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Extremal Set Theory

Let n be a positive integer and let [n]=1,2,\dots,n. In this section, we consider problems having the following general form: What is the maximum size of a family of subsets of [n] when the family is required to satisfy…

Extremal Set Theory

Let \(n\) be a positive integer and let \([n]=1,2,\dots,n\). In this section, we consider problems having the following general form: What is the maximum size of a family of subsets of \([n]\) when the family is required to satisfy certain properties.

Here is an elementary example.

Example

The maximum size of a family \(\cgF\) of subsets of \([n]\), with \(A\cap B\neq\emptyset\) for all \(A,B\in\cgF\), is \(2^{n-1}\).

For the lower bound, consider the family \(\cgF\) of all subsets of \([n]\) that contain\(1\). Clearly this family has \(2^{n-1}\) elements and any two sets in the family have non-empty intersection.

For the upper bound, let \(\cgF\) be a family of subsets with each pair of sets in \(\cgF\) having non-empty intersection. Then whenever a subset \(S\) is a member of \(\cgF\), the complement \(S'\) of \(S\) cannot belong to \(\cgF\). Since the entire family of all \(2^n\) subsets of \([n]\) can be considered as \(2^{n-1}\) complementary pairs, and at most one set from each pair can belong to \(\cgF\), we conclude that \(|\cgF|\le 2^{n-1}\).

As a second example, we can revisit from and restate the result as follows.

Example

The maximum size of a family \(\cgF\) of subsets of \([n]\) subject to the constraint that when \(A\) and \(B\) are distinct sets in \(\cgF\), then neither is a subset of the other, is \(\binom{n}{\lfloor n/2\rfloor}\).

It is worth noting that in , there is a very small number (one or two) of extremal families, , when \(\cgF\) is a family of subsets of \([n]\), \(|\cgF|= \binom{n}{\lfloor n/2\rfloor}\), and no set in \(\cgF\) is a proper subset of another, then either \(\cgF=\{S\subseteq[n]: |S|=\lfloor n/2\rfloor\}\) or \(\cgF=\{S\subseteq[n]: |S|=\lceil n/2\rceil\}\). And of course, when \(n\) is even, these are exactly the same family.

On the other hand, for , there are many extremal families, since for every complementary pair of sets, either member can be selected.

We close this brief tasting of extremal set theory with a real classic.

Condensed: the full section is in Keller & Trotter, Applied Combinatorics.

ఇప్పుడుమీరు ఏ గణనపరికరం ఈ వర్తిస్తుంది, కానీ దానిలోని భాగాలు పోబుల్ చేయదగినవి. క్రింద ఒకటి ప్రయత్నించండి లేదా మీ స్వంత టైపు చేయండి.

మీ సొంత పని ఉంచుకోండి

మీరు ఏ పాఠం నేర్చుకున్నారో, ఆ విషయం గురించి ఒక రిపోర్టులో మీరు తీసుకున్న సమస్యలను, మీ సమస్యలను ఒక స్థలంలో పరిష్కరించిన సమస్యలను, మీరు ఈ పేజీ గురించి అడగవచ్చు.

నమోదు చేసుకోండి ప్రవేశించు

ఇక్కడ వుపయోగించిన చిహ్నాలు

మొదటి శతాబ్దంలోని క్రైస్తవులు కూడా అదే విధంగా భావించారు.

ప్రశ్నలు

Permutation or combination?

Ask whether order matters. A lock code is a permutation (order matters); a hand of cards is a combination (it does not).

What is a graph in this sense?

Dots (vertices) joined by lines (edges), not a plot. Road maps, social networks and molecules are graphs; questions like "is there a route" and "how few colours" are graph theory.

ఈ పేజీలోని భాగాలు సవరింపుగా ఉన్నాయి Keller & Trotter, Applied Combinatorics (CC BY-SA 4.0). ఇక్కడ సమీకరించబడి మరియు తిరిగి ఉద్భవింపచేయబడిన తప్పులు మావి.

ఇంకా Combinatorics & Graph Theory