{N}_n$, we prove that $|\mathscr{A}|+|\mathscr{B}|\le 2{{n}\choose{\lceil{n/2}\rceil}}$ if $n$ is odd, and $|\mathscr{A}|+|\mathscr{B}|\le {{n}\choose{n/2}}+{{n}\choose{(n/2)+1}}$ if $n$ is even. Furthermore, all extremal and almost-extremal families for $\mathscr{A}$ and $\mathscr{B}$ are determined.
Given integers $r\geq 2$ and $n,t\geq 1$ we call families $\mathcal{F}_1,\dots,\mathcal{F}_r\subseteq\mathscr{P}([n])$ $r$-cross $t$-intersecting if for all $F_i\in\mathcal{F}_i$, $i\in[r]$, we have $\vert\bigcap_{i\in[r]}F_i\vert\geq t$. We obtain a strong generalisation of the classic Hilton-Milner theorem on cross intersecting families. In particular, we determine the maximum of $\sum_{j\in [r]}\vert\mathcal{F}_j\vert$ for $r$-cross $t$-intersecting families in the cases when these are $k$-uniform families or arbitrary subfamilies of $\mathscr{P}([n])$. Only some special cases of these resu…
Denote the collection of all $k$-flats in $AG(n,\mathbb{F}_q)$ by $\mathscr{M}(k,n)$. Let $\mathscr{F}_1\subset\mathscr{M}(k_1,n)$ and $\mathscr{F}_2\subset\mathscr{M}(k_2,n)$ satisfy $\dim(F_1\cap F_2)\ge t$ for any $F_1\in\mathscr{F}_1$ and $F_2\in\mathscr{F}_2$. We say they are cross $t$-intersecting families. Moreover, we say they are trivial if each member of them contains a fixed $t$-flats in $AG(n,\mathbb{F}_q)$. In this paper, we show that cross $t$-intersecting families with maximum product of sizes are trivial. We also describe the structure of non-trivial $t$-intersecting families w…
For positive integers $n$ and $r$ such that $r \leq \lfloor n/2\rfloor$, let $X$ be a set of $n$ elements and let $\binom{X}{r}$ be the family of all $r$-subsets of $X$. Two sub-families $\mathcal{A}$ and $\mathcal{B}$ of $\binom{X}{r}$ are called cross intersecting if $A \cap B \neq \emptyset$ for all $A \in \mathcal{A}$ and $B \in \mathcal{B}$. One of main tools in the study of extremal set theory, and cross intersecting families in particular, is compression operation. In this paper, we give an example of cross intersecting families $\mathcal{A}$ and $\mathcal{B}$ that the compression opera…
Let $V$ be an $n$-dimensional vector space over the finite field $\mathbb{F}_q$, and ${V\brack k}$ denote the family of all $k$-dimensional subspaces of $V$. The families $\mathcal{F}_1\subseteq{V\brack k_1},\mathcal{F}_2\subseteq{V\brack k_2},\ldots,\mathcal{F}_r\subseteq{V\brack k_r}$ are said to be $r$-cross $t$-intersecting if $\dim(F_1\cap F_2\cap\cdots\cap F_r)\geq t$ for all $F_i\in\mathcal{F}_i,\ 1\leq i\leq r.$ The $r$-cross $t$-intersecting families $\mathcal{F}_1$, $\mathcal{F}_2,\ldots,\mathcal{F}_r$ are said to be non-trivial if $\dim(\cap_{1\leq i\leq r}\cap_{F\in\mathcal{F}_i}F)…
We prove some properties of the Kruskal-Katona function, and apply to the following variation of cross-intersecting antichains. Let $n\ge 4$ be an even integer and $\mathscr{A}$ and $\mathscr{B}$ be two cross-intersecting antichains of $\mathbb{N}_n$ with at most $k$ disjoint pairs, i.e. for all $A_i\in \mathscr{A}$, $B_j\in\mathscr{B}$, $A_i\cap B_j=\emptyset$ only if $i=j\le k$. We prove a best possible upper bound on $|\mathscr{A}|+|\mathscr{B}|$. Furthermore, we show that the extremal families contain only $\frac{n}{2}$ and $(\frac{n}{2}+1)$-sets.
