Let ℱn be the set of random mappings ϕ : {1,…,n} → {1,…,n} (such that every mapping is equally likely). For x ε {l,…,n} the elements are called the predecessors of x. Let Nr denote the random variable which counts the number of points x ε {l,…,n} with exactly r predecessors. In this paper we identify the limiting distribution of Nr as n → ∞. If r = r(n) = o(n⅔) then the limiting distribution is Gaussian, if r ˜ Cn⅔ then it is Poisson, and in the remaining case rn−⅔ → ∞ it is degenerate. Furthermore, it is shown that Nr is a Poisson approximation if r → ∞.

Let d=1≤d1≤ d2≤···.≤ dn be a non-decreasing sequence of n positive integers, whose sum is even. Let denote the set of graphs with vertex set [n]={1,2,. . .., n} in which the degree of vertex i is di. Let Gn,d be chosen uniformly at random from . Let d=(d1+d2+···.+dn)/n be the average degree. We give a condition on d under which we can show that w.h.p. the chromatic number of is Θ(d/ln d). This condition is satisfied by graphs with exponential tails as well those with power law tails.

The following two conjectures arose in the work of Grimmett and Winkler, and Pemantle: the uniformly random forest F and the uniformly random connected subgraph C of a finite graph G have the edge-negative association property. In other words, for all distinct edges e and f of G, the probability that F (respectively, C) contains e conditioned on containing f is less than or equal to the probability that F (respectively, C) contains e. Grimmett and Winkler showed that the first conjecture is true for all simple graphs on 8 vertices and all graphs on 9 vertices with at most 18 edges. In this paper, we describe an infinite, nontrivial class of graphs and matroids for which a generalized version of both conjectures holds.

The inducibility of a graph H measures the maximum number of induced copies of H a large graph G can have. Generalizing this notion, we study how many induced subgraphs of fixed order k and size ℓ a large graph G on n vertices can have. Clearly, this number is $\left( {\matrix{n \cr k}}\right)$ for every n, k and $\ell \in \left\{ {0,\left( {\matrix{k \cr 2}} \right)}\right\}$. We conjecture that for every n, k and $0 \lt \ell \lt \left( {\matrix{k \cr 2}}\right)$ this number is at most $ (1/e + {o_k}(1)) {\left( {\matrix{n \cr k}} \right)}$. If true, this would be tight for ℓ ∈ {1, k − 1}.

In support of our ‘Edge-statistics Conjecture’, we prove that the corresponding density is bounded away from 1 by an absolute constant. Furthermore, for various ranges of the values of ℓ we establish stronger bounds. In particular, we prove that for ‘almost all’ pairs (k, ℓ) only a polynomially small fraction of the k-subsets of V(G) have exactly ℓ edges, and prove an upper bound of $ (1/2 + {o_k}(1)){\left( {\matrix{n \cr k}}\right)}$ for ℓ = 1.

Our proof methods involve probabilistic tools, such as anti-concentration results relying on fourth moment estimates and Brun’s sieve, as well as graph-theoretic and combinatorial arguments such as Zykov’s symmetrization, Sperner’s theorem and various counting techniques.

Let S be a generating subset of a cyclic group G such that 0=∉S and [mid ]S[mid ][ges ]5. We show that the number of sums of the subsets of S is at least min([mid ]G[mid ], 2[mid ]S[mid ]). Our bound is best possible. We obtain similar results for abelian groups and mention the generalization to nonabelian groups.

Let G be an abelian group. For a subset A ⊂ G, denote by 2 ∧ A the set of sums of two different elements of A. A conjecture by Erdős and Heilbronn, first proved by Dias da Silva and Hamidoune, states that, when G has prime order, [mid ]2 ∧ A[mid ] [ges ] min([mid ]G[mid ], 2[mid ]A[mid ] − 3).

We prove that, for abelian groups of odd order (respectively, cyclic groups), the inequality [mid ]2 ∧ A[mid ] [ges ] min([mid ]G[mid ], 3[mid ]A[mid ]/2) holds when A is a generating set of G, 0 ∈ A and [mid ]A[mid ] [ges ] 21 (respectively, [mid ]A[mid ] [ges ] 33). The structure of the sets for which equality holds is also determined.

