Related papers: Set systems without a 3-simplex

An old problem of Moser asks: how large of a union-free subfamily does every family of m sets have? A family of sets is called union-free if there are no three distinct sets in the family such that the union of two of the sets is equal to…

We present equivalent formulations for concepts related to set families for which every subfamily with empty intersection has a bounded sub-collection with empty intersection. Hereby, we summarize the progress on the related questions about…

Let n be an integer, and consider finite sequences of elements of the group Z/nZ x Z/nZ. Such a sequence is called zero-sum free, if no subsequence has sum zero. It is known that the maximal length of such a zero-sum free sequence is 2n-2,…

A tri-colored sum-free set in an abelian group $H$ is a collection of ordered triples in $H^3$, $\{(a_i,b_i,c_i)\}_{i=1}^m$, such that the equation $a_i+b_j+c_k=0$ holds if and only if $i=j=k$. Using a variant of the lemma introduced by…

Given a linear equation $\mathcal{L}$, a set $A \subseteq [n]$ is $\mathcal{L}$-free if $A$ does not contain any `non-trivial' solutions to $\mathcal{L}$. In this paper we consider the following three general questions: (i) What is the size…

A family $\mathcal{F}\subset 2^G$ of subsets of an abelian group $G$ is a Sidon system if the sumsets $A+B$ with $A,B\in \mathcal{F}$ are pairwise distinct. Cilleruelo, Serra and the author previously proved that the maximum size $F_k(n)$…

We say that a set system $\mathcal{F}$ is $k$-completely hyperseparating if for any vertex $v$, there are at most $k$ sets in $\mathcal{F}$ with intersection $\{v\}$. We determine the minimum size of such set systems on an $n$-element…

In this paper, we are interested in a generalization of the notion of sum-free sets. We address a conjecture first made in the 90s by Chung and Goldwasser. Recently, after some computer checks, this conjecture was formulated again by…

Let $\mathcal{F}_1$ and $\mathcal{F}_2$ be two families of subsets of an $n$-element set. We say that $\mathcal{F}_1$ and $\mathcal{F}_2$ are multiset-union-free if for any $A,B\in \mathcal{F}_1$ and $C,D\in \mathcal{F}_2$ the multisets…

A $d$-simplex is defined to be a collection $A_1,\dots,A_{d+1}$ of subsets of size $k$ of $[n]$ such that the intersection of all of them is empty, but the intersection of any $d$ of them is non-empty. Furthermore, a $d$-cluster is a…

We say a family of sets is intersecting if any two of its sets intersect, and we say it is trivially intersecting if there is an element which appears in every set of the family. In this paper we study the maximum size of a non-trivially…

Given $A$ a set of $N$ positive integers, an old question in additive combinatorics asks that whether $A$ contains a sum-free subset of size at least $N/3+\omega(N)$ for some increasing unbounded function $\omega$. The question is generally…

Let $m(n)$ denote the maximum size of a family of subsets which does not contain two disjoint sets along with their union. In 1968 Kleitman proved that $m(n) = {n\choose m+1}+\ldots +{n\choose 2m+1}$ if $n=3m+1$. Confirming the conjecture…

Given a linear equation $\mathcal{L}$, a set $A \subseteq [n]$ is $\mathcal{L}$-free if $A$ does not contain any `non-trivial' solutions to $\mathcal{L}$. We determine the precise size of the largest $\mathcal{L}$-free subset of $[n]$ for…

A totally symmetric set is a subset of a group such that every permutation of the subset can be realized by conjugation in the group. The (non-)existence of large totally symmetric sets obstruct homomorphisms, so bounds on the sizes of…

Three $k$-dimensional subspaces $A$, $B$, and $C$ of an $n$-dimensional vector space $V$ over a finite field are called a $3$-cluster if $A \cap B \cap C = \{\mathbf{0}_V\}$ and yet $\dim(A+B+C) \leq 2k$. A special kind of $3$-cluster,…

We describe a new construction of a subset of P^4 with no four points on a plane over any finite field of order q in which 3 is not a square. This set has size 2q + 1, is maximal with respect to inclusion, and is the largest known such set.

In this paper, we study the following classical question of extremal set theory: what is the maximum size of a family of subsets of $[n]$ such that no $s$ sets from the family are pairwise disjoint? This problem was first posed by Erd\H os…

Let $\mathcal F\subset 2^{[n]}$ be a family in which any three sets have non-empty intersection and any two sets have at least $38$ elements in common. The nearly best possible bound $|\mathcal F|\le 2^{n-2}$ is proved. We believe that $38$…

We show that every planar triangulation on $n$ vertices has a maximal independent set of size at most $n/3$. This affirms a conjecture by Botler, Fernandes and Guti\'errez [Electron.\ J.\ Comb., 2024], which in turn would follow if an open…