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Research notes on every problem, and a library of the papers behind them. Built from the open erdos repository.

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Claim. The answer to Problem 926 is yes: for every fixed k≥4k\ge4, ex(n;Hk)≪kn3/2\mathrm{ex}(n;H_k)\ll_k n^{3/2}, and the implied constant can be taken linear in kk. The claimed result is Theorem 6.1 of N. Alon, M. Krivelevich and B. Sudakov, Turán numbers of bipartite graphs and related Ramsey-type questions, Combin. Probab. Comput. 12 (2003), no. 5--6, 477--494 (Section 6, "Improved bounds on a Turán-type problem", pp. 491--493, Theorem 6.1 on p. 491): for integers k,t≥2k,t\ge2 and s≥1s\ge1, the bipartite graph Ltk,sL_t^{k,s} with vertices x0x_0, y1,…,yky_1,\dots,y_k and xIαx_I^\alpha (II a tt-element subset of {1,…,k}\{1,\dots,k\}, 1≤α≤s1\le\alpha\le s), in which yiy_i is joined to x0x_0 and to every xIαx_I^\alpha with i∈Ii\in I, satisfies

ex(2n;Ltk,s)≤21+1/t(s+1)1/tkn2−1/t.\mathrm{ex}(2n;L_t^{k,s})\le2^{1+1/t}(s+1)^{1/t}kn^{2-1/t}.

The paper notes that for s=1s=1 and t=2t=2 this graph is the induced subgraph on the first three layers of the Boolean kk-cube, which is the problem's HkH_k of the problem page's precise Statement (x0x_0 is xx, and x{i,j}1x_{\{i,j\}}^1 is the pair vertex z{i,j}z_{\{i,j\}}). At t=2t=2, s=1s=1 the bound reads ex(2n;Hk)≤4kn3/2\mathrm{ex}(2n;H_k)\le4kn^{3/2}; since the extremal number is nondecreasing in the number of vertices, every NN has ex(N;Hk)≤4k⌈N/2⌉3/2\mathrm{ex}(N;H_k)\le4k\lceil N/2\rceil^{3/2} (authored, one line). For fixed kk this is the Ok(n3/2)O_k(n^{3/2}) asked for, and it is the bound ex(n;Hk)≪kn3/2\mathrm{ex}(n;H_k)\ll kn^{3/2} that the site's commentary credits to the paper. The paper presents the theorem as an improvement of Füredi's ex(n;Ltk,s)=O((s+1)1/tk2−1/tn2−1/t)\mathrm{ex}(n;L_t^{k,s})=O((s+1)^{1/t}k^{2-1/t}n^{2-1/t}), whose case t=2t=2 is the first proof of the answer yes (Füredi's claim page), and says that the dependence on kk is essentially optimal for k=n1/tk=n^{1/t}. The proof splits the vertex set into two halves keeping at least half the edges and, on the bipartite subgraph between them, runs its own random common-neighborhood argument with a weighted count of tt-subsets (a random tt-tuple in one half, its common neighborhood in the other, a random kk-subset of that, then a greedy choice of the vertices xIαx_I^\alpha), without invoking Lemma 2.1; it is independent of Füredi's set-system argument.

Acceptance. Refereed publication in Combinatorics, Probability and Computing (Crossref record accessed: volume 12, issue 5--6, pp. 477--494, issued November 2003, whose nominal first day is this page's date; published online 3 December 2003). The site's curator, Thomas Bloom, labels the problem proved and credits the paper with the improvement to ex(n;Hk)≪kn3/2\mathrm{ex}(n;H_k)\ll kn^{3/2}, but the site's entry carries additional thanks to Noga Alon, so the curator's credit is not listed as reviewed evidence independent of the claimants. The source has a library source card, with the result page Theorem 6.1. Read depth: Theorem 6.1 and the definition of Ltk,sL_t^{k,s}; the proof read for structure only; nothing is independently reviewed by this project. The formal-conjectures statement file for the problem states this bound as the variant erdos_926.variants.aks, with no proof link; it is a statement, not a formalization, and is described on the problem page. The acceptance rests on the refereed publication.