The smallestn-uniform hypergraph with positive discrepancy

Abstract

A two-coloring of the verticesX of the hypergraphH=(X, ε) by red and blue hasdiscrepancy d ifd is the largest difference between the number of red and blue points in any edge. A two-coloring is an equipartition ofH if it has discrepancy 0, i.e., every edge is exactly half red and half blue. Letf(n) be the fewest number of edges in ann-uniform hypergraph (all edges have sizen) having positive discrepancy. Erdős and Sós asked: isf(n) unbounded? We answer this question in the affirmative and show that there exist constantsc ₁ andc ₂ such that

$$\frac{{c_1 \log (snd(n/2))}}{{\log \log (snd(n/2))}} \leqq f(n) \leqq c_2 \frac{{\log ^3 (snd(n/2))}}{{\log \log (snd(n/2))}}$$

where snd(x) is the least positive integer that does not dividex.