Papers

We classify the finite posets whose probabilistic powerdomain is an RB-domain. For a finite nonempty poset \(P\), let \(\Vone(P)\) be the probability powerdomain of $P$, which is the probability simplex ordered by the stochastic order. We prove that \(\Vone(P)\) is an RB-domain if and only if \(P\) has a least element and the undirected Hasse graph of \(P\) is a tree. Consequently, the probabilistic powerdomain does not preserve RB-domains; the four-point diamond gives a finite counterexample. The proof separates two obstructions. First, if \(P\) has no least element, then the face of probability measures supported on the minimal points must be fixed pointwise by every deflation below the identity. Secondly, once a least element exists, the Hasse graph is connected, and a cycle in it makes the local stochastic cone non-simplicial. A Euclidean finite-step cone argument then rules out the finite-valued monotone approximations supplied by the RB property.

A coloring of the Hales–Jewett cube $[t]^n$ is symmetric if it is invariant under all coordinate permutations, and one-weight if it reads only an integer-weighted count of the letters. We prove that the two classes coincide – a radix weight realizes every symmetric coloring – so the symmetric lower-bound problem for the Hales–Jewett numbers is exactly a one-dimensional coloring problem about homothetic copies of a $t$-point set, the case $d=1$ of Gallai's theorem. Optimizing the weight yields $\mathrm{HJ}(3,3)\ge22$ and $\mathrm{HJ}(4,2)\ge14$, the latter in closed form from the new Gallai homothety numbers $G_2(\{0,2,3,5\})=67$ and $G_2(\{0,1,5,6\})=80$; new values at three colors – $G_3(\{0,1,3\})=42$, $G_3(\{0,1,4\})=57$ and $G_3(\{0,2,5\})\ge77$ – give $\mathrm{HJ}(3,3)\ge16$ from a one-line certificate. An anatomy of the $(4,2)$ palette locates the source of its compression: it is an extremal object of the bracket regime plus a single boundary scale. An exhaustive census shows how thin the class is: of the $1644$ line-free $2$-colorings of $[3]^3$, exactly $36$ are symmetric. For lines with at most $K$ active coordinates the same machinery gives infinite bracket numbers, $\mathrm{HJ}^{[12]}(3,3)=\mathrm{HJ}^{[12]}(4,2)=\infty$, strictly beyond the sum-type ceilings $\kappa_{\mathrm{sum}}(3,3)=11$ and $\kappa_{\mathrm{sum}}(4,2)=10$; for lines whose active set is an interval the machinery is provably blind, the interval ceiling $\lambda(3,r)$ is settled for every $r$ by assembling the known bounds, and a SAT computation gives the exact value $\mathrm{HJ}^{(1)}(3)=5>4=\mathrm{HJ}(3)$. We close with the Collapse, diagonal-only, and symmetric-extremality conjectures and with open problems on optimal weights. Every certificate displayed in this note has been re-verified by direct enumeration, independently of any solver.

We give counterexamples to two well-known conjectures about matroids: White's conjecture on the generation of the toric ideal by symmetric exchange binomials, and a conjecture of Mason on the log-concavity of the counts of flats of a given rank.

We show that, for every fixed graph $H$, every $n$-vertex graph $G$ that excludes $H$ as a minor is $3$-colourable with clustering $O_H(n^{4/9})$. That is, there exists a function $f$ such that for every graph $H$, every $n\ge 1$, every $n$-vertex graph $G$ that excludes $H$ as a minor has a vertex colouring with $3$ colours in which each monochromatic component has size at most $f(H)\cdot n^{4/9}$. This generalizes a recent result of Dujmović, Morin, Norin, and Wood (arXiv:2507.03163) from planar graphs to all proper minor-closed graph classes and is the first improvement on clustered $3$-colouring of proper minor-closed graph classes since the upper bound of $O_H(\sqrt{n})$ due to Linial, Matoušek, Sheffet, and Tardos (Comb. Prob. Comput., 17(4):577–589, 2008).

