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feat(ErdosProblems): add problems 533 and 579 (Ramsey–Turán with triangle-independence)#4293

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henrykmichalewski:ramsey-turan-533-579
Jul 2, 2026
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feat(ErdosProblems): add problems 533 and 579 (Ramsey–Turán with triangle-independence)#4293
mo271 merged 2 commits into
google-deepmind:mainfrom
henrykmichalewski:ramsey-turan-533-579

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@henrykmichalewski

@henrykmichalewski henrykmichalewski commented Jun 20, 2026

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fixes #775
fixes #806

Adds two closely-linked Ramsey–Turán problems (each cross-references the other on erdosproblems.com), following the framework established for problem 22 (ErdosProblems/22.lean).

ErdosProblems/533.lean — DISPROVED

For $\delta>0$ and large $n$: must every $K_5$-free graph on $n$ vertices with $\ge \delta n^2$ edges contain a triangle-free vertex set of size $\gg_\delta n$? Equivalently, is the triangle Ramsey–Turán density $\delta_3(5)=0$?

  • erdos_533answer(False) (the density is not 0).
  • variants.ehsss_upper$\delta_3(5)\le 1/12$ (Erdős–Hajnal–Simonovits–Sós–Szemerédi).
  • variants.lrss_lower$\delta_3(5)\ge 1/12$ via the Liu–Reiher–Sharifzadeh–Staden construction (improving Balogh–Lenz's $\delta_3(5)>0$); refutes erdos_533.
  • variants.delta_four_eq_zero — the contrasting positive $K_4$ result $\delta_3(4)=0$.
  • variants.delta_seven_ge_quarter — the EHSSS observation $\delta_3(7)\ge 1/4$ (Erdős–Rogers).
  • variants.test_bot — sanity check on the triangle-free-set condition.

The triangle-free-set condition uses SimpleGraph.CliqueFreeOn _ 3.

ErdosProblems/579.lean — OPEN

For $\delta>0$ and large $n$: must every $K_{2,2,2}$-free (octahedron-free) graph on $n$ vertices with $\ge \delta n^2$ edges contain an independent set of size $\gg_\delta n$?

  • erdos_579answer(sorry) (open).
  • variants.ehss_large_delta — the EHSS partial result for $\delta>1/8$.
  • variants.octahedron_not_free — sanity check that the forbidden structure is non-trivial.

The octahedron is completeMultipartiteGraph (fun _ : Fin 3 => Fin 2); "contains no $K_{2,2,2}$" uses SimpleGraph.Free.

Both files build with only the expected declaration uses 'sorry' warnings.

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@github-actions github-actions Bot added the erdos-problems Erdős Problems label Jun 20, 2026
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👋 This is an automated welcome message. 🤖
Thanks for the contributions!

A few friendly reminders while the review gets started:

  • Please take a look at the style guidelines,
    especially the conventions for references, categories, AMS tags, and answer(sorry).
  • You can manage some PR labels by leaving a comment with +label-name or -label-name; for example, +awaiting-author or -awaiting-author.
  • This repository is mainly for formalised statements. Proofs longer than about 25-50 lines are usually out of scope; longer proofs are welcome to be included/linked via the formal_proof mechanism.

Thanks again for helping improve Formal Conjectures.

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Thanks!
Looks great mathematically, just a nit about removing docstrings.

Comment on lines +22 to +32
Let $\delta > 0$. If $n$ is sufficiently large and $G$ is a graph on $n$ vertices with no
$K_{2,2,2}$ (the octahedron) and at least $\delta n^2$ edges, must $G$ contain an independent
set of size $\gg_\delta n$?

This is a problem of Erdős, Hajnal, Sós, and Szemerédi [EHSS83]. It is **open**. They could
prove the statement for $\delta > 1/8$; the difficulty is to push the edge-density threshold
all the way down to an arbitrary $\delta > 0$.

Here $K_{2,2,2}$ is the complete tripartite graph with all parts of size $2$, i.e. the
octahedron, encoded as `completeMultipartiteGraph (fun _ : Fin 3 => Fin 2)`. "Contains no
$K_{2,2,2}$" is expressed via `SimpleGraph.Free`: $G$ contains no copy of the octahedron.