Let $\mathscr{P}$ be a symplectic polar space over a finite field $\mathbb{F}_q$, and $\mathscr{P}_m$ denote the collection of all $k$-dimensional totally isotropic subspace in $\mathscr{P}$. Let $\mathscr{F}_1\subset\mathscr{P}_{m_1}$ and $\mathscr{F}_2\subset\mathscr{P}_{m_2}$ satisfy $\dim(F_1\cap F_2)\ge t$ for any $F_1\in\mathscr{F}_1$ and $F_2\in\mathscr{F}_2$. We say they are cross $t$-intersecting families. Moreover, we say they are trivial if each member of them contains a fixed $t$-dimensional totally isotropic subspace. In this paper, we show that cross $t$-intersecting families wit…
A family $\mathcal{A}$ of sets is said to be intersecting if every two sets in $\mathcal{A}$ intersect. Two families $\mathcal{A}$ and $\mathcal{B}$ are said to be cross-intersecting if each set in $\mathcal{A}$ intersects each set in $\mathcal{B}$. For a positive integer $n$, let $[n] = \{1, \dots, n\}$ and $\mathcal{S}_n = \{A \subseteq [n] \colon 1 \in A\}$. In this note, we extend the Erdős-Ko-Rado Theorem by showing that if $\mathcal{A}$ and $\mathcal{B}$ are non-empty cross-intersecting families of subsets of $[n]$, $\mathcal{A}$ is intersecting, and $a_0, a_1, \dots, a_n, b_0, b_1, \dot…
Let $\{(A_i,B_i)\}_{i=1}^m$ be a set pair system. Füredi, Gyárfás and Király called it {\em $1$-cross intersecting} if $|A_i\cap B_j|$ is $1$ when $i\neq j$ and $0$ if $i=j$. They studied such systems and their generalizations, and in particular considered $m(a,b,1)$ -- the maximum size of a $1$-cross intersecting set pair system in which $|A_i|\leq a$ and $|B_i|\leq b$ for all $i$. Füredi, Gyárfás and Király proved that $m(n,n,1)\geq 5^{(n-1)/2}$ and asked whether there are upper bounds on $m(n,n,1)$ significantly better than the classical bound ${2n\choose n}$ of Bollob\' as for cross inters…
Two hypergraphs $H_1,\ H_2$ are called {\em cross-intersecting} if $e_1 \cap e_2 \neq \emptyset$ for every pair of edges $e_1 \in H_1,~e_2 \in H_2$. Each of the hypergraphs is then said to {\em block} the other. Given parameters $n,r,m$ we determine the maximal size of a sub-hypergraph of $[n]^r$ (meaning that it is $r$-partite, with all sides of size $n$) for which there exists a blocking sub-hypergraph of $[n]^r$ of size $m$. The answer involves a fractal-like (that is, self-similar) sequence, first studied by Knuth. We also study the same question with $\binom{n}{r}$ replacing $[n]^r$.
