On problems of Erdős and Baumann-Briggs on minimising the density of $s$-cliques in graphs with forbidden subgraphs

Abstract

Using flag algebras, we prove that the minimum density of $8$-cliques in a large graph without an independent set of size $3$ is $491411/268435456+o(1)$, thus resolving a new case of an old problem of Erdős [Magyar Tud. Akad. Mat. Kutató Int. Közl. 7 (1962) 459-464]. Also, we establish some other results of this type; for example, we show that the minimum $s$-clique density in a large graph with no independent set of size 3 nor an induced 5-cycle is $2^{1-s}+o(1)$ when $s=4,5,6$. For each of these results, we also describe the structure of all extremal and almost extremal graphs of large order $n$. These results are applied to give an asymptotic solution to a number of cases of the problem of Baumann and Briggs [Electronic J Comb 32 (2025) P1.22] which asks for the minimum number of $s$-cliques in an $n$-vertex graph in which every $k$-set spans a $t$-clique.

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