$H$-free subgraphs of dense graphs maximizing the number of cliques and their blow-ups

Abstract

We consider the structure of $H$-free subgraphs of graphs with high minimal degree. We prove that for every $k>m$ there exists an $\epsilon:=\epsilon(k,m)>0$ so that the following holds. For every graph $H$ with chromatic number $k$ from which one can delete an edge and reduce the chromatic number, and for every graph $G$ on $n>n_0(H)$ vertices in which all degrees are at least $(1-\epsilon)n$, any subgraph of $G$ which is $H$-free and contains the maximum number of copies of the complete graph $K_m$ is $(k-1)$-colorable. We also consider several extensions for the case of a general forbidden graph $H$ of a given chromatic number, and for subgraphs maximizing the number of copies of balanced blowups of complete graphs.