Anti-Ramsey theory was initiated in 1975 by Erdős, Simonovits and Sós, inspiring hundreds of publications since then. The present work is the third and last piece of our trilogy in which we introduce a far-reaching generalization via the following two functions for any graph $G$ and family ${\cal F}$ of graphs:
If $K_2 \in {\cal F}$, let $f(n,G|{\cal F})$ be the smallest integer $k$ such that every edge coloring of $K_n$ with at least $k$ colors forces a copy of $G$ in which all color classes are members of ${\cal F}$.
If $K_2 \notin {\cal F}$, let $g(n,G|{\cal F})$ be the largest integer $k$ for which there exists an edge coloring of $K_n$ using exactly $k$ colors, such that every copy of $G$ contains an induced color class which is a member of ${\cal F}$.
We develop methods suitable for deriving asymptotically tight results for the $f$-function and the $g$-function for many combinations of $G$ and ${\cal F}$.
The preceding parts of the trilogy are arXiv: 2405.19812 and 2408.04257, published in Discrete Applied Math. Vol. 363 and Mathematics Vol. 12:23, respectively.
A Gallai $k$-coloring is a $k$-edge coloring of a complete graph in which there are no rainbow triangles. For two given graphs $H, G$ and two positive integers $k,s$ with that $s\leq k$, the $k$-colored Gallai-Ramsey number $gr_{k}(K_{3}: s\cdot H,~ (k-s)\cdot G)$ is the minimum integer $n$ such that every Gallai $k$-colored $K_{n}$ contains a monochromatic copy of $H$ colored by one of the first $s$ colors or a monochromatic copy of $G$ colored by one of the remaining $k-s$ colors. In this paper, we determine the value of Gallai-Ramsey number in the case that $H=K_{4}^{+}$ and $G=K_{3}$. Thus…
Denote by k_4(n) the minimal number of monochromatic copies of a K_4 in a 2-colouring of the edges of K_n and let c_4 := lim k_4(n)/\binom{n}{4}. The best known bounds so far were given by Thomason, who proved that c_4 < 1/33 \approx 0.0303, and Giraud, who showed that c_4 > 1/46 \approx 0.0217. In this paper we prove the new lower bound c_4 > 204603019 / 7112448000 > 0.0287.
The typical problem in (generalized) Ramsey theory is to find the order of the largest monochromatic member of a family F (for example matchings, paths, cycles, connected subgraphs) that must be present in any edge coloring of a complete graph K_n with t colors. Another area is to find the minimum number of monochromatic members of F that partition or cover the vertex set of every edge colored complete graph. Here we propose a problem that connects these areas: for fixed positive integers s,t, at least how many vertices can be covered by the vertices of no more than s monochromatic members of …
We consider a generalisation of the classical Ramsey theory setting to a setting where each of the edges of the underlying host graph is coloured with a {\em set} of colours (instead of just one colour). We give bounds for monochromatic tree covers in this setting, both for an underlying complete graph, and an underlying complete bipartite graph. We also discuss a generalisation of Ramsey numbers to our setting and propose some other new directions. Our results for tree covers in complete graphs imply that a stronger version of Ryser's conjecture holds for $k$-intersecting $r$-partite $r$-unif…
If we 2-color the vertices of a large hypercube what monochromatic substructures are we guaranteed to find? Call a set S of vertices from Q_d, the d-dimensional hypercube, Ramsey if any 2-coloring of the vertices of Q_n, for n sufficiently large, contains a monochromatic copy of S. Ramsey's theorem tells us that for any r \geq 1 every 2-coloring of a sufficiently large r-uniform hypergraph will contain a large monochromatic clique (a complete subhypergraph): hence any set of vertices from Q_d that all have the same weight is Ramsey. A natural question to ask is: which sets S corresponding to u…
We prove that, for $n\geq 4$, the graphs $K_n$ and $K_n+K_{n-1}$ are Ramsey equivalent. That is, if $G$ is such that any red-blue colouring of its edges creates a monochromatic $K_n$ then it must also possess a monochromatic $K_n+K_{n-1}$.