Let $G$ be an abelian group, and let $\mathcal F (G)$ be the free commutative monoid with basis $G$, and $\mathcal A (G)$ the set consisting of all minimal zero-sum subsequences over $G$. For any subset $\Omega \subset \mathcal F (G)$, we define the universal zero-sum invariant ${\mathsf d}_{\Omega}(G)$ as the minimal positive integer $\ell$ such that every sequence $T$ over $G$ of length $\ell$ contains a subsequence lying in $\Omega$. The classical Davenport constant ${\rm D}(G)$ for $G$ can also be written as ${\mathsf d}_{\mathcal A (G)}(G)$. We give a complete classification of all finite abelian groups for which $\mathcal A(G)$ is a minimal set to represent the Davenport constant. We also investigate the weighted Davenport constant over abelian groups (which may be infinite). Let $F$ and $G$ be abelian groups, and let $\Psi \subseteq \mathrm{Hom}(F,G)$ denote a weight set. We reinterpret the weighted Davenport constant $D_{\Psi}(G)$ in terms of coverings of Cartesian powers $F^n$ by kernels of induced homomorphisms arising from tuples in $\Psi^n$; these homomorphisms are naturally linked to coproducts in the category of abelian groups. This motivates the notion of kernel-cover compactness, a property characterizing when such kernel coverings admit finite subcovers. We establish a correspondence between weighted zero-sum invariants and kernel-cover structures, where the bound $D_{\Psi}(G)\le n$ is equivalent to a canonical kernel-cover property on $F^n$. We further study finite reduction phenomena for infinite weight sets and provide sufficient conditions ensuring uniform kernel-cover compactness. The present work constitutes a follow-up to [G. Wang, Comm. Algebra, 2025].

The geodesic treewidth of a graph $ G $ is the smallest $k$ for which there is a partition $\mathcal{P}$ into geodesics such that $G/\mathcal{P}$ has treewidth $k$, where $G/\mathcal{P}$ is obtained from $ G $ by contracting each part of $ \mathcal{P} $. Based on this notion, row treewidth was developed and is defined for a graph $ G $ as the smallest $ k $ such that $ G \subseteq H \boxtimes P $ for some graph $ H $ of treewidth $ k $ and a path $ P $. Equivalently, the row treewidth of a graph $ G $ is the smallest $ k $ for which there is a partition $ \mathcal{P} $ into disjoint unions of geodesics that are aligned with respect to some layering such that $ G/\mathcal{P} $ has treewidth $ k $. We separate the two notions by showing that bounded row treewidth does not imply bounded geodesic treewidth and by presenting a polynomial-time algorithm to decide whether a graph of treewidth 2 has geodesic treewidth 1, which is known to be NP-hard for row treewidth [Biedl, Eppstein, Ueckerdt, 2025]. More generally, we provide an algorithm to decide whether a given graph has geodesic treewidth at most $ d $ that is XP in the treewidth, whereas there is no such algorithm for row treewidth, unless P = NP [Biedl, Eppstein, Ueckerdt, 2025]. On the other hand, we show that computing the geodesic treewidth is NP-hard and that every graph with geodesic treewidth 1 has bounded row treewidth. Moreover, we improve the best known lower bound on the geodesic treewidth of planar graphs to 5.

Inspired by Problem 17 from the 2024 American Mathematics Competition (AMC) 10B, this work focuses on enumerating the distinct outcomes of a snail race with specified number of ties of a certain type. We begin by developing a recurrence relation and subsequently derive a closed-form formula for the number of possible outcomes using the exponential generating function method. Two special cases of the problem are considered in detail. Our analysis also explores the connections between the solution to this problem and the ordered Bell numbers, Stirling numbers of the second kind, and partial Bell polynomials.

We provide a characterization of the connected subgraphs of the graphs with vertex set the non-isotropic points in a quadratic space $(V,Q)$, two points adjacent if and only if they span a tangent line. Here $(V,Q)$ is a quadratic space $V$ over a finite field $\mathbb{F}_q$ of order $q$, where $q>3$ is odd, equipped with a non-degenerate quadratic form $Q$. The local structure of the graph (i.e. the graph induced on the neighbors of a point) determines the structure of the full graph. This characterization helps to determine the automorphism group of these graphs.

