%! TEX root = PC.tex % vim: tw=80 ft=tex % 20/10/2025 09AM \newpage \section{Lovasz-Erdős Local Lemma} What is the idea fo a local lemma? It's a general statement in probability about when a certain probability is non-zero. A silly example: Say I have $100$ independent coins. How do I prove that there exists a configuration of these coins such that everything is heads? Our earlier techniques don't work on something like this: before we either started with an event that holds with probability, or something that is close to an event that holds with high probability. $100$ heads is neither of these things, but obviously it exists because everything is independent. The Local Lemma allows us to show that the probability of an event is non-zero provided we have ``enough'' independence, which we make precise below. \begin{fclemma}[Erdős-Lovasz, 70s] \label{lemma:local} \glsnoundefn{locallem}{Local Lemma}{N/A}% Assuming: - $\mathcal{F} = \{A_i\}$ is a family of events in a probability space - $\mathcal{G}$ a \gls{depg} of $\mathcal{F}$ - $\Pbb(A_i) \le \frac{1}{e(\Delta + 1)}$, where $\Delta = \Delta(\mathcal{G})$ is the max degree of $\mathcal{G}$ Then: \[ \Pbb \left( \bigcap_i A_i^c \right) > 0 .\] \end{fclemma} \begin{fcdefn}[Dependency graph] \glsnoundefn{depg}{dependency graph}{dependency graphs}% If $\mathcal{F} = \{A_i\}$ is a family of events, a \emph{dependency graph} $\mathcal{G}$ is a graph with vertex set $\mathcal{F}$, with the property that: for all $i$, the event $A_i$ is independent from $\{A_j : A_j \not\sim A_i\}$. \end{fcdefn} Note that a family of events $\mathcal{F}$ can have many possible \glspl{depg}, but in applications there is often a particularly natural choice to take. Picture: \begin{center} \includegraphics[width=0.3\linewidth]{images/a4867e57395c40b4.png} \end{center} Reminder: $A_i$ is \emph{independent} from $\{A_j : A_j \not\sim A_i\}$ if $E$ is formed by taking intersections of $A_j, A_j^c \not\sim A_i$, we have \[ \Pbb(A_i \cap E) = \Pbb(A_i) \Pbb(E) .\] \begin{fcthm}[Spencer] $R(k) \ge (1 + o(1)) \frac{\sqrt{2} k}{e} 2^{k/2}$. \end{fcthm} \begin{proof} Let $\delta > 0$ and let $n = (1 - \delta) \frac{\sqrt{2} k}{e} 2^{k/2}$. Choose a colouring uniformly at random. For every $S \in [n]^{(k)}$, define the event \[ A_S = \text{``$S^{(2)}$ are monochromatic''} .\] We clearly have $\Pbb(A_S) = 2^{-{k \choose 2} + 1}$. Let $\mathcal{G}$ be a \gls{depg} on $\{A_S\}_S$, where we say $A_S \sim A_T$ if $S^{(2)} \cap T^{(2)} \neq \emptyset$. \[ \Delta = \Delta(G) \le {k \choose 2} \cdot {n - 2 \choose k - 2} \le k^4 \cdot \left( \frac{1}{n^2} \right) {n \choose k} \] We now check: \[ \Delta \cdot 2^{-{k \choose 2} + 1} \le 2k^4 \left( \frac{1}{n^2} \right) \left( \frac{en}{k} \right)^k 2^{-{k \choose 2}} = \left[ (1 + o(1)) \frac{1}{n^{2 / k}} \left( \frac{en\sqrt{2}}{k} \cdot 2^{-k / 2} \right) \right]^k .