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Suggested change
Let $\delta > 0$. If $n$ is sufficiently large and $G$ is a graph on $n$ vertices with no
$K_{2,2,2}$ (the octahedron) and at least $\delta n^2$ edges, must $G$ contain an independent
set of size $\gg_\delta n$?
This is a problem of Erdős, Hajnal, Sós, and Szemerédi [EHSS83]. It is **open**. They could
prove the statement for $\delta > 1/8$; the difficulty is to push the edge-density threshold
all the way down to an arbitrary $\delta > 0$.
Here $K_{2,2,2}$ is the complete tripartite graph with all parts of size $2$, i.e. the
octahedron, encoded as `completeMultipartiteGraph (fun _ : Fin 3 => Fin 2)`. "Contains no
$K_{2,2,2}$" is expressed via `SimpleGraph.Free`: $G$ contains no copy of the octahedron.

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Done in 9ce4159 — the module header is now just the title + references, with the statement (including the octahedron encoding note) moved into the erdos_579 docstring.

Comment on lines +22 to +38
Let $\delta > 0$. If $n$ is sufficiently large and $G$ is a graph on $n$ vertices with no
$K_5$ and at least $\delta n^2$ edges, must $G$ contain a set of $\gg_\delta n$ vertices
spanning no triangle?

Equivalently, writing $\mathrm{RT}_3(n, K_5, m)$ for the maximum number of edges of a
$K_5$-free graph on $n$ vertices in which every triangle-free vertex set has fewer than $m$
vertices (the *triangle Ramsey–Turán number*), is
$$\delta_3(5) = \lim_{\epsilon \to 0} \lim_{n \to \infty}
\frac{\mathrm{RT}_3(n, K_5, \epsilon n)}{n^2} = 0?$$

This is a problem of Erdős, Hajnal, Simonovits, Sós, and Szemerédi [EHSSS94], who proved the
upper bound $\delta_3(5) \leq 1/12$ and the analogous statement $\delta_3(4) = 0$. They
further observed $\delta_3(7) \geq 1/4$, using a construction of Erdős and Rogers [ErRo62].

The answer is **no**: the statement is false. Balogh and Lenz [BaLe13] disproved it by showing
$\delta_3(5) > 0$, and the exact value $\delta_3(5) = 1/12$ was determined by the matching
lower-bound construction of Liu, Reiher, Sharifzadeh, and Staden [LRSS21].

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let's not repeat the docstrings

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Done — slimmed both module headers to just the title and the *References:* block, and moved the full verbatim problem statement into the erdos_533 / erdos_579 theorem docstrings, so the text now appears only once (per ErdosProblems/README.md). Pushed in 9ce4159.

@mo271 mo271 added the awaiting-author The author should answer a question or perform changes. Reply when done. label Jun 20, 2026
@Smetalo

Smetalo commented Jun 23, 2026

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Does this resolve #775 and #806?

…view

Move the verbatim problem statement out of the module header docstrings and
into the theorem docstrings (per ErdosProblems/README.md), so the problem text
appears only once. Addresses mo271's review on google-deepmind#4293.
@henrykmichalewski

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@Smetalo Thanks for checking! No — #533 and #579 are different problems from #775 and #806, so this PR doesn't touch them:

  • Erdős Problem 533 #775 asks whether a 3-uniform hypergraph on $n$ vertices can have $n - O(1)$ different clique sizes (recently disproved by Gao). That's about clique-size diversity in hypergraphs, unrelated to the Ramsey–Turán edge-density questions here.
  • Erdős Problem 579 #806 is an additive-combinatorics question about covering a set $A$ by a small sumset $B+B$ (Erdős–Newman).

This PR only adds #533 ($K_5$-free, triangle Ramsey–Turán density $\delta_3(5)=1/12$) and #579 (octahedron-free, independence). The two cross-reference each other on erdosproblems.com, which may be where the association came from.

@mo271 mo271 removed the awaiting-author The author should answer a question or perform changes. Reply when done. label Jun 30, 2026

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Thanks again

@mo271 mo271 merged commit eb95f93 into google-deepmind:main Jul 2, 2026
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Erdős Problem 579 Erdős Problem 533

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