Given two graphs $G$ and $H$, the \emph{general $k$-colored Gallai-Ramsey number} $\operatorname{gr}_k(G:H)$ is defined to be the minimum integer $m$ such that every $k$-coloring of the complete graph on $m$ vertices contains either a rainbow copy of $G$ or a monochromatic copy of $H$. Interesting problems arise when one asks how many such rainbow copy of $G$ and monochromatic copy of $H$ must occur. The \emph{Gallai-Ramsey multiplicity} $\operatorname{GM}_{k}(G,H)$ is defined as the minimum total number of rainbow copy of $G$ and monochromatic copy of $H$ in any exact $k$-coloring of $K_{\ope…
A factorisation $x = u_1 u_2 \cdots$ of an infinite word $x$ on alphabet $X$ is called `monochromatic', for a given colouring of the finite words $X^*$ on alphabet $X$, if each $u_i$ is the same colour. Wojcik and Zamboni proved that the word $x$ is periodic if and only if for every finite colouring of $X^*$ there is a monochromatic factorisation of $x$. On the other hand, it follows from Ramsey's theorem that, for \textit{any} word $x$, for every finite colouring of $X^*$ there is a suffix of $x$ having a monochromatic factorisation. A factorisation $x = u_1 u_2 \cdots$ is called `super-monoc…
Erdős and Pach (1983) introduced the natural degree-based generalisations of Ramsey numbers, where instead of seeking large monochromatic cliques in a $2$-edge coloured complete graph, we seek monochromatic subgraphs of high minimum or average degree. Here we expand the study of these so-called quasi-Ramsey numbers in a few ways, in particular, to multiple colours and to uniform hypergraphs. Quasi-Ramsey numbers are known to exhibit a certain unique phase transition and we show that this is also the case across the settings we consider. Our results depend on a density-biased notion of hypergra…
In this paper, we introduce Euclidean Gallai-Ramsey theory, by combining Euclidean Ramsey theory and Gallai-Ramsey theory on graphs. More precisely, we consider the following problem: For an integer $r$ and configurations $K$ and $K'$, does there exist an integer $n_0$ such that for any $r$-coloring of the points of $n$-dimensional Euclidean space with $n \geq n_0$, there is a monochromatic configuration congruent to $K$ or a rainbow configuration congruent to $K'$? In particular, we give a bound on $n_0$ for some configurations $K$ and $K'$, such as triangles and rectangles. Those are extensi…
We show that, for every $r, k$, there is an $n = n(r,k)$ so that any $r$-coloring of the edges of the complete graph on $[n]$ will yield a monochromatic complete subgraph on vertices ${a + \sum_{i \in I} d_i \mid I \subseteq [k]}$ for some choice of $a, d_1,..., d_k$. In particular, there is always a solution to $x_1 + ... + x_\ell = y_1 + ... + y_\ell$ whose induced subgraph is monochromatic.
The Ramsey number $r(H)$ of a graph $H$ is the minimum integer $n$ such that any two-coloring of the edges of the complete graph $K_n$ contains a monochromatic copy of $H$. While this definition only asks for a single monochromatic copy of $H$, it is often the case that every two-edge-coloring of the complete graph on $r(H)$ vertices contains many monochromatic copies of $H$. The minimum number of such copies over all two-colorings of $K_{r(H)}$ will be referred to as the threshold Ramsey multiplicity of $H$. Addressing a problem of Harary and Prins, who were the first to systematically study …
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 …
Given a graph $G$ and a positive integer $k$, define the \emph{Gallai-Ramsey number} to be the minimum number of vertices $n$ such that any $k$-edge coloring of the complete graph $K_n$ contains either a rainbow (all different colored) triangle or a monochromatic copy of $G$. In this paper, we obtain the exact value of the Gallai-Ramsey numbers for the union of two stars in many cases and bounds in other cases. This work represents the first class of disconnected graphs to be considered as the desired monochromatic subgraph.
In this note we consider a Ramsey property of random $d$-regular graphs, $\mathcal{G}(n,d)$. Let $r\ge 2$ be fixed. Then w.h.p. the edges of $\mathcal{G}(n, 2r)$ can be colored such that every monochromatic component has size $o(n)$. On the other hand, there exists a constant $γ> 0$ such that w.h.p., every $r$-coloring of the edges of $\mathcal{G}(n, 2r+1)$ must contain a monochromatic cycle of length at least $γn$. We prove an analogous result for random $k$-out graphs.