We consider the problem of sums of dilates in groups of prime order. It is well known that sets with small density and small sumset in p behave like integer sets. Thus, given A ⊂ p of sufficiently small density, it is straightforward to show that

\begin{linenomath} $$| \lambda_{1}A+\lambda_{2}A+\cdots+ \lambda_{k}A | \ge\biggl(\sum_{i}|\lambda_{i}|\biggr)|A|- o(|A|).$$ \end{linenomath}

Suppose that n > (log k)ck, where c is a fixed positive constant. We prove that, no matter how the edges of Kn are coloured with k colours, there is a copy of K4 whose edges receive at most two colours. This improves the previous best bound of kc′k, where c′ is a fixed positive constant, which follows from results on classical Ramsey numbers.

A k-uniform hypergraph H = (V, E) is called ℓ-orientable if there is an assignment of each edge e ∈ E to one of its vertices v ∈ e such that no vertex is assigned more than ℓ edges. Let Hn,m,k be a hypergraph, drawn uniformly at random from the set of all k-uniform hypergraphs with n vertices and m edges. In this paper we establish the threshold for the ℓ-orientability of Hn,m,k for all k ⩾ 3 and ℓ ⩾ 2, that is, we determine a critical quantity c*k,ℓ such that with probability 1 − o(1) the graph Hn,cn,k has an ℓ-orientation if c < c*k,ℓ , but fails to do so if c > c*k,ℓ .

Our result has various applications, including sharp load thresholds for cuckoo hashing, load balancing with guaranteed maximum load, and massive parallel access to hard disk arrays.

We analyse a simple random process in which a token is moved in the interval A = {0, . . ., n}. Fix a probability distribution μ over D = {1, . . ., n}. Initially, the token is placed in a random position in A. In round t, a random step sized is chosen according to μ. If the token is in position x ≥ d, then it is moved to position x − d. Otherwise it stays put. Let TX be the number of rounds until the token reaches position 0. We show tight bounds for the expectation Eμ(TX) of TX for varying distributions μ. More precisely, we show that . The same bounds are proved for the analogous continuous process, where step sizes and token positions are real values in [0, n + 1), and one measures the time until the token has reached a point in [0, 1). For the proofs, a novel potential function argument is introduced. The research is motivated by the problem of approximating the minimum of a continuous function over [0, 1] with a ‘blind’ optimization strategy.

For a graph G with m edges let its Range of Subgraph Sizes (RSS)

ρ(G) = {t : G contains a vertex-induced subgraph with t edges}.

G has a full RSS if ρ(G) = {0, 1, …, m}. We establish the threshold for a random graph to have a full RSS and give tight bounds on the likely RSS of a dense random graph.

Every graphon defines a random graph on any given number n of vertices. It was known that the graphon is random-free if and only if the entropy of this random graph is subquadratic. We prove that for random-free graphons, this entropy can grow as fast as any subquadratic function. However, if the graphon belongs to the closure of a random-free hereditary graph property, then the entropy is O(n log n). We also give a simple construction of a non-step-function random-free graphon for which this entropy is linear, refuting a conjecture of Janson.

A d-simplex is a collection of d + 1 sets such that every d of them has non-empty intersection and the intersection of all of them is empty. Fix k ≥ d + 2 ≥ 3 and let be a family of k-element subsets of an n-element set that contains no d-simplex. We prove that if , then there is a vertex x of such that the number of sets in omitting x is o(nk−1) (here o(1)→ 0 and n → ∞). A similar result when n/k is bounded from above was recently proved in [10].

Our main result is actually stronger, and implies that if for any ϵ < 0 and n sufficiently large, then contains d + 2 sets A, A1, . . . ,Ad+1 such that the Ais form a d-simplex, and A contains an element of ∩j≠iAj for each i. This generalizes, in asymptotic form, a recent result of Vestraëte and the first author [18], who proved it for d = 1, ϵ = 0 and n ≥ 2k.

