Wiki
Wiki

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

Updated

Khadzhiivanov 1988 maximal number triangles common edge

../

corollary_3: Khadzhiivanov's 1988 proof that a graph on n vertices with more than the Turán number of edges for triangles has an edge on more than n/6 triangles, from the inequality (3t + t̄) t̂ ≥ nt and the degree-square bound, with the companion corollaries giving the exact minimum ⌈n/6⌉.

problem_p44: Khadzhiivanov's 1988 statement of Erdős's problem on the largest number of triangles on one edge of a graph with more than n²/4 edges, tracing it from Erdős's linear bound with an explicit constant through the conjecture of the 1975 Aberdeen collection, and attributing its complete solution to his 1979 note with Nikiforov.


N. Khadzhiivanov (Николай Хаджииванов), О максимуме количества треугольников с общим ребром (On the maximal number of triangles with a common edge), Годишник на Софийския университет "Св. Климент Охридски", Факултет по математика и информатика, Книга 1 -- Математика, Том 82 (1988) = Annuaire de l'Université de Sofia "St. Kliment Ohridski", Faculté de Mathématiques et Informatique, Livre 1 -- Mathématiques, Tome 82 (1988), 37--49; in Russian, with an English abstract on p. 37 and an English summary from p. 49. The zbMATH record lists it as God. Sofiĭ. Univ., Fak. Mat. Inform. 82, 37--52 (1988) and gives the language as Bulgarian; the text on the page images is Russian, and the title page prints 1988. The journal's article record (https://annual.uni-sofia.bg/index.php/fmi/article/view/521) lists volume 82, number 1, pp. 37--49, dated 12 December 1991, and reproduces the English abstract. Not a source key of the site: the site's key KhNi79 for Problem 905 is the author's 1979 note with Nikiforov, this paper's reference [2], which is not held.

Edition read. The copy read for this card is a 13-page image-only PDF (a print-to-PDF of a scan named 82-1.pdf, per its metadata; no text layer; letter size) of printed pp. 37--49, so printed p. nn is PDF p. n−36n-36; everything below was read on the rendered page images. Provenance: obtained in the survey download of September 2026; the download URL was not recorded, and the journal's record names the PDF https://annual.uni-sofia.bg/index.php/fmi/article/download/521/511 (not requested). 5,359,329 bytes. No notice is printed in the file (its first and last pages carry no copyright or license line), and the journal's article page (https://annual.uni-sofia.bg/index.php/fmi/article/view/521, read 2026-10-07) names no license, while its metadata gives the article's rights as "Copyright (c) 1991 Annual of Sofia University St. Kliment Ohridski. Faculty of Mathematics and Informatics" (the visible page shows only the site footer "© Faculty of Mathematics and Informatics at Sofia University "St. Kliment Ohridski""); the journal's about and submissions pages were not consulted; the term is reserved.

Read status: claims checked for the English abstract (p. 37), Theorem 1 with Examples 1 and 2 (p. 40), Corollaries 1 and 2 (p. 41), Theorem 2 (p. 43), the passage "Erdős's problem" with its history and attribution (p. 44), Lemma 4 (p. 44), Corollaries 3, 4 and 5 (p. 45), Theorem 3 and Corollary 7 (p. 47), the account of Edwards's paper (p. 48) and the reference list (p. 49), read on the page images in this card's own translation of the Russian; the proofs of Theorem 1 (pp. 38--40) and of Lemmas 3 and 4 (pp. 44--45) were read for their structure and not checked; the figures of p. 46 were not checked. Problem 905 consumes the p. 44 passage and Corollary 3, paged at problem_p44 and corollary_3; Problem 1034 consumes Corollary 3 as the book bound behind its lower bound (Corollary 3 and Theorem 2 read again on the page images).