The size-Ramsey number $\hat{R}(F)$ of a graph $F$ is the smallest integer $m$ such that there exists a graph $G$ on $m$ edges with the property that any colouring of the edges of $G$ with two colours yields a monochromatic copy of $F$. In this paper, first we focus on the size-Ramsey number of a path $P_n$ on $n$ vertices. In particular, we show that $5n/2-15/2 \le \hat{R}(P_n) \le 74n$ for $n$ sufficiently large. (The upper bound uses expansion properties of random $d$-regular graphs.) This improves the previous lower bound, $\hat{R}(P_n) \ge (1+\sqrt{2})n-O(1)$, due to Bollobás, and the upp…
We show that for every finite colouring of the natural numbers there exists $a,b >1$ such that the triple $\{a,b,a^b\}$ is monochromatic. We go on to show the partition regularity of a much richer class of patterns involving exponentiation. For example, as a corollary to our main theorem, we show that for every $n \in \mathbb{N}$ and for every finite colouring of the natural numbers, we may find a monochromatic set including the integers $x_1,\ldots,x_n >1$; all products of distinct $x_i$; and all "exponential compositions" of distinct $x_i$ which respect the order $x_1,\ldots,x_n$. In particu…
Gallai-colorings are edge-colored complete graphs in which there are no rainbow triangles. Within such colored complete graphs, we consider Ramsey-type questions, looking for specified monochromatic graphs. In this work, we consider monochromatic bipartite graphs since the numbers are known to grow more slowly than for non-bipartite graphs. The main result shows that it suffices to consider only $3$-colorings which have a special partition of the vertices. Using this tool, we find several sharp numbers and conjecture the sharp value for all bipartite graphs. In particular, we determine the Gal…
We call the minimum order of any complete graph so that for any coloring of the edges by $k$ colors it is impossible to avoid a monochromatic or rainbow triangle, a Mixed Ramsey number. For any graph $H$ with edges colored from the above set of $k$ colors, if we consider the condition of excluding $H$ in the above definition, we produce a \emph{Mixed Pattern Ramsey number}, denoted $M_k(H)$. We determine this function in terms of $k$ for all colored $4$-cycles and all colored $4$-cliques. We also find bounds for $M_k(H)$ when $H$ is a monochromatic odd cycles, or a star for sufficiently large …
Hindman's theorem says that every finite coloring of the natural numbers has a monochromatic set of finite sums. Ramsey algebras are structures that satisfy an analogue of Hindman's Theorem. This paper introduces Ramsey algebras and presents some elementary results. Furthermore, their connection to Ramsey spaces will be addressed.
The Ramsey number $r(H)$ of a graph $H$ is the minimum $n$ such that any two-coloring of the edges of the complete graph $K_n$ contains a monochromatic copy of $H$. The threshold Ramsey multiplicity $m(H)$ is then the minimum number of monochromatic copies of $H$ taken over all two-edge-colorings of $K_{r(H)}$. The study of this concept was first proposed by Harary and Prins almost fifty years ago. In a companion paper, the authors have shown that there is a positive constant $c$ such that the threshold Ramsey multiplicity for a path or even cycle with $k$ vertices is at least $(ck)^k$, which …
Answering a question raised by Dudek and Prałat, we show that if $pn\rightarrow \infty$, w.h.p.,~whenever $G=G(n,p)$ is $2$-coloured, there exists a monochromatic path of length $n(2/3+o(1))$. This result is optimal in the sense that $2/3$ cannot be replaced by a larger constant. As part of the proof we obtain the following result which may be of independent interest. We show that given a graph $G$ on $n$ vertices with at least $(1-ε)\binom{n}{2}$ edges, whenever $G$ is $2$-edge-coloured, there is a monochromatic path of length at least $(2/3-100\sqrtε)n$. This is an extension of the classical…
We show that every two-colouring of the edges of the complete graph $K_n$ contains a monochromatic trail or circuit of length at least $2n^2/9 +o(n^2)$, which is asymptotically best possible.