Two families, ${\mathcal A}$ and ${\mathcal B}$, of subsets of $[n]$ are cross $t$-intersecting if for every $A \in {\mathcal A}$ and $B \in {\mathcal B}$, $A$ and $B$ intersect in at least $t$ elements. For a real number $p$ and a family ${\mathcal A}$ the product measure $μ_p ({\mathcal A})$ is defined as the sum of $p^{|A|}(1-p)^{n-|A|}$ over all $A\in{\mathcal A}$. For every non-negative integer $r$, and for large enough $t$, we determine, for any $p$ satisfying $\frac r{t+2r-1}\leq p\leq\frac{r+1}{t+2r+1}$, the maximum possible value of $μ_p ({\mathcal A})μ_p ({\mathcal B})$ for cross $t$…
The notion of cross intersecting set pair system of size $m$, $\Big(\{A_i\}_{i=1}^m, \{B_i\}_{i=1}^m\Big)$ with $A_i\cap B_i=\emptyset$ and $A_i\cap B_j\ne\emptyset$, was introduced by Bollobás and it became an important tool of extremal combinatorics. His classical result states that $m\le {a+b\choose a}$ if $|A_i|\le a$ and $|B_i|\le b$ for each $i$. Our central problem is to see how this bound changes with the additional condition $|A_i\cap B_j|=1$ for $i\ne j$. Such a system is called $1$-cross intersecting. We show that the maximum size of a $1$-cross intersecting set pair system is -- at…
A family of subsets of $\{1,\ldots,n\}$ is called {\it intersecting} if any two of its sets intersect. A classical result in extremal combinatorics due to Erdős, Ko, and Rado determines the maximum size of an intersecting family of $k$-subsets of $\{1,\ldots, n\}$. In this paper we study the following problem: how many intersecting families of $k$-subsets of $\{1,\ldots, n\}$ are there? Improving a result of Balogh, Das, Delcourt, Liu, and Sharifzadeh, we determine this quantity asymptotically for $n\ge 2k+2+2\sqrt{k\log k}$ and $k\to \infty$. Moreover, under the same assumptions we also deter…
$s$-almost cross-$t$-intersecting families for vector spaces
Laboratory of Mathematics and Complex Systems (Ministry of Education), School of Mathematical Sciences, Beijing Normal University（北京师范大学数学科学学院，教育部数学与复杂系统重点实验室）；School of Mathematical Sciences, Henan Institute of Science and Technology（河南科技大学数学与统计学院）
A $t$-intersecting constant dimension subspace code $C$ is a set of $k$-dimensional subspaces in a projective space PG(n,q), where distinct subspaces intersect in a $t$-dimensional subspace. A classical example of such a code is the sunflower, where all subspaces pass through the same $t$-space. The sunflower bound states that such a code is a sunflower if $|C| > \left( \frac {q^{k + 1} - q^{t + 1}}{q - 1} \right)^2 + \left( \frac {q^{k + 1} - q^{t + 1}}{q - 1} \right) + 1$. In this article we will look at the case $t=0$ and we will improve this bound for $q\geq 9$: a set $\mathcal{S}$ of $k$-…
Let $2^{[n]}$ and $\binom{[n]}{i}$ be the power set and the class of all $i$-subsets of $\{1,2,\cdots,n\}$, respectively. We call two families $\mathscr{A}$ and $\mathscr{B}$ cross-intersecting if $A\cap B\neq \emptyset$ for any $A\in \mathscr{A}$ and $B\in \mathscr{B}$. In this paper we show that, for $n\geq k+l,l\geq r\geq 1,c>0$ and $\mathscr{A}\subseteq \binom{[n]}{k},\mathscr{B}\subseteq \binom{[n]}{l}$, if $\mathscr{A}$ and $\mathscr{B}$ are cross-intersecting and $\binom{n-r}{l-r}\leq|\mathscr{B}|\leq \binom{n-1}{l-1}$, then $$|\mathscr{A}|+c|\mathscr{B}|\leq \max\left\{\binom{n}{k}-\bi…
