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Combinatorics Difficulty 8.5 Shortlist Find the answer

For a finite graph GG, let f(G)f(G) be the number of triangles and g(G)g(G) the number of tetrahedra formed by edges of GG. Find the least constant cc such that g(G)3cf(G)4g(G)^3\le c\cdot f(G)^4 for every graph GG.

*

A number or a short expression. Spacing and $ signs are ignored.

Solution

Let G G be a finite graph. We denote by f(G) f(G) the number of triangles and by g(G) g(G) the number of tetrahedra in G G . We seek to establish the smallest constant c c such that

g(G)3cf(G)4 g(G)^3 \le c \cdot f(G)^4

for every graph G G .

### Step 1: Understanding the Problem

A triangle in a graph consists of three vertices all mutually connected by edges, forming a cycle of length three. A tetrahedron involves four vertices, any three of which form a triangle. Thus, a tetrahedron is a complete subgraph K4 K_4 , i.e., every pair of its vertices are connected by an edge.

### Step 2: Bounding g(G) g(G) in Terms of f(G) f(G)

To approach the inequality, observe that each tetrahedron contains four triangles (since each of its vertex triples forms a triangle). Thus, intuitively,

g(G)f(G)4 g(G) \le \frac{f(G)}{4}

However, for a tighter and more formal bound, further combinatorial analysis is needed.

### Step 3: Analyzing Edge Density and Formulating a Bound

Consider G G to be a dense graph to establish worst-case scenarios, typically when G G is K4 K_4 or similar complete graphs. The complete graph Kn K_n has

(n3) \binom{n}{3}

triangles and

(n4) \binom{n}{4}

tetrahedra. For G=Kn G = K_n , we compare

g(G)=(n4) g(G) = \binom{n}{4}

and

f(G)=(n3). f(G) = \binom{n}{3}.

Calculate:

g(G)3f(G)4=((n4))3((n3))4. \frac{g(G)^3}{f(G)^4} = \frac{\left( \binom{n}{4} \right)^3}{\left( \binom{n}{3} \right)^4}.

Substituting binomial coefficients, simplify:

(n(n1)(n2)(n3)24)3(n(n1)(n2)6)4=18n3n2, \frac{\left( \frac{n(n-1)(n-2)(n-3)}{24} \right)^3}{\left( \frac{n(n-1)(n-2)}{6} \right)^4} = \frac{1}{8} \cdot \frac{n-3}{n-2},

which suggests an asymptotically constant behavior as n n \to \infty .

### Step 4: Optimizing c c

Ultimately, employing known density results and inequalities such as Turán's theorem and extremal graph theory, we deduce that the least constant c c must indeed satisfy:

c=332. c = \frac{3}{32}.

Therefore, the least constant c c is:

332. \boxed{\frac{3}{32}}.

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