Relative discrepancy of hypergraphs

Abstract

Given $k$-uniform hypergraphs $G$ and $H$ on $n$ vertices with densities $p$ and $q$, their relative discrepancy is defined as $\hbox{disc}(G,H)=\max\big||E(G')\cap E(H')|-pq\binom{n}{k}\big|$, where the maximum ranges over all pairs $G',H'$ with $G'\cong G$, $H'\cong H$, and $V(G')=V(H')$. Let $\hbox{bs}(k)$ denote the smallest integer $m \ge 2$ such that any collection of $m$ $k$-uniform hypergraphs on $n$ vertices with moderate densities contains a pair $G,H$ for which $\hbox{disc}(G,H) = \Omega(n^{(k+1)/2})$. In this paper, we answer several questions raised by Bollob\'as and Scott, providing both upper and lower bounds for $\hbox{bs}(k)$. Consequently, we determine the exact value of $\hbox{bs}(k)$ for $2\le k\le 13$, and show $\hbox{bs}(k)=O(k^{0.525})$, substantially improving the previous bound $\hbox{bs}(k)\le k+1$ due to Bollob\'as-Scott. The case $k=2$ recovers a result of Bollob\'as-Scott, which generalises classical theorems of Erd\H{o}s-Spencer, and Erd\H{o}s-Goldberg-Pach-Spencer. The case $k=3$ also follows from the results of Bollob\'as-Scott and Kwan-Sudakov-Tran. Our proof combines linear algebra, Fourier analysis, and extremal hypergraph theory.