We study a general class of interacting particle systems called kinetically constrained models (KCM) in two dimensions tightly linked to the monotone cellular automata called bootstrap percolation. There are three classes of such models, the most studied being the critical one. In a recent series of works by Martinelli, Morris, Toninelli and the authors, it was shown that the KCM counterparts of critical bootstrap percolation models with the same properties split into two classes with different behaviour. Together with the companion paper by the first author, our work determines the logarithm of the infection time up to a constant factor for all critical KCM, which were previously known only up to logarithmic corrections. This improves all previous results except for the Duarte-KCM, for which we give a new proof of the best result known. We establish that on this level of precision critical KCM have to be classified into seven categories instead of the two in bootstrap percolation. In the present work, we establish lower bounds for critical KCM in a unified way, also recovering the universality result of Toninelli and the authors and the Duarte model result of Martinelli, Toninelli and the second author.

We present improved lower and upper bounds for the time constant of first-passage percolation on the square lattice. For the case of lower bounds, a new method, using the idea of a transition matrix, has been used. Numerical results for the exponential and uniform distributions are presented. A simulation study is included, which results in new estimates and improved upper confidence limits for the time constants.

We give an easy method for constructing containers for simple hypergraphs. The method also has consequences for non-simple hypergraphs. Some applications are given; in particular, a very transparent calculation is offered for the number of H-free hypergraphs, where H is some fixed uniform hypergraph.

Let G be a triangle-free graph with n vertices and average degree t. We show that G contains at least

${\exp\biggl({1-n^{-1/12})\frac{1}{2}\frac{n}{t}\ln t} \biggl(\frac{1}{2}\ln t-1\biggr)\biggr)}$

${e^{(c_1-o(1)) \sqrt{n} \ln n}}$

$c_1 = \sqrt{\ln 2}/4 = 0.208138 \ldots$

${e^{(c_2+o(1))\sqrt{n}\ln n}}$

$c_2 = 2\sqrt{\ln 2} = 1.665109 \ldots$

Let H be a (k+1)-uniform linear hypergraph with n vertices and average degree t. We also show that there exists a constant ck such that the number of independent sets in H is at least

${\exp\biggl({c_{k} \frac{n}{t^{1/k}}\ln^{1+1/k}{t}\biggr})}.$

$\Omega\biggl(\frac{n}{t^{1/k}} \ln^{1/k}t\biggr).$

Let G be a loopless 2-connected graph whose largest cycle has c edges, and whose largest bond has c* edges. We show that |E(G)| [les ] ½cc*.

An instance of a size-n stable marriage problem involves n men and n women, each individually ranking all members of opposite sex in order of preference as a potential marriage partner. A complete matching, a set of n marriages, is called stable if no unmatched man and woman prefer each other to their partners in the matching. It is known that, for every instance of marriage partner preferences, there exists at least one stable matching, and that there are instances with exponentially many stable matchings. Our focus is on a random instance chosen uniformly from among all (n!)2n possible instances. The second author had proved that the expected number of stable marriages is of order nlnn, while its likely value is of order n1/2−o(1) at least. In this paper the second moment of that number is shown to be of order (nlnn)2. The combination of the two moment estimates implies that the fraction of problem instances with roughly cnlnn solutions is at least 0.84. Whether this fraction is asymptotic to 1 remains an open question.

A family of sets is said to be intersecting if A ∩ B ≠ ∅ for all A, B ∈ . It is a well-known and simple fact that an intersecting family of subsets of [n] = {1, 2, . . ., n} can contain at most 2n−1 sets. Katona, Katona and Katona ask the following question. Suppose instead ⊂ [n] satisfies || = 2n−1 + i for some fixed i > 0. Create a new family p by choosing each member of independently with some fixed probability p. How do we choose to maximize the probability that p is intersecting? They conjecture that there is a nested sequence of optimal families for i = 1, 2,. . ., 2n−1. In this paper, we show that the families [n](≥r) = {A ⊂ [n]: |A| ≥ r} are optimal for the appropriate values of i, thereby proving the conjecture for this sequence of values. Moreover, we show that for intermediate values of i there exist optimal families lying between those we have found. It turns out that the optimal families we find simultaneously maximize the number of intersecting subfamilies of each possible order.

Standard compression techniques appear inadequate to solve the problem as they do not preserve intersection properties of subfamilies. Instead, our main tool is a novel compression method, together with a way of ‘compressing subfamilies’, which may be of independent interest.