Some results on the Tur\'an number of $k_1P_{\ell}\cup k_2S_{\ell-1}$

TL;DR

This paper determines the Turán numbers for specific path-star forest graphs and characterizes extremal graphs, confirming a conjecture by Zhang and Wang for large n.

Contribution

It provides exact Turán numbers and extremal graph structures for certain path-star forests, advancing understanding in extremal graph theory.

Findings

Determined Turán numbers for $P_{ ext{ell}}igcup kS_{ ext{ell}-1}$ and related graphs.

Confirmed Zhang and Wang's conjecture for large n.

Characterized extremal graphs for the studied cases.

Abstract

The Tur\'an number of a graph $H$, denoted by $ex(n, H)$, is the maximum number of edges in any graph on $n$ vertices containing no $H$ as a subgraph. Let $P_{\ell}$ denote the path on $\ell$ vertices, $S_{\ell-1}$ denote the star on $\ell$ vertices and $k_1P_{\ell}\cup k_2S_{\ell-1}$ denote the path-star forest with disjoint union of $k_1$ copies of $P_{\ell}$ and $k_2$ copies of $S_{\ell-1}$. In 2013, Lidick\'y et al. first considered the Tur\'an number of $k_1P_4\cup k_2S_3$ for sufficiently large $n$. In 2022, Zhang and Wang raised a conjecture about the Tur\'an number of $k_1P_{2\ell}\cup k_2S_{2\ell-1}$. In this paper, we determine the Tur\'an numbers of $P_{\ell}\cup kS_{\ell-1}$, $k_1P_{2\ell}\cup k_2S_{2\ell-1}$, $2P_5\cup kS_4$ for $n$ appropriately large, which implies the conjecture of Zhang and Wang. The corresponding extremal graphs are also completely characterized.