English

A General Lower Bound for the Limited Augmented Zarankiewicz Number based upon Complete Graphs

Combinatorics 2026-05-05 v4

Abstract

The limited augmented Zarankiewicz number zL(m,n)z_L(m,n) satisfies BSR(m,n)zL(m,n)z(m,n)\operatorname{BSR}(m,n)\ge z_L(m,n)\ge z(m,n), where BSR(m,n)\operatorname{BSR}(m,n) is the maximum SOS rank of m×nm\times n biquadratic forms and z(m,n)z(m,n) is the classical Zarankiewicz number. Our main result is a general lower bound for zL(m,n)z_L(m,n) based on the incidence graph of the complete graph K4tK_{4t}. For every integer t1t\ge 1, let m=(4t2)m = \binom{4t}{2} and n=4tn = 4t. Then zL(m,n)    2(4t2)+4t22t.z_L(m,n) \;\ge\; 2\binom{4t}{2} + 4t^2 - 2t. Consequently, BSR(m,n)    2(4t2)+4t22t. \operatorname{BSR}(m,n) \;\ge\; 2\binom{4t}{2} + 4t^2 - 2t. Since z=2(4t2)=Θ(t2)z = 2\binom{4t}{2} = \Theta(t^2), the gap satisfies zLz4t22t=Θ(t2)=Θ(m)z_L - z \ge 4t^2 - 2t = \Theta(t^2) = \Theta(m), i.e., it grows linearly in mm. Moreover, zLzz    4t216t24t    14as t, \frac{z_L - z}{z} \;\ge\; \frac{4t^2}{16t^2 - 4t} \;\longrightarrow\; \frac{1}{4} \quad \text{as } t\to\infty, so the gap is asymptotically at least 25%25\% of zz -- a non-negligible constant fraction. For t=1t=1 we obtain zL(6,4)14z_L(6,4)\ge 14, and we prove that this bound is tight, i.e., zL(6,4)=14z_L(6,4)=14. For t=2t=2 and t=3t=3 we obtain zL(28,8)68z_L(28,8)\ge 68 and zL(66,12)162z_L(66,12)\ge 162, respectively, improving previously known bounds. We also determine the exact values of zL(m,n)z_L(m,n) for all m,n5m,n\le 5: zL(5,3)=9z_L(5,3)=9, zL(5,4)=12z_L(5,4)=12, and zL(5,5)=14z_L(5,5)=14, confirming that previously known lower bounds are tight. These results serve as base cases for a \emph{lifting method} that constructs admissible limited augmented graphs on (m+1)×(n+1)(m+1)\times(n+1) from optimal ones on m×nm\times n. Applying this method, we obtain new lower bounds: zL(6,3)10,zL(6,5)17,zL(6,6)19, z_L(6,3)\ge 10,\qquad z_L(6,5)\ge 17,\qquad z_L(6,6)\ge 19, where z(6,3)=9z(6,3)=9, z(6,5)=14z(6,5)=14, and z(6,6)=16z(6,6)=16.

Cite

@article{arxiv.2604.04111,
  title  = {A General Lower Bound for the Limited Augmented Zarankiewicz Number based upon Complete Graphs},
  author = {Liqun Qi and Chunfeng Cui and Yi Xu},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2604.04111},
  year   = {2026}
}
R2 v1 2026-07-01T11:54:28.512Z