The enumeration of planar maps with control on the boundary metric, i.e. the pseudometric induced on the outer face of the map by its bulk graph distance metric, is a difficult problem in general. However, we show that for a family of bipartite planar map models with special q-deformed face weights that arise in the physics context of the double-scaled Sachdev-Ye-Kitaev model (DSSYK) the enumeration admits a very simple answer. Encoding the boundary metric of a bipartite planar map by its so-called geodesic chord diagram, we prove that the weighted enumeration depends only on the crossing number of the chord diagram. At fixed perimeter, the induced law of the geodesic chord diagram in these planar map models coincides exactly with the chord diagram representation of the DSSYK model.

We construct two arrangements of nine lines in the complex projective plane with isomorphic intersection lattices but with different minimal degrees of Jacobian relations. The common weak combinatorics is \[ (n_2,n_3,n_4)=(9,7,1), \] so the example is not the classical Ziegler-Yuzvinsky pair, whose weak combinatorics is $(n_{2},n_{3}) = (18,6)$. For the two defining equations $f$ and $g$ we prove \[ {\rm mdr}(f)=4,\qquad {\rm mdr}(g)=5. \] Since the degree is $d=9$, the first equality gives ${\rm mdr}(f)<d/2$. Hence the pair gives a counterexample to the Generalized Terao Conjecture.

In 2020, Panda, Verma, and Keerti asked whether the central graph of every graph satisfies the AVD-total coloring conjecture. In this paper, we verify the conjecture for central graphs of regular graphs, complete bipartite graphs, graphs that can be expressed as the join of two graphs of the same order, and several other graph classes, thereby providing partial progress towards this open problem. We further determine the AVD-total chromatic number of subdivision graphs of connected graphs and establish new results on the AVD-total coloring of joins of graphs and deleted lexicographic products.

The Ramsey community number $r_\kappa$ is the minimum network size at which a graph's connectivity is better described by a partition into communities than by no partition, under a prescribed community-detection rule. It was introduced through numerical simulations of networks grown by local rules, which suggested that community structure can emerge without any node heterogeneity. Here I compute $r_\kappa$ analytically for the simplest homogeneous, locally wired graph: the circulant ring lattice $C_n(1,\dots,c)$. Using a Bernoulli stochastic block model with symmetric $\mathrm{Beta}$ priors as the detection rule, the Bayesian evidence for a balanced two-community partition and for the unpartitioned network are both obtained in closed form, so the transition between them can be located exactly. The result is a sharp dependence on the interaction range: the plain cycle ($c=1$) is never partitioned, its two-community posterior decaying as $n^{-(2\alpha+3)}$, so $r_\kappa=\infty$; but the next-nearest-neighbour ring ($c=2$) acquires a finite $r_\kappa\simeq 35$ nodes, above which the partition is preferred with a log-evidence growing as $(\ln 2)\,n$. This provides an exactly solvable instance of community emergence in a network with no built-in communities, and shows that a minimal amount of local connectivity is enough to break the ring.

We study the one-time weight on strict partitions obtained from the modified odd Greaves–Jing–Zhu operator. The shifted $t$-Schur functions generated by this operator are obtained from the classical Schur $Q$-functions by the plethystic substitution $X\mapsto X-tX$. Thus the corresponding weight \[ \lambda \longmapsto \mathcal Q_\lambda(X;t)P_\lambda(Y) \] is a shifted Schur weight with a virtual first alphabet. We give its normalization, its Pfaffian correlation kernel, its Fredholm Pfaffian for the largest part, and its size cumulants. For $t=-q$ with $q\geq 0$ the virtual alphabet becomes the positive alphabet $X+qX$, giving a genuine probability measure. This positive specialization is the one-time marginal of the two-color lift considered in a companion note.

M. Gorelik and Th. Heidersdors in the papers \cite{GH} investigated Euler characters for Lie superalgebra $\frak{gl}(m,n)$ and $\frak{osp}(m.2n)$. In the present paper we also investigate Euler characters for Lie superalgebra $\frak{gl}(m,n)$ but we use a different approach and our results are formulated in different terms.