Contents

  • Notation (pp. 37--38): G=(V,E)G=(V,E) a simple graph with nn vertices, ee edges, tt triangles and qq tetrahedra (K4K_4's); A(v)A(v) the neighborhood and d(v)=∣A(v)∣d(v)=|A(v)|; for an edge [u,v][u,v], t[u,v]=∣A(u)∩A(v)∣t[u,v]=|A(u)\cap A(v)| the number of triangles on it and tˉ[u,v]=∣V∖(A(u)∪A(v))∣\bar t[u,v]=|V\setminus(A(u)\cup A(v))|; tˉ\bar t the sum of tˉ[u,v]\bar t[u,v] over the edges (the number of three-vertex sets with exactly one edge, display (2)); t^=max⁡{t[u,v]:[u,v]∈E}\hat t=\max\{t[u,v]:[u,v]\in E\} (display (9)). The English abstract (p. 37) announces three things: a study of t^\hat t over natural classes of graphs, in particular the nn-vertex graphs with [n2/4][n^2/4] edges and at least one triangle; a discussion of the author's paper [2], which solved Erdős's problem on t^\hat t, with new consequences drawn from the main theorem proved there; and a proof of Edwards's conjecture with a detailed analysis of Edwards's paper [3] (in the abstract's words, "The Edwards' conjecture is proved").
  • Theorem 1 (p. 40): for every graph, (3t+tˉ)t^≥nt(3t+\bar t)\hat t\ge nt (display (14)), with equality exactly when q=qˉ=0q=\bar q=0 and t[u,v]t[u,v] is the same for all edges with t[u,v]+tˉ[u,v]>0t[u,v]+\bar t[u,v]>0; "Inequality (14) is proved a little differently in [2]." Example 1 (p. 40): a blow-up of the triangular prism with six classes of n/6n/6 vertices, n≡0(mod6)n\equiv0\pmod6, has e=n2/4e=n^2/4 and t^=n/6\hat t=n/6 with equality in (14); Example 2: a blow-up, with nine classes of n/9n/9 vertices (n≡0(mod9)n\equiv0\pmod9), of the 9-vertex, 18-edge graph formed by the triangles a1a2a3a_1a_2a_3, a4a5a6a_4a_5a_6, a7a8a9a_7a_8a_9 and the edges joining two vertices whose indices are congruent modulo 3 (the 3×33\times3 rook's graph), has e=2n2/9e=2n^2/9 and t^=n/9\hat t=n/9, again with equality in (14).
  • Corollaries 1 and 2 (p. 41), through the equivalent form (19), (6t+ne−∑vd2(v))t^≥nt(6t+ne-\sum_vd^2(v))\hat t\ge nt: if ∑vd2(v)>ne\sum_vd^2(v)>ne then t^>n/6\hat t>n/6; if t>0t>0 and ∑vd2(v)≥ne\sum_vd^2(v)\ge ne then t^≥n/6\hat t\ge n/6 (the hypothesis t>0t>0 is needed, since a triangle-free graph can have ∑d2(v)=ne\sum d^2(v)=ne).
  • Section 2 (pp. 41--47) opens with complete rr-chromatic graphs (pp. 41--43): Lemma 1, et^≥∑vd2(v)−nee\hat t\ge\sum_vd^2(v)-ne (25), and Lemma 2, t^≥4en−n\hat t\ge\frac{4e}n-n (26) (p. 42), are proved for completeness, the remark on p. 43 calling them essentially known from Nordhaus and Stewart [8], whose paper, without t^\hat t, has the sharper (28) 3t≥∑vd2(v)−ne3t\ge\sum_vd^2(v)-ne and (29) 3t≥e(4en−n)3t\ge e(\frac{4e}n-n); Theorem 2 (p. 43): if e≥r−12rn2e\ge\frac{r-1}{2r}n^2 then t^≥r−2rn\hat t\ge\frac{r-2}rn, with equality exactly for 2≤r∣n2\le r\mid n and G=Tr(n)G=T_r(n).
  • Erdős's problem (p. 44; this card's translation): "Of course, if e>n2/4e>n^2/4 then t^>0\hat t>0. Erdős [4] proved considerably more: there is a constant c>0c>0 such that if e>n2/4e>n^2/4 then t^>cn\hat t>cn. Several years later Erdős established that one may take c=30−18c=30^{-18} here. In [4] and [5] Erdős stated the conjecture: if e>n2/4e>n^2/4 then t^≥n/6+O(1)\hat t\ge n/6+O(1). In [6] the conjecture takes the more precise form: Erdős's problem. If e>n2/4e>n^2/4, then t^≥n/6\hat t\ge n/6. In [2] we solved this problem completely together with my diploma student V. Nikiforov." Paged at problem_p44.