A Gallai $k$-coloring is a $k$-edge coloring of a complete graph in which there are no rainbow triangles. For given graphs $G_1, G_2, G_3$ and nonnegative integers $r, s, t$ with that $k=r+s+t$, the $k$-colored Gallai-Ramsey number $gr_{k}(K_{3}: r\cdot G_1,~ s\cdot G_2, ~t\cdot G_3)$ is the minimum integer $n$ such that every Gallai $k$-colored $K_{n}$ contains a monochromatic copy of $G_1$ colored by one of the first $r$ colors or a monochromatic copy of $G_2$ colored by one of the middle $s$ colors or a monochromatic copy of $G_3$ colored by one of the last $t$ colors. In this paper, we det…
We extend two well-known results in Ramsey theory from from $K_n$ to arbitrary $n$-chromatic graphs. The first is a note of Erd\H os and Rado stating that in every 2-coloring of the edges of $K_n$ there is a monochromatic tree on $n$ vertices. The second is the theorem of Cockayne and Lorimer stating that for positive integers satisfying $n_1=\max\{n_1,n_2,\dots,n_t\}$ and with $n=n_1+1+\sum_{i=1}^t (n_i-1)$, the following holds. In every coloring of the edges of $K_n$ with colors $1,2\dots,t$ there is a monochromatic matching of size $n_i$ for some $i\in \{1,2,\dots,t\}$.
We show that in every two-colouring of the edges of the complete graph $K_N$ there is a monochromatic $K_k$ which can be extended in at least $(1 + o_k(1))2^{-k}N$ ways to a monochromatic $K_{k+1}$. This result is asymptotically best possible, as may be seen by considering a random colouring. Equivalently, defining the book $B_n^{(k)}$ to be the graph consisting of $n$ copies of $K_{k+1}$ all sharing a common $K_k$, we show that the Ramsey number $r(B_n^{(k)}) = 2^k n + o_k(n)$. In this form, our result answers a question of Erdős, Faudree, Rousseau and Schelp and establishes an asymptotic ver…
The Gallai-Ramsey number $gr_{k}(K_{3}: H_{1}, H_{2}, \cdots, H_{k})$ is the smallest integer $n$ such that every $k$-edge-colored $K_{n}$ contains either a rainbow $K_3$ or a monochromatic $H_{i}$ in color $i$ for some $i\in [k]$. We find the largest star that can be removed from $K_n$ such that the underlying graph is still forced to have a rainbow $K_3$ or a monochromatic $H_{i}$ in color $i$ for some $i\in [k]$. Thus, we define the star-critical Gallai-Ramsey number $gr_{k}^{*}(K_3: H_{1}, H_{2}, \cdots, H_{k})$ as the smallest integer $s$ such that every $k$-edge-colored $K_{n}-K_{1, n-1-…
We investigate the distributions of the number of: (1) monochromatic complete subgraphs over edgewise 2-colorings of complete graphs; and (2) monochromatic arithmetic progressions over 2-colorings of intervals, as statistical Ramsey theory questions. We present convincing evidence that both distributions are very well-approximated by the Delaporte distribution.
A question of Erdős asks if for every pair of positive integers $r$ and $k$, there exists a graph $H$ having $\textrm{girth}(H)=k$ and the property that every $r$-colouring of the edges of $H$ yields a monochromatic cycle $C_k$. The existence of such graphs was confirmed by the third author and Ruciński. We consider the related numerical problem of determining the smallest such graph with this property. We show that for integers $r$ and $k$, there exists a graph $H$ on $R^{10k^2} k^{15k^3}$ vertices (where $R = R(C_k;r)$ is the $r$-colour Ramsey number for the cycle $C_k$) having $\textrm{girt…
Let $k,l,m$ be integers and $r(k,l,m)$ be the minimum integer $N$ such that for any red-blue-green coloring of $K_{N,N}$, there is a red matching of size at least $k$ in a component, or a blue matching of at least size $l$ in a component, or a green matching of size at least $m$ in a component. In this paper, we determine the exact value of $r(k,l,m)$ completely. Applying a technique originated by Łuczak that applies Szemerédi's Regularity Lemma to reduce the problem of showing the existence of a monochromatic cycle to show the existence of a monochromatic matching in a component, we obtain th…