In this paper, we study the existence problem for spherical \(T\)-designs on the \(d\)-dimensional sphere, where \(T\) is an infinite subset of \(\mathbb N\). We show that, if \(d\ge 2\), then a finite subset of \(S^d\) has infinite harmonic strength if and only if it is antipodal. For \(d=1\), we show that infinite strength spherical designs are exactly cyclotomic designs, and we characterize their existence in terms of certain \(0\)-\(1\) polynomials. We also prove that the harmonic strength of every infinite strength spherical design has the weak GCD property. Finally, for a given infinite subset \(T\subset \mathbb N\) with the weak GCD property, we give a finite procedure to decide whether there exists \(X\subset S^1\) such that \(\operatorname{Hst}(X)=T\), and apply this criterion to concrete existence and non-existence examples.

Let $G$ be an $n$-vertex graph containing a Hamiltonian cycle and with minimum degree at least $3$. Girão, Kittipassorn and Narayanan (Israel J. Math., 2019) proved that $G$ contains another cycle of length at least $n-O(n^{4/5})$. In this paper, we improve their bound to $n-O(n^{2/3})$. Our proof is combined with a constructive method, which is based on a poset result, and a nonconstructive method. And the bound is best possible under these two methods.

Mineyev's taiko construction, in Garg–Mineyev's finite support-size formulation, gives a concrete route from finite support data to zero divisors and units in group rings of torsion-free CAT(0) groups over $\mathbb{F}_2$. We prove that this triple-girth product-structure route is globally closed: no product structure, even or odd, with support sizes $m,n\ge2$ admits a coherent orientation for which the no-fold and triple-girth conditions both hold. Consequently the Garg–Mineyev triple-girth product-structure assembly route produces neither zero-divisor nor unit counterexamples over $\mathbb{F}_2$ for any such support-size pair. The obstruction is structural, not a bounded-search artifact. High middle-link girth forces signed colors into a balanced near-disjoint rectangle decomposition of the board, with the single odd defect omitted. The product identity, pressure inequalities, Fisher inequalities, and a dual Fisher bound force the middle link to have girth $4$ or $6$; in the girth-six case, the minimum of the two horizontal-link girths is at most $5$. This dichotomy rules out every triple-girth branch. A weighted dual Fisher inequality and an exact finite certificate sharpen the frontier: if the middle link has girth $6$, the horizontal girth is at most $4$, and characteristic-two affine-plane constructions attain equality. Thus the Garg–Mineyev finite failures reflect a structural barrier in the taiko geometry itself. The finite certificate is used only for this sharper frontier, not for the no-$T_4$ obstruction.

For graphs $F$ and $H$, let $\mathrm{ex}(n,H,F)$ denote the maximum number of copies of $H$ in an $n$-vertex $F$-free graph. Very recently, Janzer, Longbrake, and Yepremyan proved that for $3<a\leq b$ and sufficiently large $t$, \begin{equation*} \mathrm{ex}(n,K_{a,b},K_{3,t})=\Theta_{a,b,t}(n^3). \end{equation*} Later, Hou, Hu, and Wang made this threshold explicit by showing that the conclusion holds for all $t\geq 2\max\{3,\lceil b/2\rceil\}+1$. In particular, for every even $b\geq 6$, this matches the necessary threshold $t=b+1$. In this paper, we resolve the remaining case where $b$ is odd. More precisely, we prove that for all fixed integers $b\geq 5$ and $3<a\leq b$, \begin{equation*} \mathrm{ex}(n,K_{a,b},K_{3,b+1})=\Theta_{a,b}(n^3). \end{equation*} Our construction uses a finite-field point set in $\mathrm{PG}(5,q)$ together with an orthogonal polarity. The key new ingredient is the polynomial splitting lemma due to Andrade, Bary-Soroker, and Rudnick, which produces many planes whose intersections with the point set and their polar planes both have size $b$. This gives a $K_{3,b+1}$-free incidence graph while preserving $\Omega_{a,b}(n^3)$ copies of $K_{a,b}$.

