Ramsey Number Bounds

Lawrence C. Paulson 📧

August 22, 2024

Abstract

Ramsey's theorem implies that for any given natural numbers k and l, there exists some R(k,l) such that a graph having at least R(k,l) vertices must have either a clique of cardinality k or an anticlique (independent set) of cardinality l. Equivalently, for a complete graph of size R(k,l), every red/blue colouring of the edges must yield an entirely red k-clique or an entirely blue l-clique. Although R(k,l) is for practical purposes impossible to calculate from k and l, some upper and lower bounds are known. The celebrated probabilistic argument by Paul Erdős is formalised here, with various of its consequences.

License

BSD License

Topics

Session Ramsey_Bounds