Pattern Avoidance Over a Hypergraph

A classic result of Marcus and Tardos (previously known as the Stanley-Wilf conjecture) bounds from above the number of $n$-permutations ($\sigma \in S_n$) that do not contain a specific sub-permutation. In particular, it states that for any fixed permutation $\pi$, the number of $n$-permutations that avoid $\pi$ is at most exponential in $n$. In this paper, we generalize this result. We bound the number of avoidant $n$-permutations even if they only have to avoid $\pi$ at specific indices. We consider a $k$-uniform hypergraph $\Lambda$ on $n$ vertices and count the $n$-permutations that avoid $\pi$ at the indices corresponding to the edges of $\Lambda$. We analyze both the random and deterministic hypergraph cases. This problem was originally proposed by Asaf Ferber. When $\Lambda$ is a random hypergraph with edge density $\alpha$, we show that the expected number of $\Lambda$-avoiding $n$-permutations is bounded (both upper and lower) as $\exp(O(n))\alpha^{-\frac{n}{k-1}}$, using a supersaturation version of F\"{u}redi-Hajnal. In the deterministic case we show that, for $\Lambda$ containing many size $L$ cliques, the number of $\Lambda$-avoiding $n$-permutations is $O\left(\frac{n\log^{2+\epsilon}n}{L}\right)^n$, giving a nontrivial bound with $L$ polynomial in $n$. Our main tool in the analysis of this deterministic case is the new and revolutionary hypergraph containers method, developed in papers of Balogh-Morris-Samotij and Saxton-Thomason.

The Tree of Good Semigroups in $${\mathbb {N}}^2$$ and a Generalization of the Wilf Conjecture

Good subsemigroups of $${\mathbb {N}}^d$$ N d have been introduced as the most natural generalization of numerical ones. Although their definition arises by taking into account the properties of value semigroups of analytically unramified rings (for instance the local rings of an algebraic curve), not all good semigroups can be obtained as value semigroups, implying that they can be studied as pure combinatorial objects. In this work, we are going to introduce the definition of length and genus for good semigroups in $${\mathbb {N}}^d$$ N d . For $$d=2$$ d = 2 , we show how to count all the local good semigroups with a fixed genus through the introduction of the tree of local good subsemigroups of $${\mathbb {N}}^2$$ N 2 , generalizing the analogous concept introduced in the numerical case. Furthermore, we study the relationships between these elements and others previously defined in the case of good semigroups with two branches, as the type and the embedding dimension. Finally, we show that an analogue of Wilf’s conjecture fails for good semigroups in $${\mathbb {N}}^2$$ N 2 .

Counting Pattern-free Set Partitions II: Noncrossing and Other Hypergraphs

A (multi)hypergraph ${\cal H}$ with vertices in ${\bf N}$ contains a permutation $p=a_1a_2\ldots a_k$ of $1, 2, \ldots, k$ if one can reduce ${\cal H}$ by omitting vertices from the edges so that the resulting hypergraph is isomorphic, via an increasing mapping, to ${\cal H}_p=(\{i, k+a_i\}:\ i=1, \ldots, k)$. We formulate six conjectures stating that if ${\cal H}$ has $n$ vertices and does not contain $p$ then the size of ${\cal H}$ is $O(n)$ and the number of such ${\cal H}$s is $O(c^n)$. The latter part generalizes the Stanley–Wilf conjecture on permutations. Using generalized Davenport–Schinzel sequences, we prove the conjectures with weaker bounds $O(n\beta(n))$ and $O(\beta(n)^n)$, where $\beta(n)\rightarrow\infty$ very slowly. We prove the conjectures fully if $p$ first increases and then decreases or if $p^{-1}$ decreases and then increases. For the cases $p=12$ (noncrossing structures) and $p=21$ (nonnested structures) we give many precise enumerative and extremal results, both for graphs and hypergraphs.

On the Stanley-Wilf Conjecture for the Number of Permutations Avoiding a Given Pattern

Consider, for a permutation $\sigma \in {\cal S}_k$, the number $F(n,\sigma)$ of permutations in ${\cal S}_n$ which avoid $\sigma$ as a subpattern. The conjecture of Stanley and Wilf is that for every $\sigma$ there is a constant $c(\sigma) < \infty$ such that for all $n$, $F(n,\sigma) \leq c(\sigma)^n$. All the recent work on this problem also mentions the "stronger conjecture" that for every $\sigma$, the limit of $F(n,\sigma)^{1/n}$ exists and is finite. In this short note we prove that the two versions of the conjecture are equivalent, with a simple argument involving subadditivity We also discuss $n$-permutations, containing all $\sigma \in {\cal S}_k$ as subpatterns. We prove that this can be achieved with $n=k^2$, we conjecture that asymptotically $n \sim (k/e)^2$ is the best achievable, and we present Noga Alon's conjecture that $n \sim (k/2)^2$ is the threshold for random permutations.