Ramsey-type problems for tilings in dense graphs

Abstract

Given a graph $H$, the Ramsey number $R(H)$ is the smallest positive integer $n$ such that every $2$-edge-colouring of $K_n$ yields a monochromatic copy of $H$. We write $mH$ to denote the union of $m$ vertex-disjoint copies of $H$. The members of the family $\{mH:m\ge1\}$ are also known as $H$-tilings. A well-known result of Burr, Erd\H{o}s and Spencer states that $R(mK_3)=5m$ for every $m\ge2$. On the other hand, Moon proved that every $2$-edge-colouring of $K_{3m+2}$ yields a $K_3$-tiling consisting of $m$ monochromatic copies of $K_3$, for every $m\ge2$. Crucially, in Moon's result, distinct copies of $K_3$ might receive different colours. In this paper, we investigate the analogous questions where the complete host graph is replaced by a graph of large minimum degree. We determine the (asymptotic) minimum degree threshold for forcing a~$K_3$-tiling covering a prescribed proportion of the vertices in a $2$-edge-coloured graph such that every copy of $K_3$ in the tiling is monochromatic. We also determine the largest size of a monochromatic $K_3$-tiling one can guarantee in any $2$-edge-coloured graph of large minimum degree. These results therefore provide generalisations of the theorems of Moon and Burr-Erd\H{o}s-Spencer to the setting of dense graphs. It is also natural to consider generalisations of these problems to $r$-edge-colourings (for $r \geq 2$) and for $H$-tilings (for arbitrary graphs $H$). We prove some results in this direction and propose several open questions.