We construct doubly- and triply-graded Penrose-type homologies for ribbon graphs. The construction is a TQFT-valued cube of resolutions built from two-dimensional cobordisms, which may be nonorientable. Their Euler characteristics recover specializations of some Penrose polynomials; in particular, the four color case comes with a refinement of the classical Penrose criterion.

The $d$-Hoggatt triangle is a lower triangular matrix whose entries are given by specific minors of Pascal's triangle formed by consecutive $d$ rows and $d$ columns. The cases $d=1,2,3$ correspond to Pascal's triangle, the Narayana triangle, and the Baxter triangle, respectively. In this paper, we present the infinite log-concavity of the row and column sequences, the log-concavity of the sequences along transversals, and the eventual log-convexity of the sequences along rays of the $d$-Hoggatt triangle. In addition, we prove the asymptotic normality of the row sequences and total positivity of the $d$-Hoggatt triangle.

The transformation of the $h$-vector of a finite simplicial complex under an $\mathcal{F}$-uniform subdivision is encoded by a transformation matrix. Mu and Welker conjectured that the transformation matrix of the barycentric subdivision is totally positive. In this paper, we give a new combinatorial proof of this conjecture. We also prove the total positivity of the transformation matrix of the interval subdivision. In addition, we establish a sufficient condition for the transformation matrix of a uniform subdivision to be totally positive of order $2$ (TP$_2$), thereby partially answering a question of Mu and Welker. As an application, we show that the transformation matrix of the $r$-colored barycentric subdivision is TP$_2$.

For $m\in\mathbb{Z}_{\geq 0}$, let \[ N_{n,m}(x)={}_2F_1(-n,-n-m;m+1;x), \] which specializes to the Narayana polynomials of types $B$ and $A$ for $m=0$ and $m=1$, respectively. We prove that the associated basis transformation \[ T_{N_m}\left(\sum_{k=0}^n a_kx^k\right)=\sum_{k=0}^n a_kN_{k,m}(x) \] maps every real-rooted polynomial with nonnegative coefficients to a real-rooted polynomial. The proof is based on the rectangular additive convolution of polynomials. We then apply this result to products of lower triangular matrices and obtain a general criterion ensuring that their row generating functions remain real-rooted. As consequences, we recover this property for powers and products of several classical triangular matrices, including Pascal's triangle, the Stirling triangles, and the Narayana triangles of types $A$ and $B$. We conclude with conjectures concerning the squares of the Eulerian and Delannoy triangles.

Let $M_n$ be an $n\times n$ random matrix whose entries are independent Rademacher random variables, and put $N=\binom n2$. We prove \[ Pr(M_nM_n^T=M_n^TM_n)=2^{-N+O(n)}. \] This gives the sharp exponential order for the probability that a random sign matrix is normal. The lower bound is supplied by symmetric sign matrices. We also record the immediate consequence that random $0$-$1$ matrices have the same sharp exponential normality probability. The proof of the matching upper bound is combinatorial: after conditioning on the symmetric/skew-symmetric type pattern of the off-diagonal entries, a mod-$4$ reduction gives a system of linear equations over $F_2$; a rank-duality argument converts the sum over type patterns into a count of commuting symmetric pairs over $F_2$; and this count is bounded by summing over rational canonical types, using balanced symmetric bilinear forms and the standard finite-field centralizer formula.

