English

On three open problems in zero-sum Ramsey numbers

Combinatorics 2026-08-02 v1

Abstract

Let KN(r)K_N^{(r)} denote the NN-vertex complete rr-uniform hypergraph. For an rr-uniform hypergraph HH and an integer k2k\geq2, the kk-color Ramsey number R(H,k)R(H,k) is the least integer NN such that every kk-edge-coloring of KN(r)K_N^{(r)} contains a monochromatic copy of HH. When k\esize(H)k\mid\esize(H), the zero-sum Ramsey number R(H,Zk)R(H,\mathbb Z_k) is the least integer NN such that every edge-labeling of KN(r)K_N^{(r)} by elements of Zk\mathbb Z_k contains a copy of HH whose edge labels sum to 00 in Zk\mathbb Z_k. We settle two conjectures and a problem concerning these two Ramsey numbers. First, Caro and Provstgaard proposed exact values for the zero-sum Ramsey numbers over Z2\mathbb Z_2 of delta-systems with an even number of edges. We determine these numbers and thereby prove their conjecture. Second, for a forest FF with mm edges, let tFtF denote the disjoint union of tt copies of FF. Caro conjectured that R(tF,Zmt)=R(tF,2)R(tF,\mathbb Z_{mt})=R(tF,2) for all sufficiently large tt. We show that this conjecture does not hold for double stars. Caro also asked whether there exists a tree TT with mm edges such that R(T,Zm)>R(T,2)R(T,\mathbb Z_m)>R(T,2). We answer this question affirmatively by constructing an infinite family of such trees.

Cite

@article{arxiv.2608.01206,
  title  = {On three open problems in zero-sum Ramsey numbers},
  author = {Cheng Chi and Jialin He and Quan Sun},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2608.01206},
  year   = {2026}
}