\] This $\to 0$. So the condition in \gls{locallem} holds for sufficiently large $k$. \end{proof} \begin{remark*} This is the best known lower bound for diagonal Ramsey. \end{remark*} \begin{fcdefn}[$k$-uniform hypergraph] \glsnoundefn{kunif}{$k$-uniform hypergraph}{$k$-uniform hypergraphs}% Say $\mathcal{H}$ is a \emph{$k$-uniform hypergraph} on vertex set $X$ if $\mathcal{H} \subset X^{(k)}$. \end{fcdefn} \begin{fcdefn}[Colourable hypergraph] \glsadjdefn{2colk}{$2$-colourable}{$k$-uniform hypergraph}% Say a hypergraph $\mathcal{H}$ is $2$-colourable if there exists $\chi : X \to \{\text{red}, \text{blue}\}$ such that there is no monochromatic $e \in \mathcal{H}$. \end{fcdefn} \begin{center} \includegraphics[width=0.3\linewidth]{images/7d2080c45c0849da.png} \end{center} \begin{fcthm}[] Assuming: - $\mathcal{H}$ a \gls{kunif} with maximum degree $d$ - $d \le \frac{2^{k - 1}}{ek} - 1$ Then: $\mathcal{H}$ is $2$-colourable. \end{fcthm} \begin{note*} This theorem has no condition on $|\mathcal{H}|$ in the assumptions. Thus, this theorem is not just picking out a high probability event out of all uniformly random colourings: if $|\mathcal{H}|$ is large and has a reasonable number of edges, then with high probability there will be a monochromatic edge. \end{note*} \begin{proof} We choose our colouring of the ground set $X$ uniformly at random. For each $e \in \mathcal{H}$, define the event \[ A_e = \text{``$e$ monochromatic''} .\] We have $\Pbb(A_e) = 2^{-k + 1}$, so we want $2^{-k + 1} \le \frac{1}{e(\Delta + 1)}$. Note if we define our \gls{depg} $\mathcal{G}$ by $A_e \sim A_f$ if $e \cap f \neq \emptyset$, then \[ \Delta(\mathcal{G}) \le d \cdot k .\] Now just use the bound on $d$ in the hypothesis. \end{proof} \begin{remark*} Actually, our second application implies the first on $R(k)$: just let $\mathcal{H}$ be the \kunif{{k \choose 2}} on $X = [n]^{(2)}$, defined by \[ \mathcal{H} = \{S^{(2)} : S \in [n]^{(k)}\} .\] \end{remark*} We now move onto proving \gls{locallem}. \begin{fcthm}[Lopsided Local Lemma] \label{lemma:lopsidedlocal} Assuming: - $\mathcal{F} = \{A_i\}$ a family of events - $\mathcal{G}$ a \gls{depg} - $x_1, \ldots, x_n \in (0, 1)$ be such that $\forall i$, \[ \Pbb(A_i) \le x_i \prod_{A_i \sim A_j} (1 - x_j) \] (where $A_i \sim A_j$ denotes adjacency in the \gls{depg}). Then: \[ \Pbb \left( \bigcap_{i = 1}^n A_i^c \right) \ge \prod_{i = 1}^{n} (1 - x_i) .\] \end{fcthm} This is slightly more mysterious than the first form, but it can be much more useful. Specifically, if the probabilities $\Pbb(A_i)$ aren't all the same, then this lopsided form allows us to tune the values of $x_i$ more precisely than if we just use \gls{locallem}. We'll see an example of this at the end of this section. \begin{proof} We use \[ \Pbb(A \cap B) = \Pbb(A \mid B) \Pbb(B) .\] Applying this many times, we have \begin{align*} \Pbb \left( \bigcap_{i = 1}^n A_i^c \right) &= \prod_{i = 1}^{n} \Pbb(A_i^c \mid A_1^c \cap \cdots \cap A_{i - 1}^c) \\ &= \prod_{i = 1}^{n} (1 - \ub{\Pbb(A_i \mid A_1^c \cap \cdots \cap A_{i - 1}^c)}_{\le x_i?}) \end{align*} We will prove that this term is $\le x_i$ by instead proving the more general statement: \[ (*) = \Pbb \left( A_i ~\bigg|~ \bigcap_{j \in S} A_j^c \right) \le x_i ,\] where $S \subset [n] \setminus \{i\}$. We prove by induction on $|S|$. If $S = \emptyset$, then done by hypothesis. If $S \neq \emptyset$, then define \[ D = \bigcap_{\substack{j \in S \\ j \sim i}} A_j^c, \qquad I = \bigcap_{j \in S \\ j \not\sim i} A_j^c .\] Note that \begin{align*} (*) &= \Pbb(A_i \mid D \cap I) \\ &= \frac{\Pbb(A_i \cap D \cap I)}{\Pbb(D \cap I)} \\ &\le \frac{\Pbb(A_i \cap I)}{\Pbb(D \cap I)} \\ &= \frac{\Pbb(A_i) \Pbb(I)}{\Pbb(D \cap I)} \\ &= \frac{\Pbb(A_i)}{\Pbb(D \mid I)} \end{align*}