Independent sets in hypergraphs omitting an intersection

TL;DR

This paper investigates the independence number of hypergraphs that omit certain intersection sizes, providing new bounds and constructions that reveal different behaviors compared to classical systems, with applications in Ramsey theory.

Contribution

It extends the understanding of independence numbers in hypergraphs by analyzing $(n,k, ext{}\ell)$-omitting systems, offering new bounds and constructions for various parameter ranges.

Findings

Established lower bounds for $ ext{}\ell=k-2$ using random greedy algorithms.

Provided upper bounds and constructions from pseudorandom graphs for $k>2 ext{}\ell+1$.

Applied results to bounds on Ramsey numbers for hypergraph fans.

Abstract

A $k$-uniform hypergraph with $n$ vertices is an $(n,k,\ell)$-omitting system if it does not contain two edges whose intersection has size exactly $\ell$. If in addition it does not contain two edges whose intersection has size greater than $\ell$, then it is an $(n,k,\ell)$-system. R\"{o}dl and \v{S}i\v{n}ajov\'{a} proved a lower bound for the independence number of $(n,k,\ell)$-systems that is sharp in order of magnitude for fixed $2 \le \ell \le k-1$. We consider the same question for the larger class of $(n,k,\ell)$-omitting systems. For $k\le 2\ell+1$, we believe that the behavior is similar to the case of $(n,k,\ell)$-systems and prove a nontrivial lower bound for the first open case $\ell=k-2$. For $k>2\ell+1$ we give new lower and upper bounds which show that the minimum independence number of $(n,k,\ell)$-omitting systems has a very different behavior than for $(n,k,\ell)$-systems. Our lower bound for $\ell=k-2$ uses some adaptations of the random greedy independent set algorithm, and our upper bounds (constructions) for $k> 2\ell+1$ are obtained from some pseudorandom graphs. We also prove some related results where we forbid more than two edges with a prescribed common intersection size and this leads to some applications in Ramsey theory. For example, we obtain good bounds for the Ramsey number $r_{k}(F^{k},t)$, where $F^{k}$ is the $k$-uniform Fan. Here the behavior is quite different than the case $k=2$ which reduces to the classical graph Ramsey number $r(3,t)$.