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Answering questions of Y. Rabinovich, we prove "stability" versions of upper bounds on maximal independent set counts in graphs under various restrictions. Roughly these say that being close to the maximum implies existence of a large…

A set is called r-independent, if every two vertices of it are in distance greater then r. In the r-independent set problem with parameter k, we ask whether in a given graph G there exists an r-independent set of size k. In this work we…

The $k$-independence number of a graph $G$ is the maximum size of a set of vertices at pairwise distance greater than $k$. In this paper, for each positive integer $k$, we prove sharp upper bounds for the $k$-independence number in an…

Let m(G) denote the number of maximal independent sets of vertices in a graph G and let c(n,r) be the maximum value of m(G) over all connected graphs with n vertices and at most r cycles. A theorem of Griggs, Grinstead, and Guichard gives a…

An independent dominating set of a graph, also known as a maximal independent set, is a set $S$ of pairwise non-adjacent vertices such that every vertex not in $S$ is adjacent to some vertex in $S$. We prove that for $\Delta=4$ or…

Every triangle-free planar graph on n vertices has an independent set of size at least (n+1)/3, and this lower bound is tight. We give an algorithm that, given a triangle-free planar graph G on n vertices and an integer k>=0, decides…

For $r \ge 2$ and a graph $G$, let $\alpha_{{r}}(G)$ be the maximum number of vertices in a $K_r$-free subgraph of $G$. We investigate the value $\alpha_{r}(G)$ when $G$ is the random graph $G \sim G_{n, 1/2}$ and discover the following…

We find the maximum number of maximal independent sets in two families of graphs: all graphs with $n$ vertices and at most $r$ cycles, and all such graphs that are also connected. In addition, we characterize the extremal graphs.

A maximal independent set in a graph $G$ is an independent set that cannot be extended to a larger independent set by adding any vertex from $G$. This paper investigates the problem of determining the maximum number of maximal independent…

We determine the maximum number of maximal independent sets of arbitrary graphs in terms of their covering numbers and we completely characterize the extremal graphs. As an application, we give a similar result for K\"onig-Egerv\'ary graphs…

We consider numbers and sizes of independent sets in graphs with minimum degree at least $d$, when the number $n$ of vertices is large. In particular we investigate which of these graphs yield the maximum numbers of independent sets of…

A graph $G$ is $H$-covered by some given graph $H$ if each vertex in $G$ is contained in a copy of $H$. In this note, we give the maximum number of independent sets of size $t\ge 3$ in $K_n$-covered graphs of size $N\ge n+t-1$ and determine…

For a graph $G$, denote by $t_r(G)$ (resp. $b_r(G)$) the maximum size of a $K_r$-free (resp. $(r-1)$-partite) subgraph of $G$. Of course $t_r(G) \geq b_r(G)$ for any $G$, and Tur\'an's Theorem says that equality holds for complete graphs.…

We prove that the `Upper Matching Conjecture' of Friedland, Krop, and Markstr\"om and the analogous conjecture of Kahn for independent sets in regular graphs hold for all large enough graphs as a function of the degree. That is, for every…

We characterize the connected graphs of given order $n$ and given independence number $\alpha$ that maximize the number of maximum independent sets. For $3\leq \alpha\leq n/2$, there is a unique such graph that arises from the disjoint…

The size of a largest independent set of vertices in a given graph $G$ is denoted by $\alpha(G)$ and is called its independence number (or stability number). Given a graph $G$ and an integer $K,$ it is NP-complete to decide whether…

Let $i_t(G)$ be the number of independent sets of size $t$ in a graph $G$. Engbers and Galvin asked how large $i_t(G)$ could be in graphs with minimum degree at least $\delta$. They further conjectured that when $n\geq 2\delta$ and $t\geq…

This paper generalizes and unifies the existing spectral bounds on the $k$-independence number of a graph, which is the maximum size of a set of vertices at pairwise distance greater than $k$. The previous bounds known in the literature…

A $k$-independent set in a connected graph is a set of vertices such that any two vertices in the set are at distance greater than $k$ in the graph. The $k$-independence number of a graph, denoted $\alpha_k$, is the size of a largest…

An $n$-vertex, $d$-regular graph can have at most $2^{n/2+o_d(n)}$ independent sets. In this paper we address what happens with this upper bound when we impose the further condition that the graph has independence number at most $\alpha$.…