C8.

3 Combinatorics
Sheet 1 — MT21
Sheet 1

Before doing this sheet, you should make sure you are familiar with Sperner’s Lemma, the
LYM Inequality, and Dilworth’s Theorem.

Section A
You should do these questions, but not hand them in. Solutions can be found on the course
page.

1. Write down all antichains contained in P(1) and P(2). How many different antichains
are there in P(3)?
n


2. (a) Look up Stirling’s Formula. Use it to find an asymptotic estimate for n/2
of the
form (1 + o(1))f (n) when n is even.
n


(b) Now do the same for pn where p ∈ (0, 1) is a constant and pn is an integer. Write
your answer in terms of the binary entropy function

H(p) = −p log p − (1 − p) log(1 − p).

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 C8.3 Combinatorics: Sheet 1 — MT21

Section B
These questions are to be handed in.

3. Let k ≤ n/2, and suppose that F is an antichain in P[n] such that every A ∈ F has
|A| ≤ k. Prove that |F| ≤ nk .

4. Let (P, ≤) be a poset. Suppose that every chain in P has at most k elements. Prove
that P can be written as the union of k antichains.

5. Suppose F ⊂ P[n] is a set system containing no chain with k + 1 sets.

(a) Prove that
n
X |Fi |
n ≤ k,


i=0 i

where Fi = F ∩ [n](i) for each i.

(b) What is the maximum possible size of such a system?

6. Let A be an antichain in P[n] that is not of the form [n](r) . Must there exist a maximal
chain disjoint from A?

7. Let (P, ≤) be an infinite poset. Must P contain an infinite chain or antichain?

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 C8.3 Combinatorics: Sheet 1 — MT21

Section C
These questions are optional. Solutions can be found on the course page (except for
questions marked with a (*), which lie outside the course but are there if you want an
extra challenge!).

8. Let f (n) be the number of subsets A ⊂ P(n) such that A is an antichain.

n
(a) Prove that f (n) ≥ 2(bn/2c) for every n.
n
(b) (Tricky) Prove that, for every  > 0, f (n) ≤ 22 for all sufficiently large n.

9. Consider the poset P = (P(N), ⊆) (in other words, the elements of P are sets of natural
numbers, and A ≤ B if A ⊆ B). Show that P contains an uncountable antichain.

10. (*) Does the poset in the last question contain an uncountable chain?

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Alex Scott: scott@maths.ox.ac.uk