  • Lemma 3 (p. 44, an integer-sum minimization) and Lemma 4 (pp. 44--45): if e≥[n2/4]e\ge[n^2/4] then ∑vd2(v)≥ne\sum_vd^2(v)\ge ne, strictly when e>[n2/4]e>[n^2/4].
  • Corollaries 3, 4 and 5 (p. 45): if e>[n2/4]e>[n^2/4] then t^>n/6\hat t>n/6 (Corollary 3); if e≥[n2/4]e\ge[n^2/4] and t>0t>0 then t^≥n/6\hat t\ge n/6 (Corollary 4); "Corollaries 3 and 4 confirm Erdős's conjecture with a surplus"; and, with t^(n)=min⁡{t^:e≥[n2/4],t>0}\hat t(n)=\min\{\hat t:e\ge[n^2/4],t>0\}, t^(n)=⌈n/6⌉\hat t(n)=\lceil n/6\rceil for every n≥4n\ge4 (Corollary 5, display (35), written with the paper's notation ]x[]x[ for the least integer ≥x\ge x), established for n≥6n\ge6 through the graphs of figures 2--7 (p. 46); figure 8 shows a graph with e=[n2/4]+1e=[n^2/4]+1 and t^=⌈n/6⌉\hat t=\lceil n/6\rceil, so Corollary 3 cannot be sharpened either. Paged at corollary_3.
  • Section 3 (pp. 47--49), on Edwards's paper [3]: Lemma 5 and Theorem 3 (p. 47), if t^≥n/6\hat t\ge n/6 then t^≥12e∑vd2(v)−n3\hat t\ge\frac1{2e}\sum_vd^2(v)-\frac n3 (display (38)); Corollary 7, the same under e≥[n2/4]e\ge[n^2/4] and t>0t>0, "The formulation of Corollary 7 was published as an additional remark to Edwards's paper [3], but its proof has not been published so far." P. 48: "In the paper [3] itself the author announced 5 theorems and several other results, intending to publish their proofs later, which did not happen in the past 10 years. All results concern Erdős's conjecture, but despite this there is no shift toward its solution"; Edwards's first theorem (if d(u)+d(v)≥76nd(u)+d(v)\ge\frac76n for an edge then t^≥n/6\hat t\ge n/6) is derived from the elementary inequality t[u,v]≥d(u)+d(v)−nt[u,v]\ge d(u)+d(v)-n and his second from the first, while his third and fourth (the fourth: a regular graph of degree dd with a triangle has t^≥d−n/3\hat t\ge d-n/3) are contained in display (39), which gives 3t^≥d(u)+d(v)+d(w)−n3\hat t\ge d(u)+d(v)+d(w)-n for every triangle [u,v,w][u,v,w]; of Edwards's Theorem 5, which Edwards "considers his main one", the author writes that he will not reproduce its statement "because its hypotheses are absurd: among them is the negation of Erdős's conjecture"; Edwards's Corollaries 1 and 2 (displays (40)--(43), pp. 48--49) are shown to follow from Corollary 3 (the first with Lemma 2), the second being "clearly not interesting".
  • References (p. 49): [1] Khadzhiivanov, A generalization of Turán's theorem on graphs, Dokl. BAN 29 (1976), no. 11, 1567--1570; [2] Khadzhiivanov and Nikiforov, Solution of a problem of P. Erdős on the largest number of triangles with a common edge in a graph, Dokl. BAN 32 (1979), no. 10, 1315--1318 (the site's KhNi79); [3] C. S. Edwards, The largest number of triangles with a common edge in a graph, Colloques internationaux C.N.R.S. 260, Paris 1978, 123--126; [4] P. Erdős, On a theorem of Rademacher--Turán, Illinois J. Math. 6 (1962), 122--127; [5] P. Erdős, On the number of complete subgraphs and circuits contained in graphs, Časopis pěst. mat. 94 (1969), 290--296; [6] B. Bollobás and P. Erdős, Unsolved problems, Proc. Fifth British Combinatorial Conf. 1975, Congr. Numer. XV, Utilitas Math., Winnipeg 1976; [7] W. Mantel, Problem 28, Wiskundige Opgaven 10 (1907), 60--61; [8] E. A. Nordhaus and B. M. Stewart, Triangles in an ordinary graph, Canad. J. Math. 15 (1963), 33--41; [9] P. Turán, On an extremal problem in graph theory, Mat. Fiz. Lapok 48 (1941), 436--452 (titles of the Russian entries translated here). The 1962 Erdős paper is held as erdos_1962_theorem_rademacher_turan.

