A note on induced Ramsey numbers

Abstract

The induced Ramsey number $r_{\mathrm{ind}}(F)$ of a $k$-uniform hypergraph $F$ is the smallest natural number $n$ for which there exists a $k$-uniform hypergraph $G$ on $n$ vertices such that every two-coloring of the edges of $G$ contains an induced monochromatic copy of $F$. We study this function, showing that $r_{\mathrm{ind}}(F)$ is bounded above by a reasonable power of $r(F)$. In particular, our result implies that $r_{\mathrm{ind}}(F)\le 2^{2^{ct}}$ for any $3$-uniform hypergraph $F$ with $t$ vertices, mirroring the best known bound for the usual Ramsey number. The proof relies on an application of the hypergraph container method.

Dedicated to the memory of Jirka Matoušek, 10 pages, second version addresses changes arising from the referee reports