Alon, Balogh, Keevash and Sudakov proved that the $(k-1)$-partite Turán graph maximizes the number of distinct $r$-edge-colorings with no monochromatic $K_k$ for all fixed $k$ and $r=2,3$, among all $n$-vertex graphs. In this paper, we determine this function asymptotically for $r=2$ among $n$-vertex graphs with sub-linear independence number. Somewhat surprisingly, unlike Alon-Balogh-Keevash-Sudakov's result, the extremal construction from Ramsey-Turán theory, as a natural candidate, does not maximize the number of distinct edge-colorings with no monochromatic cliques among all graphs with su…
Given a finite coloring (or finite partition) of the free semigroup $A^+$ over a set $A$, we consider various types of monochromatic factorizations of right sided infinite words $x\in A^ω$. Some stronger versions of the usual notion of monochromatic factorization are introduced. A factorization is called sequentially monochromatic when concatenations of consecutive blocks are monochromatic. A sequentially monochromatic factorization is called ultra monochromatic if any concatenation of arbitrary permuted blocks of the factorization has the same color of the single blocks. We establish links, a…
The $k$-colour bipartite Ramsey number of a bipartite graph $H$ is the least integer $n$ for which every $k$-edge-coloured complete bipartite graph $K_{n,n}$ contains a monochromatic copy of $H$. The study of bipartite Ramsey numbers was initiated, over 40 years ago, by Faudree and Schelp and, independently, by Gyárfás and Lehel, who determined the $2$-colour Ramsey number of paths. In this paper we determine asymptotically the $3$-colour bipartite Ramsey number of paths and (even) cycles.
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…
We estimate the $3$-colour bipartite Ramsey number for balanced bipartite graphs $H$ with small bandwidth and bounded maximum degree. More precisely, we show that the minimum value of $N$ such that in any $3$-edge colouring of $K_{N,N}$ there is a monochromatic copy of $H$ is at most $\big(3/2+o(1)\big)|V(H)|$. In particular, we determine asymptotically the $3$-colour bipartite Ramsey number for balanced grid graphs.
Let $P_t$ denote the path on $t$ vertices. The $r$-coloured Ramsey number of $P_t$, denoted by $R_r(P_t)$, is the minimum integer $n$ such that whenever the complete graph on $n$ vertices is given an $r$-edge-colouring, there exists a monochromatic copy of $P_t$. In this note, we determine $R_r(P_5)$, which is approximately $3r$.
We introduce and study a new type of Ramsey-Turan problems, a typical example of which is the following one: let c>0 and G be a graph of sufficiently large order n with minimum degree >3n/4. If the edges of G are colored in blue or red, then for every 3<k<(1/8-c)n, there exists a monochromatic cycle of length k.
One formulation of the Erdos-Szekeres monotone subsequence theorem states that for any red/blue coloring of the edge set of the complete graph on $\{1, 2, \ldots, N\}$, there exists a monochromatic red $s$-clique or a monochromatic blue increasing path $P_n$ with $n$ vertices, provided $N >(s-1)(n-1)$. %We had previously shown that a suitable generalization of this problem to quadruple systems is essentially equivalent to classical diagonal hypergraph Ramsey numbers. Here, we prove a similar statement as above in the off-diagonal case for triple systems, with the quasipolynomial bound $N>2^{c(…
Given a family $\mathcal{B}$ of axis-parallel boxes in $\mathbb{R}^d$, let $τ$ denote its piercing number, and $ν$ its independence number. It is an old question whether $τ/ν$ can be arbitrarily large for given $d\geq 2$. Here, for every $ν$, we construct a family of axis-parallel boxes achieving $$τ\geq Ω_d(ν)\cdot\left(\frac{\log ν}{\log\log ν}\right)^{d-2}.$$ This not only answers the previous question for every $d\geq 3$ positively, but also matches the best known upper bound up to double-logarithmic factors. Our main construction has further implications about the Ramsey and coloring prop…
Given a graph $H$ and an integer $k\ge1$, the Gallai-Ramsey number $GR_k(H)$ is defined to be the minimum integer $n$ such that every $k$-edge coloring of $K_n$ contains either a rainbow (all different colored) triangle or a monochromatic copy of $H$. In this paper, we determine the Gallai-Ramsey numbers for connected graphs with five vertices of chromatic number four.