Compiled scope

Statements at claims-checked depth on the page images, in translation; the proofs of Theorem 1 and Lemmas 3--4 read for structure only, the rest unread. Nothing here is independently reviewed. The 1979 note [2] that carries the original solution, Edwards's C.N.R.S. announcement [3] and the Aberdeen collection [6] are not held.

Bears on. #905: the p. 44 passage states the problem in the exact form the site asks (e>n2/4e>n^2/4 forces t^≥n/6\hat t\ge n/6), traces it to Erdős's 1962 and 1969 papers and to the 1975 Aberdeen collection, and attributes its complete solution to the author's 1979 note with Nikiforov, the site's KhNi79 (problem_p44); Corollary 3 (p. 45) proves the statement with a surplus, t^>n/6\hat t>n/6 once e>[n2/4]e>[n^2/4], from Theorem 1 and Lemma 4, and Corollary 5 gives the exact minimum ⌈n/6⌉\lceil n/6\rceil (corollary_3); the account of Edwards's paper (p. 48) bears on the site's "Edwards (unpublished)". #80: Corollary 3 (p. 45 = PDF p. 9, page image), t^>n/6\hat t>n/6 whenever e>[n2/4]e>[n^2/4], is the bound fc(n)≥n/6f_c(n)\ge n/6 for every c>1/4c>1/4 that the problem page records second-hand from Edwards and from the 1979 note with Nikiforov, here proved in full from Theorem 1 and Lemma 4 (the problem's hypothesis that every edge lies in a triangle is not needed); Corollary 5 (p. 45) gives the exact minimum ⌈n/6⌉\lceil n/6\rceil of t^\hat t over the nn-vertex graphs with e≥[n2/4]e\ge[n^2/4] and a triangle; and Theorem 2 (p. 43 = PDF p. 7, page image), t^≥r−2rn\hat t\ge\frac{r-2}rn whenever e≥r−12rn2e\ge\frac{r-1}{2r}n^2, with equality exactly for 2≤r∣n2\le r\mid n and G=Tr(n)G=T_r(n), bounds the largest book from below at every density c≥r−12rc\ge\frac{r-1}{2r}; below density 1/41/4 the paper gives no lower bound on t^\hat t from the edge count, and its Example 2 (p. 40), with e=2n2/9e=2n^2/9, every edge on a triangle and t^=n/9\hat t=n/9, an equality case of Theorem 1, shows only f2/9(n)≤n/9f_{2/9}(n)\le n/9 for 9∣n9\mid n (corollary_3). #1034: Corollary 3 (p. 45 = PDF p. 9, page image, read again), t^>n/6\hat t>n/6 whenever e>[n2/4]e>[n^2/4], is the "classical result on the existence of a book of size n/6n/6" that the Ma--Tang note and the site combine with the disproving construction to bound the general threshold h(n)h(n) from below: an edge on more than n/6n/6 triangles gives a triangle with more than n/6−1n/6-1 further vertices joined to two of its vertices, so h(n)≥(16−o(1))nh(n)\ge(\frac16-o(1))n (a one-line deduction written on the problem page); Corollary 5 (p. 45) gives the exact minimum ⌈n/6⌉\lceil n/6\rceil of t^\hat t, so this route cannot give more than n/6n/6; Theorem 2 (p. 43 = PDF p. 7, page image), t^≥r−2rn\hat t\ge\frac{r-2}rn whenever e≥r−12rn2e\ge\frac{r-1}{2r}n^2, is the general density form and is not consumed by the problem (corollary_3).

No file of this source is held: no license on record permits its redistribution, and the card cites the edition it names above.