The Chromatic Structure of Dense Graphs
type: CreativeWork
description: This thesis focusses on extremal graph theory, the study of how local constraints on a graph affect its macroscopic structure. We primarily consider the chromatic structure: whether a graph has or is close to having some (low) chromatic number. Chapter 2 is the slight exception. We consider an induced version of the classical Turán problem. Introduced by Loh, Tait, Timmons, and Zhou, the induced Turán number ex(n, {H, F-ind}) is the greatest number of edges in an n-vertex graph with no copy of H and no induced copy of F. We asymptotically determine ex(n, {H, F-ind}) for H not bipartite and F neither an independent set nor a complete bipartite graph. We also improve the upper bound for ex(n, {H, K_{2, t}-ind}) as well as the lower bound for the clique number of graphs that have some fixed edge density and no induced K_{2, t}. The next three chapters form the heart of the thesis. Chapters 3 and 4 consider the Erdős-Simonovits question for locally r-colourable graphs: what are the structure and chromatic number of graphs with large minimum degree and where every neighbourhood is r-colourable? Chapter 3 deals with the locally bipartite case and Chapter 4 with the general case. While the subject of Chapters 3 and 4 is a natural local to global colouring question, it is also essential for determining the minimum degree stability of H-free graphs, the focus of Chapter 5. Given a graph H of chromatic number r + 1, this asks for the minimum degree that guarantees that an H-free graph is close to r-partite. This is analogous to the classical edge stability of Erdős and Simonovits. We also consider the question for the family of graphs to which H is not homomorphic, showing that it has the same answer. Chapter 6 considers sparse analogues of the results of Chapters 3 to 5 obtaining the thresholds at which the sparse problem degenerates away from the dense one. Finally, Chapter 7 considers a chromatic Ramsey problem first posed by Erdős: what is the greatest chromatic number of…
abstract: This thesis focusses on extremal graph theory, the study of how local constraints on a graph affect its macroscopic structure. We primarily consider the chromatic structure: whether a graph has or is close to having some (low) chromatic number. Chapter 2 is the slight exception. We consider an induced version of the classical Turán problem. Introduced by Loh, Tait, Timmons, and Zhou, the induced Turán number ex(n, {H, F-ind}) is the greatest number of edges in an n-vertex graph with no copy of H and no induced copy of F. We asymptotically determine ex(n, {H, F-ind}) for H not bipartite and F neither an independent set nor a complete bipartite graph. We also improve the upper bound for ex(n, {H, K_{2, t}-ind}) as well as the lower bound for the clique number of graphs that have some fixed edge density and no induced K_{2, t}. The next three chapters form the heart of the thesis. Chapters 3 and 4 consider the Erdős-Simonovits question for locally r-colourable graphs: what are the structure and chromatic number of graphs with large minimum degree and where every neighbourhood is r-colourable? Chapter 3 deals with the locally bipartite case and Chapter 4 with the general case. While the subject of Chapters 3 and 4 is a natural local to global colouring question, it is also essential for determining the minimum degree stability of H-free graphs, the focus of Chapter 5. Given a graph H of chromatic number r + 1, this asks for the minimum degree that guarantees that an H-free graph is close to r-partite. This is analogous to the classical edge stability of Erdős and Simonovits. We also consider the question for the family of graphs to which H is not homomorphic, showing that it has the same answer. Chapter 6 considers sparse analogues of the results of Chapters 3 to 5 obtaining the thresholds at which the sparse problem degenerates away from the dense one. Finally, Chapter 7 considers a chromatic Ramsey problem first posed by Erdős: what is the greatest chromatic number of…
author: Illingworth, Frederick
language: eng
keywords: Extremal Graph Theory, Combinatorics, Ramsey Theory, Graph Colouring, Stability, Dense Graphs
license: https://apollo8-f-pro.lib.cam.ac.uk/bitstreams/9cbd783e-4e0a-404f-ba8f-774f94437bfe/download
license: https://www.rioxx.net/licenses/all-rights-reserved/
date published: 2021-07-01
date modified: 2026-07-22T22:24:07Z
provider: Cambridge University
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: University of Cambridge

PropertyValue
property ID: DOI
value: 10.17863/CAM.77660