The integer homology threshold in $Y_d(n, p)$

Abstract

We prove that in the $d$-dimensional Linial--Meshulam stochastic process the $(d - 1)$st homology group with integer coefficients vanishes exactly when the final isolated $(d - 1)$-dimensional face is covered by a top-dimensional face. This generalizes the $d = 2$ case proved recently by \L uczak and Peled and establishes that $p = \frac{d \log n}{n}$ is the sharp threshold for homology with integer coefficients to vanish in $Y_d(n, p),$ answering a 2003 question of Linial and Meshulam.