English

Note on the union-closed sets conjecture

Combinatorics 2017-04-25 v1

Abstract

The union-closed sets conjecture states that if a family of sets A{}\mathcal{A} \neq \{\emptyset\} is union-closed, then there is an element which belongs to at least half the sets in A\mathcal{A}. In 2001, D. Reimer showed that the average set size of a union-closed family, A\mathcal{A}, is at least 12log2A\frac{1}{2} \log_2 |\mathcal{A}|. In order to do so, he showed that all union-closed families satisfy a particular condition, which in turn implies the preceding bound. Here, answering a question raised in the context of T. Gowers' polymath project on the union-closed sets conjecture, we show that Reimer's condition alone is not enough to imply that there is an element in at least half the sets.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.1704.07022,
  title  = {Note on the union-closed sets conjecture},
  author = {Abigail Raz},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1704.07022},
  year   = {2017}
}

Comments

4 pages

R2 v1 2026-06-22T19:25:11.647Z