The extremal problems regarding the maximum possible size of intersecting families of various combinatorial objects have been extensively studied. In this paper, we investigate supersaturation extensions, which in this context ask for the minimum number of disjoint pairs that must appear in families larger than the extremal threshold. We study the minimum number of disjoint pairs in families of permutations and in $k$-uniform set families, and determine the structure of the optimal families. Our main tool is a removal lemma for disjoint pairs. We also determine the typical structure of $k$-uni…
Two families $\mathcal{A}$ and $\mathcal{B}$ of sets are said to be cross-$t$-intersecting if each set in $\mathcal{A}$ intersects each set in $\mathcal{B}$ in at least $t$ elements. An active problem in extremal set theory is to determine the maximum product of sizes of cross-$t$-intersecting subfamilies of a given family. We prove a cross-$t$-intersection theorem for weighted subsets of a set by means of a new subfamily alteration method, and use the result to provide solutions for three natural families. For $r\in[n]=\{1,2,\dots,n\}$, let ${[n]\choose r}$ be the family of $r$-element subset…
Let $\mathcal{F},\mathcal{G}$ be two cross-intersecting families of $k$-subsets of $\{1,2,\ldots,n\}$. Let $\mathcal{F}\wedge \mathcal{G}$, $\mathcal{I}(\mathcal{F},\mathcal{G})$ denote the families of all intersections $F\cap G$ with $F\in \mathcal{F},G\in \mathcal{G}$, and all distinct intersections $F\cap G$ with $F\neq G, F\in \mathcal{F},G\in \mathcal{G}$, respectively. For a fixed $T\subset \{1,2,\ldots,n\}$, let $\mathcal{S}_T$ be the family of all $k$-subsets of $\{1,2,\ldots,n\}$ containing $T$. In the present paper, we show that $|\mathcal{F}\wedge \mathcal{G}|$ is maximized when $\m…
We say that a set $A$ $t$-intersects a set $B$ if $A$ and $B$ have at least $t$ common elements. Two families $\mathcal{A}$ and $\mathcal{B}$ of sets are said to be cross-$t$-intersecting if each set in $\mathcal{A}$ $t$-intersects each set in $\mathcal{B}$. A subfamily $\mathcal{S}$ of a family $\mathcal{F}$ is called a $t$-star of $\mathcal{F}$ if the sets in $\mathcal{S}$ have $t$ common elements. Let $l(\mathcal{F},t)$ denote the size of a largest $t$-star of $\mathcal{F}$. We call $\mathcal{F}$ a $(\leq r)$-family if each set in $\mathcal{F}$ has at most $r$ elements. We determine a funct…
The number of k-intersections of an intersecting family of r-sets
Erdos-Ko-Rado定理告诉我们从一个n-集合中的r-集合的相交族可以有多大，而Lovasz和Tuza的结果给出了从这样一个族中的集合的成对相交可以出现的单例数的界限。我们认为这些问题的一个自然的概括。给定一个n-集的r-集的相交族和1个\leq k \leq r，有多少个k-集可以作为该族中的集的两两相交出现？对于k=r和k=1，这简化为上述问题。当n足够大时，我们对k和r的所有值都能准确地回答这个问题。我们还刻画了极值族。
Nested parentheses are forms in an algebra which define orders of evaluations. A class of well-formed sets of associated opening and closing parentheses is well studied in conjunction with Dyck paths and Catalan numbers. Nested parentheses also represent cuts through circles on a line. These become topologies of non-intersecting circles in the plane if the underlying algebra is commutative. This paper generalizes the concept and answers quantitatively - as recurrences and generating functions of matching rooted forests - the questions: how many different topologies of nested circles exist in t…
In this paper we study a question related to the classical Erdős-Ko-Rado theorem, which states that any family of $k$-element subsets of the set $[n] = \{1,\ldots,n\}$ in which any two sets intersect, has cardinality at most ${n-1\choose k-1}$. We say that two non-empty families are $\mathcal A, \mathcal B\subset {[n]\choose k}$ are {\it $s$-cross-intersecting}, if for any $A\in\mathcal A,B\in \mathcal B$ we have $|A\cap B|\ge s$. In this paper we determine the maximum of $|\mathcal A|+|\mathcal B|$ for all $n$. This generalizes a result of Hilton and Milner, who determined the maximum of $|\m…