Given a graph $G$ and a positive integer $k$, define the \emph{Gallai-Ramsey number} to be the minimum number of vertices $n$ such that any $k$-edge coloring of $K_n$ contains either a rainbow (all different colored) triangle or a monochromatic copy of $G$. Much like graph Ramsey numbers, Gallai-Ramsey numbers have gained a reputation as being very difficult to compute in general. As yet, still only precious few sharp results are known. In this paper, we obtain bounds on the Gallai-Ramsey number for wheels and the exact value for the wheel on $5$ vertices.
We say that $G$ is a $(3, 3)$-Ramsey graph if every $2$-coloring of the edges of $G$ forces a monochromatic triangle. The $(3, 3)$-Ramsey graph $G$ is minimal if $G$ does not contain a proper $(3, 3)$-Ramsey subgraph. In this work we find all minimal $(3, 3)$-Ramsey graphs with up to 13 vertices with the help of a computer, and we obtain some new results for these graphs. We also obtain new upper bounds on the independence number and new lower bounds on the minimum degree of arbitrary $(3, 3)$-Ramsey graphs.
Given a graph $G$ and a positive integer $k$, the \emph{Gallai-Ramsey number} is defined to be the minimum number of vertices $n$ such that any $k$-edge coloring of $K_n$ contains either a rainbow (all different colored) triangle or a monochromatic copy of $G$. In this paper, we obtain general upper and lower bounds on the Gallai-Ramsey numbers for books $B_{m} = K_{2} + \overline{K_{m}}$ and prove sharp results for $m \leq 5$.
The multicolor Ramsey number problem asks, for each pair of natural numbers $\ell$ and $t$, for the largest $\ell$-coloring of a complete graph with no monochromatic clique of size $t$. Recent works of Conlon-Ferber and Wigderson have improved the longstanding lower bound for this problem. We make a further improvement by replacing an explicit graph appearing in their constructions by a random graph. Graphs useful for this construction are exactly those relevant for a problem of Erdős on graphs with no large cliques and few large independent sets. We also make some basic observations about thi…
The Ramsey multiplicity constant of a graph $H$ is the minimum proportion of copies of $H$ in the complete graph which are monochromatic under an edge-coloring of $K_n$ as $n$ goes to infinity. Graphs for which this minimum is asymptotically achieved by taking a random coloring are called {\em common}, and common graphs have been studied extensively, leading to the Burr-Rosta conjecture and Sidorenko's conjecture. Erdős and Sós asked what the maximum number of rainbow triangles is in a $3$-coloring of the edge set of $K_n$, a rainbow version of the Ramsey multiplicity question. A graph $H$ is …
Given a graph $G$ and a positive integer $k$, define the \emph{Gallai-Ramsey number} to be the minimum number of vertices $n$ such that any $k$-edge coloring of $K_n$ contains either a rainbow (all different colored) triangle or a monochromatic copy of $G$. In this paper, we consider two classes of unicyclic graphs, the star with an extra edge and the path with a triangle at one end. We provide the $2$-color Ramsey numbers for these two classes of graphs and use these to obtain general upper and lower bounds on the Gallai-Ramsey numbers.
The size-Ramsey number of a graph $G$ is the minimum number of edges in a graph $H$ such that every 2-edge-coloring of $H$ yields a monochromatic copy of $G$. Size-Ramsey numbers of graphs have been studied for almost 40 years with particular focus on the case of trees and bounded degree graphs. We initiate the study of size-Ramsey numbers for $k$-uniform hypergraphs. Analogous to the graph case, we consider the size-Ramsey number of cliques, paths, trees, and bounded degree hypergraphs. Our results suggest that size-Ramsey numbers for hypergraphs are extremely difficult to determine, and many…
We show that for any $2$-local colouring of the edges of the balanced complete bipartite graph $K_{n,n}$, its vertices can be covered with at most~$3$ disjoint monochromatic paths. And, we can cover almost all vertices of any complete or balanced complete bipartite $r$-locally coloured graph with $O(r^2)$ disjoint monochromatic cycles.\\ We also determine the $2$-local bipartite Ramsey number of a path almost exactly: Every $2$-local colouring of the edges of $K_{n,n}$ contains a monochromatic path on $n$ vertices.
