English

Clique density vs blowups

Combinatorics 2024-10-10 v1

Abstract

A well-known theorem of Nikiforov asserts that any graph with a positive KrK_{r}-density contains a logarithmic blowup of KrK_r. In this paper, we explore variants of Nikiforov's result in the following form. Given r,tNr,t\in\mathbb{N}, when a positive KrK_{r}-density implies the existence of a significantly larger (with almost linear size) blowup of KtK_t? Our results include: For an nn-vertex ordered graph GG with no induced monotone path P6P_{6}, if its complement G\overline{G} has positive triangle density, then G\overline{G} contains a biclique of size Ω(nlogn)\Omega(\frac{n}{\log{n}}). This strengthens a recent result of Pach and Tomon. For general kk, let g(k)g(k) be the minimum rNr\in \mathbb{N} such that for any nn-vertex ordered graph GG with no induced monotone P2kP_{2k}, if G\overline{G} has positive KrK_r-density, then G\overline{G} contains a biclique of size Ω(nlogn)\Omega(\frac{n}{\log{n}}). Using concentration of measure and the isodiametric inequality on high dimensional spheres, we provide constructions showing that, surprisingly, g(k)g(k) grows quadratically. On the other hand, we relate the problem of upper bounding g(k)g(k) to a certain Ramsey problem and determine g(k)g(k) up to a factor of 2. Any incomparability graph with positive KrK_{r}-density contains a blowup of KrK_r of size Ω(nlogn).\Omega(\frac{n}{\log{n}}). This confirms a conjecture of Tomon in a stronger form. In doing so, we obtain a strong regularity type lemma for incomparability graphs with no large blowups of a clique, which is of independent interest. We also prove that any rr-comparability graph with positive K(2h2)r+1K_{(2h-2)^{r}+1}-density contains a blowup of KhK_h of size Ω(n)\Omega(n), where the constant (2h2)r+1(2h-2)^{r}+1 is optimal. The nlogn\frac{n}{\log n} size of the blowups in all our results are optimal up to a constant factor.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2410.07098,
  title  = {Clique density vs blowups},
  author = {Domagoj Bradač and Hong Liu and Zhuo Wu and Zixiang Xu},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2410.07098},
  year   = {2024}
}
R2 v1 2026-06-28T19:14:47.805Z