An Extremal Problem for Finite Lattices

Authors

John Goldwasser, West Virginia UniversityFollow
Brendan Nagle, University of South FloridaFollow
Andres Saez, University of South FloridaFollow

Publication Date

2016

Abstract

For a fixed M x N integer lattice L(M,N), we consider the maximum size of a subset A of L(M,N) which contains no squares of prescribed side lengths k(1),...,k(t). We denote this size by ex(L(M,N), {k(1),...,k(t)}), and when t = 1, we abbreviate this parameter to ex(L(M,N), k), where k = k(1).

Our first result gives an exact formula for ex(L(M,N), k) for all positive integers k, M, and N, where ex(L(M,N), k) = ((3/4) + o(1)) MN holds for fixed k and diverging M and N. Our second result identifies a subset A₀ of L(M,N) of size at least (2/3)MN with the property that, for any integer k not divisible by three, A₀ contains no squares of side length k. Our third result shows that |A₀| is asymptotically best possible, in that for all positive integers M and N, we have ex(L(M,N), {1,2}) < (2/3)MN + O(M+N). When M = 3m, our estimates on the error above render exact formulas for ex(L(3m,3), {1,2}) and ex(L(3m,6), {1,2}).

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Recommended Citation

Goldwasser, John; Nagle, Brendan; and Saez, Andres (2016) "An Extremal Problem for Finite Lattices," Theory and Applications of Graphs: Vol. 3: Iss. 1, Article 2.
DOI: 10.20429/tag.2016.030102
Available at: https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/tag/vol3/iss1/2