We compute the number of unlabeled chordal graphs on $n$ vertices, both the total count (OEIS A048193) and the connected count (OEIS A048192), extending two sequences whose published values had remained at $n=15$. The method is a Polya-Burnside enumeration: the number of unlabeled graphs in a class closed under relabeling is the average over $S_n$ of the number of labeled graphs fixed by each permutation. The technical core is the evaluation, for an arbitrary permutation $\pi$, of the number of $\pi$-invariant labeled chordal graphs. We give a dynamic program for this quantity that lifts the evaporation-based labeled chordal counting of Hebert-Johnson, Lokshtanov and Vigoda to the equivariant setting. Its central structural ingredient is a divisor-bundle decomposition: when a connected piece spans a cyclic orbit of size $c$, it forms, for each divisor $d \mid c$, a $d$-fold bundle whose constituent is an object of the same kind in the cyclic world of order $c/d$, computed by the same program recursively. We prove the decomposition and the correctness of the resulting recurrences, and we prove that the full Burnside computation runs in sub-exponential time $n^{O(\sqrt{n})}$. We report the new terms through $n=20$ and describe four independent validations, including exact agreement with all previously known values of both sequences and an Euler-transform consistency check.

Let $\mathcal{F}\subset\binom{[n]}{k}$ be an intersecting family, $\Delta(\mathcal{F})=\max_{x\in[n]}|\{F\in\mathcal{F}:x\in F\}|$, and $\varrho(\mathcal{F})=\Delta(\mathcal{F})/|\mathcal{F}|$. Frankl and Wang conjectured that if $n>100k$ and $|\mathcal{F}|>\binom{n-3}{k-3}$, then $\varrho(\mathcal{F})\ge 3/7$; the constant $3/7$ is sharp because of the Fano-plane construction. In this note we obtain three results. First, we show that no linear threshold $n>Ck$ can be sufficient: using a truncated Fano-plane construction we exhibit, for every constant $C$ and all large $k$, an intersecting family with $n>Ck$, $|\mathcal{F}|>\binom{n-3}{k-3}$, yet $\varrho(\mathcal{F})<3/7$. In particular, the original condition $n>100k$ does not guarantee the conclusion. Second, for $k=3$ we prove that $\varrho(\mathcal{F})\ge 3/7$ holds for every nonempty intersecting $3$-uniform family; the proof is nontrivial and does not rely on any assumption on $n$ or $|\mathcal{F}|$. Third, using the classical pseudo-sunflower bound $|\mathcal{F}|\le t^k$ (for families containing no pseudo-sunflower of size $t+1$), we obtain a completely explicit polynomial threshold for all $k\ge4$: if $n>(k-3)(7k^4+k)+3$ and $|\mathcal{F}|>\binom{n-3}{k-3}$, then $\varrho(\mathcal{F})\ge 3/7$. In particular, the simplified bound $n>7k^5$ is sufficient for every $k\ge4$.

The theory of $q$-series and basic hypergeometric series plays a crucial role at the intersection of combinatorics, number theory, and representation theory. From the classical partition identities of Euler and Jacobi to modern developments in class field theory, vertex operator algebras, and the Monstrous Moonshine conjecture, $q$-series provide the analytic framework for a wide range of profound applications. In this paper, we discuss the formalization of this theory in the Lean proof assistant, a process that requires careful design of scalable and versatile structures to reconcile formal algebraic identities with analytic convergence properties. We address these foundational challenges by focusing on the construction of $q$-Pochhammer symbols, $q$-binomial coefficients, Bailey's Lemma and similar primitives. To demonstrate the utility of this work, we provide fully verified proofs of the Jacobi Triple Product formula and the celebrated Rogers-Ramanujan identities, which serve as both historical and technical benchmarks for the field. This work establishes a rigorous computational foundation for the future formalization of mock theta functions, modular forms, and the diverse algebraic structures that underpin their applications across mathematics and physics. AxiomProver was used to produce the formalizations in this paper.

We prove a sharp lower bound for the cardinality of sumsets of subsets of $\mathbb{Z}^d$ confined to a hypercube, resolving in strong form a conjecture that was made explicit by Becker, Ivanisvili, Krachun and Madrid and had circulated in the folklore of the field for some time. Specifically, for sets $A_j\subseteq \{0,1,2,\dots,m\}^d$ we show that \[|A_1+\dots+A_n|\;\geq\; (|A_1|\cdots|A_n|)^{1/p},\qquad p=\frac{n\log(m+1)}{\log(nm+1)},\] with the exponent best possible. The only previously known sharp cases were $A_j\subseteq \{0,1\}^d$, for all $n\ge1$, and $A_j\subseteq \{0,1,2\}^d$ for $n=2$. We also prove a sharp inequality in the case when $A_j\subseteq\{0,1,\dots,m_j\}^d$ for different $m_j$. We obtain the above inequality as a corollary of a stronger result on sup-convolution of functions on $\mathbb{Z}^d$, whose proof is based on a novel mixed volume representation of a lattice path norm, together with a sharp one-dimensional functional inequality.

