English

The codegree threshold of $K_4^-$

Combinatorics 2022-12-22 v4

Abstract

The codegree threshold ex2(n,F)\mathrm{ex}_2(n, F) of a 33-graph FF is the minimum d=d(n)d=d(n) such that every 33-graph on nn vertices in which every pair of vertices is contained in at least d+1d+1 edges contains a copy of FF as a subgraph. We study ex2(n,F)\mathrm{ex}_2(n, F) when F=K4F=K_4^-, the 33-graph on 44 vertices with 33 edges. Using flag algebra techniques, we prove that if nn is sufficiently large then ex2(n,K4)(n+1)/4\mathrm{ex}_2(n, K_4^-)\leq (n+1)/4. This settles in the affirmative a conjecture of Nagle from 1999. In addition, we obtain a stability result: for every near-extremal configuration GG, there is a quasirandom tournament TT on the same vertex set such that GG is close in the edit distance to the 33-graph C(T)C(T) whose edges are the cyclically oriented triangles from TT. For infinitely many values of nn, we are further able to determine ex2(n,K4)\mathrm{ex}_2(n, K_4^-) exactly and to show that tournament-based constructions C(T)C(T) are extremal for those values of nn.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2112.09396,
  title  = {The codegree threshold of $K_4^-$},
  author = {Victor Falgas-Ravry and Oleg Pikhurko and Emil R. Vaughan and Jan Volec},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2112.09396},
  year   = {2022}
}

Comments

31 pages, 7 figures. Ancillary files to the submission contain the information needed to verify the flag algebra computation in Lemma 2.8. Expands on the 2017 conference paper of the same name by the same authors (Electronic Notes in Discrete Mathematics, Volume 61, pages 407-413)

R2 v1 2026-06-24T08:21:42.168Z