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Thresholds for the Frankl-Wang $3/7$ conjecture on maximum-degree ratios

Combinatorics 2026-07-01 v1

Abstract

Let F([n]k)\mathcal{F}\subset\binom{[n]}{k} be an intersecting family, Δ(F)=maxx[n]{FF:xF}\Delta(\mathcal{F})=\max_{x\in[n]}|\{F\in\mathcal{F}:x\in F\}|, and ϱ(F)=Δ(F)/F\varrho(\mathcal{F})=\Delta(\mathcal{F})/|\mathcal{F}|. Frankl and Wang conjectured that if n>100kn>100k and F>(n3k3)|\mathcal{F}|>\binom{n-3}{k-3}, then ϱ(F)3/7\varrho(\mathcal{F})\ge 3/7; the constant 3/73/7 is sharp because of the Fano-plane construction. In this note we obtain three results. First, we show that no linear threshold n>Ckn>Ck can be sufficient: using a truncated Fano-plane construction we exhibit, for every constant CC and all large kk, an intersecting family with n>Ckn>Ck, F>(n3k3)|\mathcal{F}|>\binom{n-3}{k-3}, yet ϱ(F)<3/7\varrho(\mathcal{F})<3/7. In particular, the original condition n>100kn>100k does not guarantee the conclusion. Second, for k=3k=3 we prove that ϱ(F)3/7\varrho(\mathcal{F})\ge 3/7 holds for every nonempty intersecting 33-uniform family; the proof is nontrivial and does not rely on any assumption on nn or F|\mathcal{F}|. Third, using the classical pseudo-sunflower bound Ftk|\mathcal{F}|\le t^k (for families containing no pseudo-sunflower of size t+1t+1), we obtain a completely explicit polynomial threshold for all k4k\ge4: if n>(k3)(7k4+k)+3n>(k-3)(7k^4+k)+3 and F>(n3k3)|\mathcal{F}|>\binom{n-3}{k-3}, then ϱ(F)3/7\varrho(\mathcal{F})\ge 3/7. In particular, the simplified bound n>7k5n>7k^5 is sufficient for every k4k\ge4.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2607.02589,
  title  = {Thresholds for the Frankl-Wang $3/7$ conjecture on maximum-degree ratios},
  author = {Zejun Huang and Zhiyi Liu and Lu Lu and Tingzeng Wu},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2607.02589},
  year   = {2026}
}

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