Let $G$ be a finite simple graph. The annihilation number $a(G)$ is an efficiently computable upper bound on the independence number $\alpha(G)$. We develop a sharp matching-number theory for the gap $a(G)-\alpha(G)$. The strongest general theorem is the exact closed form \[a(G)-\alpha(G)\leq 2\mu(G)+1- \lceil \sqrt{6 \mu(G)} \rceil \qquad(\mu(G)\geq 1), \] and the bound is attained for every prescribed matching number. We also prove sharp matching-dependent bounds for forests, bipartite graphs, and König-Egerváry graphs, with equality constructions, equality certificates, and equality criteria. Finally, we treat a TxGraffiti output as a machine-conjecture case study. Using annihilating decompositions together with the classical Havel-Hakimi residue inequality $res(G)\leq \alpha(G)$, we give an independent proof of the TxGraffiti annihilation-residue inequality \[ \alpha(G)\geq \frac{a(G)+res(G)}{\Delta(G)} \] for every connected graph $G$ of order at least three, show that both hypotheses are necessary, and compare this proof with a recent Caro-Wei approach. We also refine the Caro-Wei annihilation estimate by an explicit nonnegative slack term, identify its equality cases in degree-sequence form, and combine the refinement with our exact matching-number bound to obtain a combined computable bracket for the independence number and a Gupta-residue bound for the annihilation gap.

Alexander's conjecture states that for every two finite triangulations of the same topological space, if they have a common subdivision, then they have a common stellar subdivision. We generalize the recent result of Adiprasito and Pak, who resolved Alexander's conjecture for finite simplicial complexes, to infinite simplicial complexes.

Maker-Breaker subgraph games are among the most famous combinatorial games. For $n,q\in\mathbb{N}$ and a fixed subgraph $C$ of the complete graph $K_n$, the two players, called Maker and Breaker, alternately claim edges of $K_n$. Maker claims one unclaimed edge per round and Breaker may claim up to $q$ edges per round. If Maker is able to claim all edges of a copy of $C$, he wins the game. Otherwise Breaker wins. Bednarska and Łuczak (2000) determined in a landmark work the asymptotics of the treshold bias as $\Theta(n^{1/m(C)})$ where $m(C)$ is the 2-density of $C$, analysing random strategies. Since then it has been a major open problem to determine the treshhold bias, if it exists, with corresponding strategies, leading to sharp constants in the $\Theta$-notion. A famous case is the triangle game ($C=C_3$), studied by Chvatal and Erd"os (1978), who showed Maker wins if $q\le \sqrt{2n}$ and Breaker wins if $q\ge2\sqrt{n}$. Glazik and Srivastav (2022) improved this via a potential method, showing Breaker wins already for $q\ge\sqrt{8/3}\sqrt{n}$. Spencer (2019) conjectured generalizability to arbitrary subgraphs $C$. We confirm this conjecture, presenting a general winning strategy for Breaker if the potential function fullfils conditions depending on $C$. With this result we give the first constructive (polynomial-time) strategies for Breaker in the $k$-cycle Maker-Breaker game for arbitrary, but fixed $k \geq 4$: Breaker wins if $q>\sqrt[k-1]{(k-1)\big(\frac{2(k-1)}{k}\big)^{k-2}n^{k-2}}$. By Bednarska and Łuczak (2000) our bound is asymptotically optimal. However, our constants are better than those arising from their random strategies. More recently, Sowa and Srivastav (2025) gave the first constructive Maker strategy for $C_4$. Our work may motivate study of Maker strategies for $C_k, k \ge 5$, narrowing the gap towards the Breaker bounds presented.