Two results on set families: sturdiness and intersection

Fuente: arXiv
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Auteurs principaux: Wu, Yongjiang, Liu, Zhiyi, Feng, Lihua, Li, Yongtao
Format: Preprint
Publié: 2025
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author Wu, Yongjiang
Liu, Zhiyi
Feng, Lihua
Li, Yongtao
author_facet Wu, Yongjiang
Liu, Zhiyi
Feng, Lihua
Li, Yongtao
contents This paper resolves two open problems in extremal set theory. For a family $\mathcal{F} \subseteq 2^{[n]}$ and $i, j\in [n]$, we denote $\mathcal{F} (i,\bar{j})=\{F\backslash\{i\}: F\in \mathcal{F}, F\cap\{i,j\}=\{i\}\}$. The sturdiness $β(\mathcal{F})$ is defined as the minimum $|\mathcal{F} (i,\bar{j})|$ over all $i\neq j$. A family $\mathcal{F}$ is called an IU-family if it satisfies the intersection constraint: $F\cap F'\neq \emptyset $ for all $F,F'\in \mathcal{F}$, as well as the union constraint: $F\cup F' \neq [n]$ for all $F,F'\in \mathcal{F}$. The well-known IU-Theorem states that every IU-family $\mathcal{F}\subseteq 2^{[n]}$ has size at most $ 2^{n-2}$. In this paper, we prove that if $\mathcal{F}\subseteq 2^{[n]}$ is an IU-family, then $β(\mathcal{F})\le 2^{n-4}$. This confirms a recent conjecture proposed by Frankl and Wang. As the second result, we establish a tight upper bound on the sum of sizes of cross $t$-intersecting separated families. Our result not only extends a previous theorem of Frankl, Liu, Wang and Yang on separated families, but also provides explicit counterexamples to an open problem proposed by them, thereby settling their problem in the negative.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2508_19723
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Two results on set families: sturdiness and intersection
Wu, Yongjiang
Liu, Zhiyi
Feng, Lihua
Li, Yongtao
Combinatorics
05D05
This paper resolves two open problems in extremal set theory. For a family $\mathcal{F} \subseteq 2^{[n]}$ and $i, j\in [n]$, we denote $\mathcal{F} (i,\bar{j})=\{F\backslash\{i\}: F\in \mathcal{F}, F\cap\{i,j\}=\{i\}\}$. The sturdiness $β(\mathcal{F})$ is defined as the minimum $|\mathcal{F} (i,\bar{j})|$ over all $i\neq j$. A family $\mathcal{F}$ is called an IU-family if it satisfies the intersection constraint: $F\cap F'\neq \emptyset $ for all $F,F'\in \mathcal{F}$, as well as the union constraint: $F\cup F' \neq [n]$ for all $F,F'\in \mathcal{F}$. The well-known IU-Theorem states that every IU-family $\mathcal{F}\subseteq 2^{[n]}$ has size at most $ 2^{n-2}$. In this paper, we prove that if $\mathcal{F}\subseteq 2^{[n]}$ is an IU-family, then $β(\mathcal{F})\le 2^{n-4}$. This confirms a recent conjecture proposed by Frankl and Wang. As the second result, we establish a tight upper bound on the sum of sizes of cross $t$-intersecting separated families. Our result not only extends a previous theorem of Frankl, Liu, Wang and Yang on separated families, but also provides explicit counterexamples to an open problem proposed by them, thereby settling their problem in the negative.
title Two results on set families: sturdiness and intersection
topic Combinatorics
05D05
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2508.19723