The Erd\H{o}s-Ko-Rado Theorem in $\ell_2$-Norm

TL;DR

This paper establishes an Erdős-Ko-Rado type theorem in the $ ext{l}_2$-norm for $t$-intersecting families, confirming a conjecture and providing bounds on the codegree squared sum with applications to extremal combinatorics.

Contribution

It proves the Erdős-Ko-Rado theorem in $ ext{l}_2$-norm for $t$-intersecting families, confirming a conjecture and extending extremal combinatorics results.

Findings

Maximum codegree squared sum for $t$-intersecting families is established.

Characterization of extremal families achieving equality.

Extension of classical theorems to the $ ext{l}_2$-norm setting.

Abstract

The codegree squared sum ${\rm co}_2(\cal F)$ of a family (hypergraph) $\cal F \subseteq \binom{[n]} k$ is defined to be the sum of codegrees squared $d(E)^2$ over all $E\in \binom{[n]}{k-1}$, where $d(E)=|\{F\in \cal F: E\subseteq F\}|$. Given a family of $k$-uniform families $\mathscr H$, Balogh, Clemen and Lidick\'y recently introduced the problem to determine the maximum codegree squared sum ${\rm co}_2(\cal F)$ over all $\mathscr H$-free $\cal F$. In the present paper, we consider the families which has as forbidden configurations all pairs of sets with intersection sizes less than $t$, that is, the well-known $t$-intersecting families. We prove the following Erd\H{o}s-Ko-Rado Theorem in $\ell_2$-norm, which confirms a conjecture of Brooks and Linz. Let $t,k,n$ be positive integers such that $t\leq k\leq n$. If a family $\mathcal F\subseteq \binom{[n]}{k}$ is $t$-intersecting, then for $n\ge (t+1)(k-t+1)$, we have \[{\rm co}_2(\cal F)\le {\binom{n-t}{k-t}}(t+(n-k+1)(k-t)),\] equality holds if and only if $\mathcal{F}=\{F\in {\binom{[n]}{k}}: T\subset F\}$ for some $t$-subset $T$ of $[n]$. In addition, we prove a Frankl-Hilton-Milner Theorem in $\ell_2$-norm for $t\ge 2$, and a generalized Tur\'an result, i.e., we determine the maximum number of copies of tight path of length 2 in $t$-intersecting families.