English

An Analogue of Hilton-Milner Theorem for Set Partitions

Combinatorics 2011-09-05 v1

Abstract

Let B(n)\mathcal{B}(n) denote the collection of all set partitions of [n][n]. Suppose AB(n)\mathcal{A} \subseteq \mathcal{B}(n) is a non-trivial tt-intersecting family of set partitions i.e. any two members of \A\A have at least tt blocks in common, but there is no fixed tt blocks of size one which belong to all of them. It is proved that for sufficiently large nn depending on tt, ABntB~ntB~nt1+t |\mathcal{A}| \le B_{n-t}-\tilde{B}_{n-t}-\tilde{B}_{n-t-1}+t where BnB_{n} is the nn-th Bell number and B~n\tilde{B}_{n} is the number of set partitions of [n][n] without blocks of size one. Moreover, equality holds if and only if A\mathcal{A} is equivalent to {PB(n):{1},{2},...,{t},{i}Pfor somei1,2,...,t,n}{Q(i,n) : 1it} \{P \in \mathcal{B}(n): \{1\}, \{2\},..., \{t\}, \{i\} \in P \textnormal{for some} i \not = 1,2,..., t,n \}\cup \{Q(i,n)\ :\ 1\leq i\leq t\} where Q(i,n)={{i,n}}{{j} : j[n]{i,n}}Q(i,n)=\{\{i,n\}\}\cup\{\{j\}\ :\ j\in [n]\setminus \{i,n\}\}. This is an analogue of the Hilton-Milner theorem for set partitions.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.1109.0417,
  title  = {An Analogue of Hilton-Milner Theorem for Set Partitions},
  author = {Cheng Yeaw Ku and Kok Bin Wong},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1109.0417},
  year   = {2011}
}